Coat Reviews - Final

Well as you may already know I have been road testing Three coats two by myself and the third my friend is wearing, you can see me reviewing my coats Here, Here and Here. 


Just to go over the reasons why I choose to do these reviews....
Coat shopping for me is my most hated activity, Hate is a strong word that I rarely use, but I can honestly say that I HATE coat shopping.
It reduces me to tears and leaves me huddled in a corner wanting to hurt something, I can never get my boobs in them or if I can they are huge on the waist, I have a short waist and find they often fit all wrong, after talking to the fabulous Charlotte of Simply Be about this at an event they offered to send me a coat for review, but I thought it might help other people in my situation to see a few coats to get a good comparison, I want to know the shops I can go to every year and know I can likely find something suitable which I love, and the lovely Ann Harvey team offered me two coats to try, so I went with it.


I am going to give you my final review of the two coats I have tested now, and the full review of the Ann Harvey Cape my gorgeous friend Helen has worn for me will be scheduled for tomorrow, Helens crazy mummy/ work schedule and lost USB sticks have meant that we have been unable to split up the review of the cape. 


The Coats!

The two coats were the Simply Be Trench Coat and the Ann Harvey Red Funnel Neck Coat.


I have honestly worn these coats so much over the winter months and I have been so happy with them, I have found them both useful for total different things.


The Red Ann Harvey coat is such a vibrant red and makes me happy just looking at it, but I have found that the style for me is best worn with trousers and jeans as the length and shape suite them, but the Simply Be Trench works fantastically with dresses and trousers, and made me feel confident and sophisticated! 


I will start with the Ann Harvey coat, I really wanted to put these coats through there paces, so they have been worn for walking my four dogs, going out, playing in snow, even climbing trees! I wanted make them work hard for me!


Cleaning/Practicality 


It is dry clean only, but I haven't needed to put it in yet, as even when it has had muddy paw prints on it they have come off easily once dry, the colour is still vibrant and doesn't show marks easily, this makes me happy, as you can imagine, with four dogs it is easy to get mucky! 


Lining


Have you ever noticed how many coats you buy, even if the cost a small fortune, which have crap linings which are badly sewn and rip within a few wears? Or is that just me?
Well I can say that after 3 months of vigorous use the inner lining of this coat is doing brilliantly, no rips and not even thin spots, thats pretty good in my books!

Under arm bobbles and seems


This also something I hate I expect some wear and bobbles but sometimes on cheap material I find they happen almost immediately and look horrific! But so far so good the under arms look practically new, the colour hasn't faded from rubbing and the seems have held up brilliantly!

Buttons and Threads


Well as you can see from the photo there are one or two threads loose on the button holes but the buttons themselves are all still firm, I am impressed with this as I am hopeless at keeping buttons on coats!
Enjoy the added puppy hairs, they like to give me gifts :) 

Simply Be Caplet Trench Coat 


This coat has also been put through the same crazy routine as the the red coat, and has also worked extremely hard to prove itself to me!


Cleaning and Practicality 
The amazing thing about this coat which I loved is that it is fully machine washable, and although it is a  fairly dark colour it has held up well, but does show marks slightly easier that the red did, but only ever so slightly! I have washed this coat twice now, the first time I leaned against a dirty wall and put marks on it, and the second time, one of the puppies thought it was a good idea to try to jump into my arms, after she had ran around a muddy garden for a good half hour. 
Both times it washed brilliantly i popped it over a clothes horse and let it dry, which took no time at all really and it didn't need to be ironed which was fabulous (I hate ironing).


Lining


Again I am pleasantly surprised that the lining has held up brilliantly, there is no ripping or split teams, I have gone round every inch of seem on both coats and they are perfect!

Under Arm Bobbles and Seems


Now as you can see there is a loose thread hanging out of the underarm on the trench, but I cant decide if it is just a thread that has popped out and not trimmed, because i have had a good tug on the seems and they are holding completely, with no gaps at all, will have too keep an eye on it!  other than that all the outside seems are strong.

Buttons and Treads


 The buttons on the outside of the coat are all strong and holding up well, but one of the internal buttons has come off completely, So I will need to sew it back on, but not a huge job.

I am so happy with both coats that I cant choose which is my favourite only that they both get used for totally different things so that is great for me.
Ann Harvey is not a brand I have never tried before but they have really impressed me with the quality of their items, I will be looking at them again next year for coats! Simply be is a company I have been shopping with for quite a few years, but I had never thought to get a coat from them, but I would happily get one again, there is a rather gorgeous light weight trench coat I am tempted by!


The Red coat is no longer available from ann Harvey but they a couple of lovely winter coats in the sale half price if you want a bargain for next year.


The Simply Be trench is available here but this is the lighter weight one I want PU Sleeve Trench


Both of these coats come with my highest recommendation, so next winter if you are looking head on over and see what they have to offer!


I will be scheduling the Cape review to go live at 3pm tomorrow, so pop back then too. 


Mhairi.


xxx