A lust for luxury:

THE temperature has dropped below freezing, your old pea-coat looks threadbare and wrapping up in a Pashmina shawl is no longer cool, just plain cold. Finding the perfect winter coat has always been tricky, but this season things have been made simple. Paired down, classic shapes in neutral colours and sumptuous fabrics are cropping up everywhere.

The key to buying a coat, as with everything else this season, is luxury.

"It's a fabulous coat season," says Harvey Nichols' buyer Louise Reichmann. "Anything in cashmere has been walking out the door." Even with prices from GBP 500 to GBP 1,000, it seems that this season's lust for luxury has seen many people splashing out on an investment buy. "With the economy looking unstable, people have been investing in styles that will last," confirms Rachel Sproule, fashion co-ordinator at Selfridges. "People are after something that will still look good three seasons down the line." And, if your budget doesn't quite stretch to the price of a small second-hand car, the high street has some surprisingly affordable variations. Despite its recent tribulations, Marks & Spencer has come up trumps with the perfect long-line, double-breasted coat in a cashmere mix for just over GBP 200. A cashmere coat will always be a covetable fashion item (providing the moths don't get at it) on feel-good factor alone. But in pale cream? Surely this is a conspiracy between designers and the dry- cleaning industry. Call it "winter white" (as Ralph Lauren does) and even the most practically minded are eagerly parting with hard- earned cash. Grey, camel and black have an enduring appeal that will work with the colours already in your wardrobe, whatever fashion might throw at you in future. After all, if you are investing heavily in a luxury winter coat, you should expect it to last for a few years, at least. The most important thing is simplicity, whatever you pay. Concealed buttons, belted fastenings and snug funnel necks all whisper discreet luxury - like DKNY's cream double-faced, high- collared coat pictured here. It is all in the fabric this season, so hide the receipt and the only person you'll ever have to justify the cost to is yourself. THIS IS RIGHT READING Brown belted coat GBP 725 by Jil Sander from Browns, 23-24 South Molton Street, W1, grey polo-neck GBP 249 from Nicole Farhi , 158 New Bond Street, W1 Cream belted coat GBP 899, rib polo-neck GBP 149 and trousers GBP 175, all by Cerrutti Boutique, 106 New Bond Street, W1 Photographer: Richard Lohr Stylist: Antonia Bell Hair: Robert Maiolo for John Frieda HOT ON THE HIGH STREET MARKS & SPENCER: full-length, double-breasted coat in wool/cashmere/angora mix, camel, black or navy - GBP 225 (selected stores, 0171 935 4422). JIGSAW: concealed-fastening, knee-length coat in cashmere mix, grey or brown - GBP 215 (0171 491 4484). KAREN MILLEN: single-breasted, long wool coat, grey or black - GBP 250 (01622 664032). NEW LOOK: single-breasted, wool-mix City coat, pale grey -GBP 59.99 (0500 454 094). NEXT: full-length, belted wrap coat in wool/angora mix, camel or black - GBP 200 (0116 284 9424). OASIS: funnel-neck, three-quarter-length, wool-mix coat, cream, charcoal or grey - GBP 99.99 (01865 881 986). PRINCIPLES: high-fastening, wool-mix City coat, grey - GBP 100 (0990 233 343). WAREHOUSE: maxi coat, 100 per cent wool, black only - GBP 150 (0171 278 3491). BhS: Paul Frith three-quarter-length, wool-blend coat with fur collar, camel - GBP 120 (0171 262 3288). DOROTHY PERKINS: mid-length fitted coat in wool mix, grey or black - GBP 80 (0171 291 2706). FENN WRIGHT MANSON: maxi-length wrap dressing-gown coat in boiled wool, ecru, black, grey or green - GBP 190 (House of Fraser and Fenwicks 0171 323 4821).

Copyright 1998
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.