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You need a cape

If you’ve been looking at your winter outerwear recently and thought that it’s just so… sleevey… then consider a cape. I bought two last year, a short camel one and a longer dark blue one.

Don’t leave! Hear me out. Really, really – I wouldn’t suggest this if I hadn’t thought about it hard. You won’t really look like you’re wearing a stupid cape, you will just look like you are wearing something modern, draped, slouchy, with an elbow or bracelet-length sleeve to show off your excellent knitwear underneath. They go incredibly well with wide-legged jeans and trainers, a high/low mix that says “I am completely normal” and not “To the Batmobile!”

I had to search high and low for my pair of capes last year but this year, they are everywhere.

On blasted Zara of course, this restrained one, and this sort of rainmac one – a mum at school has got something similar and it completely works. I’m being serious!

Then over to H&M, who really believe in the cape thing for AW21. This one is sort of like an updated duffel coat, and this one I’m less sure about, just because it’s one of those items of clothes that seeks to tick two trends at once: cape and green quilt. Overkill? I’m not saying it looks bad, but I wonder if it will stand the test of time.

At the other end of the price scale, there is one of these left on Outnet for 50% off, someone’s got to own it! Might as well be you. If you are one of my fabulously wealthy readers, (they do exist), get this one and text me so that my face can melt off with envy.

Last but not least, House of Hackney has designed this gabardine cape for Barbour – Becky B had something similar, but vintage, years ago and I always coveted it like mad. If I didn’t already have an extensive range of raingear I would snap this up – only sizes 10 and 12 left in the dark blue but more range in the olive.

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Comments

  1. Jo says

    October 20, 2021 at 7:59 am

    Handbags tho….🤔

    Reply
    • Frances says

      October 20, 2021 at 8:16 am

      Yes, and trying to navigate busy car parks with two children plus all the bags etc – hands already full, need to be able to load myself up like a packhorse That’s what puts me off the cape idea. Love them concept though.

      Reply
      • esthermcoren says

        October 20, 2021 at 8:33 am

        it’s definitely not an action item

        Reply
  2. Katie says

    October 20, 2021 at 8:01 am

    May I hear more about this extensive range of rainwear please I desperately need a coat with a hood that’s not ming!!

    Reply
    • esthermcoren says

      October 20, 2021 at 9:10 am

      the only one I really like is one I found in a charity shop with no branding on it, which is really irritating because it’s a good coat and I wanted to share it. all raincoats with hoods are disgusting or slimy or just in some other way deeply bad and unsatisfactory.

      Reply
  3. Lorna Mirza says

    October 20, 2021 at 8:08 am

    I’ve recently bought a couple of knitted ponchos which have a similar effect (although a little more cowboy). So cosy and as you say, arms are free so you don’t get too hot in this ‘four seasons in one day’ weather we currently have.

    Reply
  4. Elizabeth says

    October 20, 2021 at 8:19 am

    Literally cannot rest now until I have a cape. Why didn’t I know I needed one? Please can you also do a thing on hats because I’m just not sure about berets? I don’t want to be all Jenny Agutta circa 1970.

    Reply
    • esthermcoren says

      October 20, 2021 at 8:34 am

      channel Michael Jordan visiting Paris instead… hats are like any accessory really – you just have to try a lot on before you find the one that suits you

      Reply
      • Tania says

        October 20, 2021 at 9:54 am

        On hats, can you or any of your lovely informed readers suggest a rain hat that doesn’t make one look like a mad old lady or a nursery school wannabe?

        Reply
  5. Sheila Duncan says

    October 20, 2021 at 8:55 am

    I was a relatively late (or early) newcomer to the poncho. This transformation happened after a random purchase in a charity shop. Since then I have become an avid wearer of ponchos, capes and huge wraparound scarves.

    Reply
  6. Taliyana Lusted says

    October 20, 2021 at 9:12 am

    Capes…maybe not so good in windy weather …

    Reply
    • esthermcoren says

      October 20, 2021 at 9:13 am

      no they’re perfect, one looks like the wicked witch of the west

      Reply
      • Taliyana Lusted says

        October 20, 2021 at 10:09 am

        😂😂😂

        Reply
  7. Maureen McCollum says

    October 20, 2021 at 9:32 am

    I really like the Zara khaki cape. It only seems to come in small or medium though. Sigh.

    Reply
    • Anonymous says

      October 30, 2021 at 5:30 pm

      i went to Zara, tried on the medium one and bought it. When it is described as oversized cape it is accurate. Lots of room for layers or a coat underneath.

      Reply
  8. Daisy says

    October 21, 2021 at 4:55 pm

    Thanks for this Esther, I’ve been wondering about a cape for a while, but wonder if it’ll make my arse look even larger?! I showed my husband one and he said you’re not a fucking superhero. But he knows nothing about fashion.

    Reply
    • esthermcoren says

      October 21, 2021 at 5:00 pm

      Don’t listen to your husband

      Reply
      • Elena says

        October 21, 2021 at 6:55 pm

        Ain’t that just the truth…

        Reply
  9. Jo Walton says

    October 22, 2021 at 9:58 pm

    This is not a cape question so I hope it’s allowed…
    What’s the alternative to a leather biker jacket? I really, really love mine but they are everywhere now so maybe time for a change?
    I quite liked the brown leather jacket that Anna Maxwell Martin wore in Hollington Drive. Any suggestions or recommendations please?

    Reply
    • esthermcoren says

      November 2, 2021 at 11:08 am

      Jo sorry this is a rather tardy response, but I have only just come up with a solution. It might not be quite right but Baukjen have “The Dara” leather jacket, which looks rather smart to me …https://www.baukjen.com/products/dara-leather-jacket-caviar-black

      Reply
    • esthermcoren says

      November 2, 2021 at 11:08 am

      Christ I’ve just seen it’s £430!!!!!

      Reply
  10. Jayne says

    October 29, 2021 at 12:40 pm

    I am sorely tempted by the thought of a vintage welsh cape:

    https://www.urban-village.co.uk/search?type=product&q=Welsh+cape

    Reply

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