Myself, I never throw away my coats. I have a great Jil Sander raincoat that I bought new about 10 years ago; it's a little snug, but I still love to wear it. It probably needs to be taken to the dry cleaner and rewater-proofed.. I have a sharkskin Balmacan that's on life support (a tear on the underarm and wear on the cuffs). It's impossible to repair and it's impossible to replace. So it hangs there forlornly in my closet, envious of a long black cashmere number from Moss in New York. I've had it forever and it's finally back in style.
So a week or two ago I found a great black wool coat, superfine and the only problem was that the collar had pilled. A great coat, in great shape, in a great fabric (I am always on the lookout for the ILGWU label). I took it apart only to discover that it was beautifully made in USA in the NY garment district. The guts were simply done, no pad stitching and very little fusible interfacing. Although well made it was less fussy than the inside of an Armani garment.
First thing I did was take off the offending collar. The pilling suggests that there is a small bit of synthetic in the fabric, but not enough to effect the drape, just enough to give it a bit of a sheen. Sweaty necks are hard on collars. It's easy to recut or replace a collar, so if you're vintage hunting and that's the only problem with the garment, you can still buy it. You may even be able to get away with simply removing the collar all together.
So updating a coat is easy even if you're not a super experienced tailor. Replacing the buttons are a great start. I bought these amazing antique uniform buttons on a trip to Paris. They're made in Paris itself around the turn of the 20th c. and they have a beautiful gold wash. They cost a fortune, compared to most buttons, but were a fraction of the price of making or buying a new coat. Don't skimp on buttons. They are a great finish. A lot of designers don't use good buttons because it's an easy way to cut production costs. I often buy damaged clothes if they have great buttons and then salvage them for later. The gold buttons I'm using in my collection came on their original card.
Besides replacing the collar and buttons on the coat, I wanted to add a little splash of color, without taking away the essential functionality of a basic black overcoat. A basic black coat does a couple of things, it protects your clothes from dirt and wear, but it also serves some more psychological purposes. It disguises your build making it difficult for predators / criminals to accurately judge your build or what you may be carrying on your person. It also stays neat looking by hiding dirt. The color sends a psychological message that they are serious minded. Black coats are a staple in NYC for a reason. I therefore decided to use some red and white silk twill from a damaged Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress as an accent. I decided to insert slashes into the sleeves using the silk. I also used it as the underside of the collar. The combination of black, red, white and gold give the coat an auspicious feel. It's a color scheme familiar to noble costumes in both Asia and the West.
Coat linings are often in bad shape because owners tend to sweat in them, and rarely have them cleaned, leaving them stained. Also taking them on and off sometimes causes snagging or tears in the lining, especially if the previous owner wore a lot of rings.If you are an experienced sewer, or even a novice, putting a new lining in a coat is a great way to bring it back to life. The new lining will help it hang better and feel nicer against your skin. It's even a pretty inexpensive repair if you decide to take it to an alterations shop. It's usually held in by one seam. This coat had a beautiful saffron lining that wasn't too worn, but I will most likely replace. Just to make it feel new again.
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