The Dictator | How to rock an oversized trench coat
Plus high-necked blouses – are they really back in fashion?
How can I wear an oversized trench coat and not look like I took my husband’s by mistake?
Steal or Not to Steal, Sai Ying Pun
The Dictator rules: You are missing the point. You are supposed to look like you raided a man’s wardrobe. Anyway, just come out and say it. What you are really worried about is looking fat. Unless you are rail thin, have a quirky aesthetic or are David Byrne, you’ll want to create a sense of proportion. (Did anyone even get that old reference?) Leave the coat open and wear one fitted item underneath such as leather trousers. Reveal a little skin with a crop top (only tight abs need apply), slashed or cropped jeans, or bare legs as a counterpoint to the heft and masculinity of the coat. Show off your waist, if you still have one, with a belt over the coat.
Now, which of this season’s many oversized trench coats should you buy? Well, the first brand you think of for such a garment, Burberry, is a good place to start. Yup, it goes way beyond the traditional, as evidenced by its array of trenches and car coats for autumn-winter 2017 in classic gaberdine, taffeta and even plastic (HK$6,700/US$858 and up). Don’t miss its asymmetric cotton trench (HK$17,000) and oversized bonded-cotton car coat in pop-art-like blocks of red, beige and check (HK$23,000).
Korean label YCH designed its trench to be open at the front from the waist down and at the back with a high slit in light beige cotton (HK$6,200; Lane Crawford). Pushbutton, also from Korea, has nailed it with a few interpretations, including a seemingly simple one in a beige cotton twill that is reversible to show the blue, red, white and yellow patchwork of the lining on the outside (HK$9,600; Harvey Nichols). All the high-street brands will be offering trenches, too. Good luck wearing one in this heat!
