Using eBay to find pure fashion gold!
For years I wanted my Grandma to give me her Vintage Jaeger Caramel coat. She often gave me vintage pieces that she didn't really wear any more, but this one item was at the top of my list. Unfortunately my grandma was quite sure that there was no way she was giving me this coat, she loved it too much herself which was just fine; a good reason to hang onto it and something that I just knew I would have to work towards purchasing myself.
I don't know what it was about this coat that was such a big deal. Honestly, it was very classic shaped, a bit 90s with it's dropped shoulder but really, it was just a classic coat that is available to most. There was definitely something about the way my grandma wore it though that made it more desirable. She had a sapphire broach on the lapel, a traditional one only worn by the kind of women who would have enjoyed buying such jewellery as broaches aren't all that fashionable anymore, in fact you can pick them up easily in charity shops now, but this broach was something special. She also often wore this coat with layers of cashmere, in the coldest parts of winter with leather riding boots (she gave me those) and long skirts. The thought of the coat always conjures up those images of her coming into the house at Christmas time, laden with food bags and wine after a journey down from Yorkshire to Lincoln. That coat just really was grandma, and only ever being the only girl interested she had said that when the time comes I could have it.
Having written about my long journey to find the perfect caramel coat before I had always reverted back to waiting for this dream one as nothing satisfied quite like it. However, my Grandma, who has recently been in a care home, I actually for more sentimental reasons, I have been struggling with the thought of having it. I decided that I would buy one myself and leave my mum to have my grandma's.
I was OK with that; I had been on the Jaeger website and seen the near £400 price tag and decided that I was going to save for it because this coat would mean so much more to me than any other coat I would own. This would be just like grandma's vintage Jaeger, in the dark caramel colour, the coat that will forever remind me of her and that made it priceless.
On my saving journey I decided one night to start looking on eBay for the exact coat instead. My grandma's had this vintage drop shoulder and the new one was a modern cut fitted one. After a few attempts I found a match but in a size that was too big for me. Knowing that this meant their were coats available I just kept going back and on the week that I was going to purchase a new one a size 12 dark caramel vintage Jaeger popped up on eBay for £40. now for a perfect fit I would have gone with an 8. The wrap style and already oversized fit would have been big already but I was happy that once layered up with a jumper this size 12 would be perfect. Purchase made. I was so excited. I told my mum straight away that I had found a replica and that we eventually would have matching coats.
When it arrived it was like I had been handed my grandmas. I just need to buy some Chanel No. 5 to spray all over it and it would be hers.
I have been holding onto this since the middle of the summer, desperately waiting for the weather to change so I can get it out to wear. I just love the way it hangs, its colour and of course the wrap belt. The way it fits is perfect for my style and really, more than anything, it is so nice to have something with such a strong nostalgic value. It makes wearing it seem important in some way, like I am preserving her in a youthful way somewhere in my mind which is totally opposite to the situation she has been in recently.
eBay is a great place for finding those vintage gems. I cannot tell you how good the saved search function is which allows you to store key searches of items. You get an email as soon as an item with description to your search becomes available. Thank you "Vintage Jaeger caramel coat" search for finding me this absolute gem!
*I just wanted to put on here that I wrote this post a few weeks ago before my Grandma passed away. It seems really apt to still post it. It brings a smile to my face!
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