A coat for the hourglass: Mission impossible!

Sorry again for neglecting this blog for a while! I've got plenty of excuses, but hey, doesn't matter, I hope I am back now :)

So, winter has come, it's cold, and we need to be dressed warm. But oh, it is not easy when no winter clothes seems to be made for our shape, is it?

So, here are some of the jackets I've battled with this season:

Here we've got an H&M jacket that I bought in 2009 (yes, it's been a while. I am a practical type of person, I only shop out of necessity, which is also why you won't see many style-posts from me ;) ), and if I remember correctly it cost £75 / $120. Though I rather liked this one, I knew it wasn't ideal for my shape. As you can see, I look quite flat-chested (and I very much like being busty, so this is sad news for me), and my waist looks huge - I definitely don't look like the shape I have! There is the option to tighten the waist, but as you can also see, the 'waist' is no where near my waist - it is in fact higher than my underbust. The top section is just too small, and tightening it will just make the boob-space even smaller! There is also a little bit of flattening boobs, due to the small shape. The jacket is a good fit on the rest of me though, not too much excess fabric at my hips or arms, and I loved everything else about it, so I would have kept it: Unfortunately  I forgot it when vacationing this summer :( (I went north, hence why my jacket-season started early) 

So, reluctantly, I went on a hunt for new jacket!

I had a coupon for Ellos, so I went there and found this coat for £85 / $136. I went by the size guide (Which is definitely not a curve-friendly chart), and took a size 52 (UK 24 / US 20) to make sure there was room for both my hips and bust. 

I think it is very obvious that this is a quite large size, that I have tightened excessively at the waist band (and it is still not actually at my waist) and I am not crazy about that look. There is just too much bulk at my arms and armpits, and the waist area. But, I think this is as good as it gets when it is done by sizing up, and it is not too bad.

But, this is a horrible, horrible jacket, and that is just unacceptable for that price. It is so horrible that Ellos has agreed to give me my full  amount of money back. The quality is just horrendous, and it started to fall apart from day 1. Added to that, I think it is obvious that there has not been put much thought into it - the pockets openings are almost vertical, making them useless as storage (compare those to my old jacket, where I could store bottles of water and books if I wanterd to. The fabric of the coat is of such poor quality that it can't even support it own seams, and the waist band has broken - horrible jacket.

But, up here in the cold north, I can't exactly send it back without something to take its place, now, can I? So the hunt continues... 

Enter Pepperberry. 

I have much love for Bravissimo, and I really want to love their clothing as well, but oh, it is difficult.
My waist measures 85cm, so that is on the small side of a size 16. But, the bust and hip measurements put me off this: My bust is about 119cm standing up, so I outsize even the Super Duper Curvy for size 16, and with a hip measurement well beyond the 110cm suggested  as well, it didn't seem likely.
So on to size 18. With a hip measurement of 117.5cm, and a Super Curvy bust of 118cm, this seemed a bit more likely (there are no Super Duper Curvy coats. I wish, though!).

I have to admit, this 'making do' with sizes reminds me an awful lot of the compromises I have to make with regular size charts?

I chose the Fur Trim Parka Coat, for £60 / $95

This is a truly lovely coat. I was worried that it would be too thin, more like a shell-type, but it seems quite warm, and quite heavy. The cotton feels very sturdy and of high quality.

And check the inside:

Cute floral at the back of the neck, along with a little chain that says Pepperberry. A little pocket with matching floral trim, and blue checkered trims along the inner seams, and the inside of the sleeve is satin. Quite lovely details, that adds to the luxerious feel you get from Pepperberry.

But, looks are not everything, lets look at the fit:

I am wearing a regular long sleeved top under this, and I can tell you, it is quite tight at the hips, as I feared it would be. It wouldn't be a deal breaker if it was great everywhere else, as it wouldn't be impossible to wear an extra layer. And to be honest, it looks so great when it is more trimmed down around the hips.

Going further up, we encounter the first problem, which is quite the opposite of what we had with the first coat: The waist on this one is too low. It is not at my narrowest point of my waist, it is closer to my hip, in fact. This fitted waist was not very fitted either, but since I had sized up to a size 18, I don't blame them, and it can just be tightened with the inner straps.

Now comes the most important: The fit of the bust. And oh, I'm sad :( It is so small! Like, really, really small, probably smaller than in most jackets in fact. As you can see, it really really squashes my boobs flat, if you compare it to the Ellos jacket. And I can hardly move my arms, because all the fabric is needed to allow me to breathe! It is especially tight at the top of the bust, and is therefor squashing my boobs downwards: I imagine this would not be a bad fit for droopy boobies - the lower (and looser) waist means there is plenty of space right around my underbust. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) my boobs are much higher than that, and this jacket fails at making room for them :(

So, it seems I am stuck with having to size up in jackets, and then just tighten their waist. I do find it annoying that jackets are even more so 'straight figured' than so most other clothing - with all the extra padding they give, I would have thought there would be especially demand for them being nice and fitted? Or is stuffy-looking simply the look for winter? I hope not :o