Lean Fur Jacket

It's a really good thing that I don't own this jacket because if I did, I'd only ever take it off to bathe, and I'm not sure that it would survive the indignity of being slept in.

The jacket sums up one of the things I love about fashion: its ability to transform us by filling our lives with beauty and excitement, to momentarily transport us to a more glamorous time or place. Who wouldn't want a life in which they could wear something like this and look this elegant?

I love the long, luxurious trim at the collar and wrists, the lovely mix of dove and charcoal grey and the impossibly nipped in shape. I also adore the three quarter length sleeves which furnish the perfect excuse for long gloves, the epitome of chic.

The fact that the jacket is something that few people could imagine wearing only makes it more appealing to me. Yes, it's extremely "fancy"; yes, it's made unapologetically of controversial fur; and yes, you'd have to work to figure out the right occasions to wear it. But it seems to me that the inability to think of where to wear something so amazing is a failure of imagination and evidence of a willingness to settle for a life that's not racy and somewhat mysterious. Like most people, I'm a carnivore and a purchaser of leather goods, and I don't see wearing fur as being materially different from eating meat or wearing leather. Fur is incredibly warm, impossibly soft and has long connoted something I love - luxury - so let people think what they like.

Yes, if I could afford it, I'd buy the jacket and wear it to death. Fashion isn't just about clothing the body, after all, it's about living out one's dreams.

All Gold

I love the two gold items in this photo - the shearling coat and the oversized bag - but wearing them together seems a bit flashy. Individually, though, both are stunners.

The bag is so luxurious, with its textured, luminescent gold snakeskin and classic lines. The jumbo size piles excess upon excess but the structured shape, courtesy of the rigid gold frame, lends the piece a whisper of prim and proper.

The jacket, meanwhile, is also a jaw-dropper. The finish on the material has been so carefully thought through, the shininess of the gold contrasting with the mattifying properties of the skin. The plush wide chocolate lapels promise decadent warmth and the zips at the cuffs lend a bad boy edge. The motorcycle shape makes it a piece to wear with something polished and ladylike underneath, just like the model is doing with her dark wool-and-cashmere dress. Pointy-toed shoes would be right at home here.

Jacket by Ralph Lauren Collection; Bag by Oscar de la Renta. Image from Elle, June ‘07.

Summery Cropped Jacket

This little jacket is terrific. I just can’t tear my eyes away from the button-adorned tabs that border the hidden fastener at the neckline. Their rounded chubbiness splits the difference between ‘cute’ and ‘clean’ and is totally unique. Pockets, especially rounded ones, always look youthful, and the square-ishness of the ones on this jacket reinforce the piece’s overall boxy shape. Notice also that the elongated lapels nix the potential for stubbiness by adding a vertical element that gets the eye moving up and down. Finally, the white color and three-quarter length sleeves keep the look light and summery. What an elegant and versatile piece to be able to yank out of the closet and toss over a simple dress before heading off to brunch with the girls.

Jacket by Bebe. Image from Lucky, June ‘07.