A Festive Coat for Festive New Years Occasions

First off, Happy New Years All!

I hope you all have a wonderful, prosperous, and gratifying 2011!

Secondly, it’s confession time here at the Cordelia Files.

 Today, I must profess that I LOVE COATS!

All coats, any type will do, I’m not one to discriminate.

I love wearing them, I love designing them, I love making them, I love looking at them hanging in my closet, I love wearing them around with nothing on underneath.

Um, wait, scratch that one, I was just testing to see if you were really paying attention.

And I especially love how sometimes a girl just needs a fancy coat.

 Which I did.

 Because the Holiday Season was amongst us and Holiday Season = cold weather and fancy parties.

 So I made myself a fancy little festive number.

I like to call this my Red Lace Coat.

Cause I used Chantilly lace layered over red Italian wool to make it.

When designing this coat I asked myself, “What Would Jacquie O Wear?” and created a coat I like to imagine could be worn to White House celebration.

In Honor of Jacquie I used Big O self covered buttons.

With matching Big O bound buttonholes.

And for the record, I am in LOVE with my new camera which allowed me to take shots like these!

All that detail captured!

I hand beaded the collar,

And did the same for the welt pocket flap.

And I was especially proud of myself for deciding to let the galloon of the lace hang off the front edges.

It is lined with a polka dot charmeuse, and even though it is polyester, I don’t care cause it is soft and luxurious and feel like butter on my skin.

I threw in a gold piping detail for good measure.

And, as I do with most of my coats, I embroidered a quote in the facing.

"When in doubt, wear red." ~Bill Blass

Happy 2011, and may the new year bring you a bounty of beautiful coats!

Happy Coat Wearing

~Melisa & Cordelia