The Collectif Pearl Coat || Kristina’s Coat of Dreams

I first saw the Collectif Pearl Coat on Miss Victory Violet about six years ago.

And immediately, I wanted it. As a curvier gal, it’s generally impossible to find true vintage princess cut coats that are my size – not because they don’t exist, but because they get snapped up so fast. And usually, they’re far out of my price range. The Pearl coat was also pretty expensive. At over $200, it wasn’t something I could just get immediately. For a few years I dreamed about buying it, and then the Pearl fell away from my memory as I made-do with other coats I’d gathered along the way.

As you all know, selling my long-time favorite dream vintage coat spurred me to finally, finally buy a Pearl. And I have absolutely zero regrets. This will be my favorite coat for a long, long time.

Dress, Miss Candyfloss (sold out, similar vintage or handmade) || Coat, Collectif Pearl coat (different colorways here!) || Brooch, vintage (similar here, here, and here) || Tights, We Love Colors || Shoes, BAIT Footwear  (here, here, here)|| Headscarf vintage || Earrings, vintage

I can say with 100% certainty that I will never regret buying this coat.

Washington gets cold enough in the winter that a staple coat is absolutely necessary, and after years of going through thrifted, vintage, and modern coats I’m so glad to have gotten this. All of my older coats have malfunctioned. Whether the seams have ripped, the lining has come out, the style just isn’t right, the shape is odd, coats are too big or too small… the flaws are endless. Throughout the years I’ve really just been biding my time until I could get a Pearl coat.

Now that it’s here, I think  I can stop buying coats forever. Capes, though… I’ll never stop getting capes. 😉
Underneath, I wore another item that will be a long-time staple: a new dress from Miss Candyfloss. I always try to save up to be able to purchase a dress from them every few years and I’m never disappointed! This makes my fourth MCF dress that I own, and the second I’ve purchased new. The first one is still one of my favorite dresses and was the first I’d ever acquired. The second I purchased from a friend off a Facebook group. The third was from Poshmark and is SUCH a good staple.

Miss Candyfloss never disappoints. The quality of their dresses is wonderful, and I’m SO happy they don’t use cheap invisible zippers like a lot of higher end companies tend to do! This beauty has sold out already and I’m not surprised. It’s stretcher than I expected and I am so glad I got a Medium. The fabric is thick and comfortable, and it has pockets! Overall I’m so happy wtih it. My only complaint is that the opening width of the pocket is pretty small – I already have smaller hands, and can’t imagine the pockets being useful to someone with larger hands than me.

I think I am finally (very belatedly) learning the value of only collecting things that make me feel absolutely wonderful.

I’ve kept a lot of vintage and modern retro over the years that had little things wrong with them, but lately I feel overwhelmed. I just want a closet that works well on my body, that isn’t crowded, and that always makes me feel absolutely amazing.

In the next year or so I hope to pare down what I own quite a bit to ONLY things I’m happy grabbing 100% of the time. I can’t really start immediately because I’m only six months postpartum and tend to not lose baby weight till about 9 months out, but I’m trying to at least curate things I know for sure I’ll keep.

It feels good to get a little head start in wearing and photographing myself so I know what I love the fit of, and what I don’t love. Do you curate a closet that makes you feel aces, or do you hang on to things that might not be the best, just to have them? Dress, Miss Candyfloss (sold out, similar vintage or handmade) || Coat, Collectif Pearl coat (different colorways here!) || Brooch, vintage (similar here, here, and here) || Tights, We Love Colors || Shoes, BAIT Footwear  (here, here, here)|| Headscarf vintage || Earrings, vintage