Invest in your winter wardrobe with a custom made ladies coat

Dior swing coat. Photo: Patrick Demarchelier

Warm, chic, beautifully designed and fitted and one of a kind, a custom made ladies coat will bring years of wearing pleasure and is a worthwhile investment in your winter wardrobe.

Many people don’t realise the amount of work that goes into creating a custom made ladies coat. The whole process takes several days and includes numerous fittings, adjustments and fine tuning to produce the perfect result.

I recently finished a coat for Caroline, a lovely client who was looking for a custom made Dior style swing coat, similar to one she had made by a couturier in the 1980s. She was seeking an expensive look, made from quality cloth and finished to the highest standard.

To achieve this I used a blend of wool and cashmere which was supplied by Dormeuil in England (Dormeuil is a luxury cloth maker and one of my favourite suppliers).

To give Caroline’s swing coat a real swing, I used 4 metres of cloth to allow for a generous cut in the collar, cuffs and hem circumference.

Before cutting into the actual cloth, two fittings were done in calico to make sure we were on track to achieve the voluminous finish Caroline was looking for.

Toile fittings were used to determine the size and shape of the collar and cuffs, and where the most ‘swing’ would be as well as checking pocket placement.

After a first fitting in the Dormeuil cloth, I took apart the whole garment which had been hand stitched to apply interlinings and canvas by hand to the interior of the coat to support the structure of the shoulders and neckline, adding extra to the collar and stand for dramatic effect.

The interlinings are the most painstaking part of putting something like this together and can take up to two full days work on their own. The irony is that when they are done properly you wouldn’t know they were there: the coat just seems to sit perfectly by itself.

Further fittings were needed to fine tune the break line and hem before lining could be added and the coat finally finished.

When Caroline picked up her coat she was absolutely thrilled with it.

“It is exactly what I was looking for. It is so comfortable to wear and I love the movement of the fabric which is voluminous so it can hang open and loose but also be wrapped around you.”

Caroline appreciates the quality of my tailoring work and knows the amount of time and effort that goes into producing the perfect result.

“Julie uses the best quality material in all her designs and the quality of the cloth for my coat was wonderful – it makes me feel great each time I wear it!”

“I love working with Julie. She interprets what I want really well and her attention to detail is unsurpassed. She plays with the fabric, tweaking it at fittings so it fits perfectly. I am a very happy customer!”