Coat Reviews Part 3

It is now just over 4 weeks since I posted the initial review of the two coats, and since that initial post I have been wearing them to death! They have been my dog walking coats day to day task coats, going out coats, they have been in snow wind and rain and covered in mud.

So how did they do...

Simply Be

Double Breasted Caplet Trench Coat £80

This coat has been excellent so far I recently wore it to London for the Plus London Two bloggers event and found it warm and comfortable on all the train/tube journeys, it snowed heavily in london and most of the uk that weekend and it survived easily, a waterproof coat may have been a good idea, but I am never as warm in them.

It also had to be washed last week, I loved that it was machine washable, so when our crazy puppies managed to jump up at it and cover me in muddy paw prints I whipped it off and stuck it in the machine, and popped it on a clothes horse to dry after. Once dry the coat was clean, looked great and still had its shape, which was a huge relief.

I have not seen any noticeable bobbling, was expecting some after the amount I have been wearing it, especially in the usual places like under the arms, but pleasantly surprised to say it hasn't yet.

The colour is great, I find it can be worn with almost anything in my wardrobe and the removable caplet is fab, i like it on with my clutch bags and off when I use a shoulder bag.

It was so windy outside when I took these pictures that my hair went from being down and smooth to whipping about all over the place making me look a little insane :)

I didn't need to iron the coat after I washed it which was fab, I hate ironing with a passion, but I did make sure it was nice and straight on the dryer.

As it is I would still highly recommend buying this coat, it is versatile a gorgeous colour and works well with so many outfits, as it is warming up a little now, I will be out a lot more walking and shopping so it will get even more use, action shots to come.

Ann Harvey

Red Funnel Neck Coat £40

This coat has also been put through its paces and it is doing exceptionally well, I love it on casual days with the collar pulled up to keep me warm, being red it doesn't go with everything in my wardrobe, but it is incredibly versatile, I have worn it with jeans, skirts and dressed, and it looks good with them, but I did make the mistake of throwing it on with my green jeans and boots the other day and my step son had hysterical giggles as he thought I looked like an elf.

It hasn't needed to be washed yet, but I will be putting it in this weekend, so i will give an update about that after it is done.
I do love that I don't feel the need to be extra careful with it, the colour is dark enough not to show every speck of dirt, but vibrant enough to be interesting and brighten up my day.

The colour still makes me very happy, and I love wearing this coat, it is also a bargain at £40 in the sale right now, and is available in black, go take a peek.

I am starting a little photography project at the moment, so they will be tested out for practicality in use, and while carrying lots of equipment.

will be putting up the first months worth of reviews for the lovely double breasted cape coat form Ann Harvey as well this weekend, so look out for that.

Mhairi. xx

Winter Coat Reviews Part 2

Today I thought I would show you a little selection of photos with me in the coats, the cape photos will have to wait until sunday, when I get the coat delivered to my friend. 

But here you go. x

 The length of both coats is beautiful and I love the colour of them both.

The photo's below are to show just what an amazing model I really am..................NOT. x

you can click on the images above for larger view. 

This week I am going to put them through there paces walking the 6 dogs I currently have staying in my house. I will update again at the weekend. 

Mhairi. xxx

Winter Coat Reviews Part 1

I don't know if my absolute terror at the thought of shopping for a winter coat is a plus size thing, a having big boobs thing or just a woman thing, all I know is that for the last 6-7 years I have not managed to shop for a winter coat without breaking down in tears of frustration during the shopping trip.

You may also wonder why are you doing this review now, winter is already here!

well my reason is that here in the UK our weather is crazy, I didn't start wearing my coat this winter until about 3 weeks before christmas as it was strangely warm, and it often randomly snows any time until April so my winter coats get the most use between december and march, therefore I thought they would get the most intensive testing during this time, and it will hopefully prepare us all for next year and show you some fabulous bargains for this season.

The reviews will take place over 3 months, I have 3 coats in the review 2 are being reviewed by myself and one by a good friend, I will explain why when I post about that coat.

In the initial review I will be looking at the quality of the coats (finish, colour, materials), the fit and shape and cost of the coats, then over the 3 months, I plan to use them regularly for all my daily activities, working, walking the dogs, shopping and every else in-between then look at how the cope, does stitching fail, is the colour fading, it it becoming threadbare etc. 

If you think of any other things you want to know about them please let me know.

In this first post I am going to show you the coats and the information provided by the companies about the item and my initial thoughts. 

The first coat to arrive was the Simply Be Double Breasted Caplet Trench Coat.

When this coat arrived I surprised myself by loving it ( a very rare occurrence for a coat), online they have darkened the image and it makes it look brown on the model, and I am not a fan of brown, but as you can see by the picture on the right it is definitely Camel and in person it is beautiful, the reason I picked it even though it looked so dark, was that it is so versatile the caplet part is removable so you get 2 looks in one. 

It is made from polyester but feels gorgeous and it is lovely, soft and easy to move in.

Because I have a large bust, I needed to order the size 22 which gives me room for jumper underneath but does make it fairly large on the waist and hips for me, but the tie waist belt solves this beautifully, and makes it very comfortable to wear for me, I would say though that it fits true to a size 22 I could fit in a 20 easily but wouldn't be able to wear layers under as it would be too tight on my chest.
The pockets are lovely and deep and in just the right spot for a comfortable position.

Length wise I am only 5'2" and it sits exactly on my knees.
at the moment the coat is on sale for £32




Next to arrive were the two Coats sent to me by Ann Harvey the Red funnel Neck Coat and the Double Breasted Cape.

Again, when both of these coats arrived I loved them they were soft and the colours were vibrant and the details were lovely.
Ann Harvey was somewhere I never thought to look for clothing but I will be looking more often from now on, I would say that some of the items are more mature than I would usually wear but they are making more and more items for the younger plus market. 
Ann Harvey have recently launched three plus size micro brands, these are the Ann Harvey Collection which most people are familiar with, the portrait collection which focuses on occasion wear and the Anya brand which is aiming at the younger plus size woman, both of the coat I am reviewing are form the main ann Harvey collection, but I will hopefully take a look at the other micro brands in the future. 


The Red Funnel Neck Coat is stunning in colour, it is such a beautiful red and I loved the details like the very pretty square buttons and the funnel neck is a lovely shape that doesn't strangle me like some coats in this style, it fits my chest beautifully in the size 22 and has a little room in the hips which make it nice to move around in and easy to layer, I can see this being my goto coat for casual days it looks gorgeous with jeans and dresses them up fabulously.
it is warm but not bulky which I love and the pockets are again nice and deep and in a great position.
Length wise it sits just below my hips on my thigh but I am tiny.


It is currently on sale for £40


The Double breasted cape is divine it is a gorgeous creamy colour with beautiful curved round buttons, it feels stunning and looks gorgeous, but unfortunately just doesn't work on me, although I am a size 20/22 my shoulders are very narrow and with being so short it totally swamped me, I was devastated, and was so sad to be sending it back to the company, but after a weekend of thinking I approached the company and said I would still love to find a way to review the coat as it is genuinely stunning, and I feel it would be a shame not to show it off to my readers just because it didn't personally suit me.
Therefore my lovely friend helen who is much taller and looks fabulous in a cape is going to take part in the three month review with me, she is going to test it in the same way I am wearing it for daily tasks and will report back to me and provide me with pictures.


This coat truly deserves to be seen.


It is on sale for £27


Tomorrow I will be making my first post with me wearing the coats so you can see them on a real live me, and get an idea about how they look and work.


Thank you for reading and please let me know in the comments if there is anything specific you would like to know about the coats.

Disclaimer : This item was given to me free of charge for review, but all comments are my own and I have not been asked or paid to give any items a favourable review.

The images were taken from the Simply be and Ann Harvey websites with permission.