Columbo Goes Gingham: Spring Trench

Hey,

I sit typing this up on a gloomy Easter Sunday. While I'm far from glum about sitting on my arse eating ALL the chocolate, I'd held out a little more hope for a sun-soaked Bank Holiday weekend.

The weather recently has been difficult to predict - one minute it's glorious sun and the next, a torrential downpour. Well, that's just Manchester for you, generally.

Traversing the constant dilemma of 'what to wear', one item of clothing has been my saviour - the classic trench.

I decided some weeks ago that I needed some kind of light jacket; semi-smart, easy to wear and goes with everything. I settled on a trench coat and, resisting my usual safety blanket of black, I opted for this classic stone coloured mac from Next.

I think it might be my best purchase of the year so far!

Sunglasses - Moschino

Trench coat - Next

Cross-front body - ASOS

Deconstructed gingham midi skirt - ASOS

Boots - Vagabond

I'm also really loving this gingham skirt from ASOS, it's ideal for the transition from spring into summer. I'm considering getting it in the new red version too!

This post is a great example of the ever-changing weather. I didn't know whether to keep my jacket on, take it off, remove my sunglasses... at least my new trench is light enough not be be a nuisance when the sun comes out.

What's been your favourite buy of the season?

A classic mac: the ultimate solution to inbetween weather

The Great British weather. I'd like to think that its unpredictability is the reason for our complete unpreparedness for the changes it throws at us.

Always a talking point whether it be snowing, raining, hot or cold; and of course, we English are rarely satisfied with the result.

The Spring/Summer transition in particular is always a tricky one.

Pretty dresses, shorts and skirts hit the highstreet at the start of the season and, through wishful thinking I suppose, we start to panic about the weather and the need to update our wardrobes for the imminent instatement of the sunshine.

Of course this never happens and we are usually subjected to grey clouds and drizzle well into April.

However I have found the current weather tricky myself. It became apparent that I didn't have anything suitable in terms of 'outerwear' for the ever-changing weather.

My long, black, wool winter coat looked ridiculous as soon as the odd ray of sunshine peered through the clouds, and my various vintage denim jackets did little to keep the cold out when the overcast clouds decided to contradict what looked like a promising day a few hours beforehand.

I'd been toying with the idea of buying a nice classic mac for awhile and had my eye on this one (which you will soon learn that I did actually buy) from Zara for £49.99



The perfect combination of value for money and style. So what was stopping me? In short- the weather.

Every time I made up my mind to pop in and buy it, the weather perked up and I concluded that as it was getting hotter, I wouldn't have the chance to wear it.

The other day however, I bit the proverbial bullett and bought it. This came after an unexpected cold spell that I wasn't going to stand for any longer!

All this comes of course a few days before I open the paper and learn that this week is to be the hottest of the year so far.

The British weather- you just can't win!