My Vintage Coat From Etsy

I had been looking since the month of September for a warm coat to wear with my knee-length+ skirts during winter. I still like my Liz Lisa pink coat bought last year, but unfortunately, its over-the-knee length makes it look far from good with midi skirts:

(Not wearing a midi skirt, but just to help you visualize it...)

[Pic from last year]

Here were my main criteria for the potential coat:

• Length: Either a long coat or a short coat (preferably with a belt to cinch the waist), since I thought both would look okay with long skirts.
• Colour: Burgundy but also interested in unusual colours like fuschia or teal. Definitely no very dark/black colours since lint look too visible on them.
• Pattern: Mustn't stick out too much, especially not a check pattern since it'd look atrocious with my check skirts (notably if it'd be a short coat)—something flecked would be ideal, but a solid colour would be okay.
• Material: Wool, but pretty much open to anything that keeps warm. It doesn't have to be insanely warm since I already have a coat for this purpose when the extreme cold temperatures hit Montreal.
• Double-breasted would be cool.
• Collar can't flare out too much (otherwise I can't wear this coat in the cold winter).
• A hoodie is a nice addition, but I doubt I'd see a vintage-looking coat with a hoodie (would have more chance with retro though).

I can't remember how many times I checked online as well as in physical stores for the coat. In physical stores, there was nothing I liked and everything, even XS, was too big. It was the same case online, although the coats were nicer like on Etsy.

Childrensalon

I did buy a coat at the beginning of October. It was love at first sight with a cute burgundy coat from Childrensalon, only to return it the day after receiving it. Despite checking the measurements beforehand, I found the coat too large when trying it on, especially at the waist and the shoulders. I know this type of coat isn't supposed to be slim-fitting, but I didn't expect it to be that big. For info, I had ordered a size 12 (the biggest size since the website is for kids).

I lost an important amount of money that I never got back (shipping, customs and return shipping), so I felt somewhat sad with this purchase.

..

Sorry for the bad pic quality, but I took them quickly before rewrapping the coat back in the box...

Fi.n.t

I first noticed this gorgeous retro coat in burgundy in a Twitter post circa September 2019 (I can't find the post anymore). Everything was written in Japanese and the translation didn't specifically speak of the coat. It kind of promoted an event in-store. Although I was very interested to buy it, Fi.n.t didn't seem to release it and I saw no subsequent mentions of it on its social media. Then I found the coat from Childrensalon and you know the rest of the story.

Fi.n.t finally released the aforesaid coat in November (it was part of their 2019 Winter collection). I checked the price and it was 25 300 JPY which is ≈ 300 $ CAD. That's a bit expensive for me 💀 Add to this the shipping fees (domestic and int'l) and the potential customs fees... 💸💸💸
So yeah, that was a bit disconcerting.

In the end, I didn't buy the coat mainly because:

• The material said 70 % polyester and 30 % fur/wool (?). Although the coat didn't look paper-thin, I wasn't sure if it would be warm enough for the Montreal winter. And if I'm doubting about such an important criterion (practicality), there's no way I can spend this amount of money on the coat.
• I couldn't shake off the price in my head. Although I liked the coat, I wasn't willing to pay 300 $+ for it (nor tracking it until it went on sale—not only it risks being sold out, but with the particularly cold weather these days I need a winter coat ASAP...)
• After that failed purchase from Childrensalon, I had vowed I'd never buy a coat online again. I had thus resumed looking in physical stores only, but since I had no luck still, I had decided to go back on the Internet with a lot of caution. Being more careful, I guess I was extremely skeptical of making an even more expensive purchase.

Etsy

A couple of days later, without a coat still, I decided to check vintage winter coats for fun on Etsy (for the n^th time). And I came upon a lovely 1970s coat. The length first caught my eye and I thought how perfect it was. It was long, but because of the princess cut (fit and flare), it didn't look heavy on the person wearing it.
It was mentioned in the description that the lining was a bit damaged, but this part isn't visible and is fixable. I decided to buy the coat and had a really nice surprise when I saw that there was a 30 % off on my purchase.

The coat doesn't meet 100 % of my criteria, but it's the only one that meets as many of them (after the coat from Fi.n.t)... It also reminds me of a piece from Kate Middleton's closet, probably because I've seen her wear mostly princess coats. I've recently seen her in a double-breasted grey coat with a fur collar and matching fur cuffs and omg she looks gorgeous.

The coat was shipped promptly and arrived rapidly. It was carefully and beautifully packaged (pics were taken in the evening so sorry for the darkness):

How nice is this wrapping paper? 💗

And the coat...

From afar, depending on the lighting, the coat looks like a denim colour or a dark grey-purple. Up close, you can see a blend of grey, blue and purple. I haven't seen a lot of coats this colour, but I love how unique it is. The dark colour kind of violates my 2nd criterion for a coat, but because of the blend and the white speckles already there, the lint doesn't affect the coat too badly.

I like that you can wear the collar in different ways,

either buttoned up completely or not.

Found this in one of the pockets... there's a buttonhole on one side,

but nothing on the other side. Haven't found a use to it yet... curious.

In sum, the coat looks amazing, in very good condition and as expected. This was a particularly important purchase and I'm really satisfied with it.

My second worry was naturally the fit. I was a bit worried that the coat would be too big. Although I had taken my measurements and everything seemed fine, my experience with Childrensalon had taught me that buying a winter coat online wasn't the best idea. However, except for the shoulders that were too large, the rest looked nice (waist, length). I was relieved but at the same time concerned if the shoulders could be altered.

..

I felt a bit sad seeing my coat every day on the hanger and not wearing it because of the shoulders. I waited until the Christmas holidays, when I returned home, to get it altered by a professional (about one month later). My mother had already gone to two seamstresses to inquire about it, but none of them worked during the two-week holidays—the very period I was at home.

When I arrived home, we went to see another seamstress. Not only the job seemed complex from her point of view, but it would be ready only in a couple of weeks (she also had other clients). We finally went to a dry-cleaning place where my mother had previously brought a shirt to shoo a tenacious stain. She had heard good words about the seamster that works there from the lady at the cash register.
When the seamster looked at the coat on me, he took a chalk and traced a line on one side of my shoulder. We asked him if the coat would be ready for the following week and he replied it would be ready by the end of the current week. We were surprised and I admit I wondered if the result would be how I wished it to be.
We returned to the dry-cleaning place to get my coat on Friday. I tried it on, and to my amazement, the shoulders looked perfect. It doesn't even look like there's been work done on them. I've been to a few seamstresses for other clothing alterations before and this is certainly the first time that I'm 100 % satisfied with the result. Furthermore, it cost less than what I expected.

I initially wanted to shop for a scarf and gloves to wear with my coat. But because I spent quite some money on coats this year (+ the boots), I decided to wait next year and scavenge through my mom's winter accessories. We found a nice faux-fur scarf to which my mom sewed snaps so I can wear it as a collar. She also found navy velvet gloves. I'm not in love with the royal blue reflection of the gloves, but they work fine. I think black leather gloves would look great. As for the fur collar, I totally love it. The colour truly compliments the coat and gives an elegant look.

My mom took pictures of me wearing the coat. ヽ(　･ω･)ﾉ

(My hair dangling in the back wasn't supposed to be visible, oops)

In my feet, I'm wearing black suede ankle boots bought at Aldo during the holidays. The heels are a bit higher than what I was looking for, but I love the lace-up at the front and their price was lower than other pairs I had tried.

Finally, yesterday I bought black earmuffs from Mia Mix to survive the extremely cold days.

I was first looking for a beret but finally shifted my search since earmuffs don't mess the hair and I only need to keep my ears warm. Because my face is quite wide, I was never interested in wearing earmuffs, but the pair I bought from Mia Mix actually doesn't look so bad (and will only be worn when much needed anyway).

I really like that they can be folded like this. It's practical for the purse.

Have a nice day ⛄

My Christmas Holidays

Last year, my family and I spent Christmas in New York and I shared some bits of my trip here. Looking back, these were great memories for my blog, so I decided to do the same this year even though we didn't go anywhere and relaxed at home.

P.S. Some pictures were taken with my phone that has a crappy camera, so I apologize in advance for the quality of some.

December 22nd

My sister and I went to Magog to walk and do some window-shopping downtown. On our way, we stopped at La Fabrique de Bagels Café Noir since my sister wanted to buy sesame bagels. Other than bagels, there's a cute little bakery inside. The atmosphere was quite festive for the holidays.

Downtown, the sidewalks were really slippery which we didn't expect. 

We stopped at Alessa Trattoria to eat a pizza and enjoy some warmth. We chose the Capricciosa which has cheese, tomatoes, olives, artichokes, basil and, I believe, ham. It was okay, but the crust is probably one of the best I've eaten in my life. It has a "grilled" taste to it and the texture is very light.

December 24th

On Christmas Eve, my family and I went to church in the late afternoon.

I was a bit hesitant to take pictures inside of the church, but the church service had not yet started and I wanted to show its architecture. We basically never go to church except on Christmas Eve, so I took the opportunity to snap a few pics discretely at that moment. The reason why I wanted to post pictures of the church here is that I've always liked the inside of it, the colours and especially the work on the ceiling. I don't know anything about castles, but the interior reminds me of one or another major monuments.

We can only see one on the wall in the above picture, but if I remember well, each "wall sculpture" depicts the crucifixion of Jesus. There are also on the other side of the wall, but I really can't remember if they illustrate the same event or a new story.

After church, time to eat... or so we thought. I had a dish I wanted to make, but because I wasn't advanced enough in the preparation, I made everything last minute which delayed the time we actually sat down to eat. Oops.

I made smoked salmon, cream cheese & beets tortilla rollups by Marilou (Trois fois par jour). In my hastiness, I forgot to look at the recipe picture and ended up making very thin layers of cream cheese and beets with not-so-thin slices of smoked salmon. This made the rollups taste mostly smoked salmon and nothing else. It was alright, but nothing amazing.

The following morning, the juice (of the beets/smoked salmon?) had started to impregnate the tortillas which gave them a very particular texture. It was like chewing something wet and juicy. It wasn't nice, but the taste was still okay. IMO, this dish should be eaten on the same day that it is prepared. I'm still happy to have given it a try, though.

The rollups the following day, with better lighting and cut in smaller bites

That evening, there was also cheese fondue, sausage rolls and cold meats. I mostly ate sausage rolls and my rollups. I found there was too much kirsch in the cheese fondue for my taste.

My sister had bought a yule log from Les Vraies Richesses.

It is so good. The white part is like milk and vanilla mousse with berries and soft chocolate cake inside. It's probably the best yule log I've ever eaten. It's very light, not overly sweet and goes down well after a heavier meal.

December 25th

Chicken, stuffing and mashed potatoes: Our Christmas meal.

There were also carrots and cranberry jelly (we call it atocas here), but I'm not a fan of these...

The stuffing was incredibly good. There wasn't any celery because my mom didn't have any, but it was still savoury.

I had a stuffing crave a few weeks ago and bought two boxes of Stove Top stuffing after watching videos of it on YouTube. Both flavours were chicken, one being lower in sodium.

I was, however, disappointed. I don't like the dehydrated vegetables (reminds me I always throw them out when I cook instant noodles) and the food tastes too much like chemicals and has too many spices (there are boxed foods that don't taste too chemical to me, such as mashed potatoes).

So when I ate my mom's homemade stuffing, it tasted like heaven compared to Stove Top. Just my personal opinion. I asked my mother the recipe so I can make it at my apartment.

December 29th

Delicious onion soup. I think it's the second time I've posted a picture of onion soup on my blog, but it's probably my favourite soup and meals. I always eat yummy and comforting homemade food when I return home.

December 31st

My sister had invited us for supper for New Year's Eve (she had also invited us last year and I had planned on blogging about it but didn't which I regret now.)

Our main dish was filet mignon with oven-baked carrots. The meat had been covered in salty spices (I forgot the flavour) and it had made a sort of grilled crust on the surface. It tasted amazing.
For dessert, we ate a Chocolat Favoris yule log my mother had bought. It tasted good, but it was way too rich and heavy after our meal.

January 1st

My father helps a friend with his sugar shack and brought us to visit it (it's a small sugar shack where they collect, produce and sell maple syrup, but it isn't "opened" to visitors.)

I absolutely love this picture. It looks like a painting.

On our way to the shack where the maple syrup is collected and produced

I don't know if it's clear in the picture above, but the snow was quite deep and there was no proper "path". It was thus tough to walk in such deep snow and after five minutes, I was already a bit fed up. Normally, the walk to the shack takes about an hour, but in these conditions, you could reasonably add 30 minutes. Fortunately, we walked like this for about 30 minutes; it was planned that my father would join us in the Argo to take us faster to the place.

Sadly, my Motorola froze during the walk due to the cold. I had to turn to my Huawei which takes pictures of lesser quality (but doesn't do that bad outside, at least).

We can hear the water flows when we come across these small streams.

It's really soothing.

Very generally, to my understanding, the maple water is collected through a hole in the tree and circulates in these small tubes connected to other trees (also with holes), and eventually to a bigger tube, everything going down a slope (gravity is necessary for the water to flow down). The big tube heads to a big container (shaped in a tunnel) that can be connected to another container to begin the transformation into maple syrup.

I had only seen maple syrup being collected in a metal bucket through a hole in the tree before, so it was interesting to see another method. However, the process wasn't clear at times, especially since the sugar season (saison des sucres) comes in a while, so the tubes weren't "in work" yet and some things still needed to be added.

It would've been a good picture had my hand not been in front of the camera.

I like how it goes darker in the middle and the contrast with the white snow.

Between those moments shared here, I also went to thrift shops with my mom, drove around town to see the Christmas decorations, played card games, watched movies, did nothing in particular, and other things.
I'm now back in Montreal and my Christmas holidays are pretty much over. It was pleasant and I really liked spending time with my family, although I didn't fully regain the sleep I had wished to retrieve during the holidays. Stress is pretty much the reason why, but anyway. For this year 2020, some of my personal goals are to develop my style and my interests, pursue my hair growth and set aside more money than in 2019, notably but not exclusively by being more reasonable in my purchases.