Forty years of autumn coats and I never wrote a word about a jacket. This is the exception
Six things the Lucinda jacket gets right that everyday jackets usually get wrong, from a woman who does not review clothes.
Let me be clear about who is writing this. I am Nancy, I am 62, I live in Malvern, and I have never before sat down to write about a jacket. What I have done is spend forty autumns hunting for the one that does everything: anoraks that made me look like I was off up a mountain, smart coats too stiff to lift my arms in, and one quilted thing that went flat after a single winter. So this is not a review. It is a woman who was wrong about jackets, owning up to it.
The one I am writing about is the Lucinda, from Mavira London, a small British boutique that has been quietly making everyday things a little nicer. I first noticed it on a woman choosing apples at the Saturday farmers' market, and when the boutique later asked whether they could share my letter, I agreed, as long as I could be completely honest in it.
A soft brown biker-style jacket, fitted at the waist, with a hood that zips clean off. Smart and practical at the same time. Beside the apples. Bear with me.
Here is what forty autumns taught me. Jackets come in two piles. The practical pile: shapeless, puffy, hooded things that keep the rain off and make you look twice the size you are. And the smart pile: tailored jackets that look lovely in the shop window, have no hood, no proper pockets, and leave you soaked at the bus stop.
Practical and shapeless, or smart and soaked. Those were the choices, and I had done my time in both.
The Lucinda is the first jacket I have owned that is neither, and having worn it on a blustery walk up the Malvern Hills, to a long Sunday lunch and on the train to Worcester, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The day it came. I opened the parcel expecting another jacket for the back of the wardrobe. I owed it an apology by the weekend.
It gives you a shape, not a silhouette like a duvet
The cut follows your figure with gentle shaping at the waist, so you look put together rather than bundled up. It never feels tight, even with a jumper underneath. With jeans it looks relaxed, with a midi skirt and boots it looks properly smart.
Having a proper look at the stitching and zips at the kitchen table. Neat all the way round.
My daughter, who has opinions about my wardrobe, asked if she could borrow it. That has never happened with any coat of mine.
Two jackets in one
The hood zips off in seconds. Hood on, it is a cosy everyday jacket for walking the dog in a drizzle. Hood off, it is a sleek, polished jacket for lunch out or the theatre. I have stopped owning two jackets for two kinds of day.
I went from a damp walk on the hills to a pub lunch in the same afternoon. Unzipped the hood in the car park and nobody would have known.
Soft enough to actually move in
It is soft and supple rather than stiff, light on the shoulders, and easy to reach and bend in. I can load the car boot, lift a grandchild or reach the top shelf at the supermarket without feeling like I am wearing armour, and it still keeps the chill off.
I wore it for the whole of a Saturday in town and forgot I had it on, which is the highest praise I can give a jacket.
Pockets that zip shut
The pockets close with proper zips, so my keys, phone and purse stay put when I bend down or hop on the bus. The front zip runs smoothly, with no catching and no tugging. These are small things, until you have lost a set of keys in a car park.
A classic shape that will not date
It is a classic biker shape with neat stitching, nothing faddy about it. I can see it looking just as right in five autumns as it does now, which is more than I can say for the puffy coat I bought three years ago.
It comes in khaki, black and brown, in sizes XS right up to 7XL. Check the size guide on the page before you order. I did.
It earns its keep every day
This is the part I did not expect. It does the school pick-up on Thursdays, the walk round Priory Park, coffee with friends and a trip to see my sister in Cheltenham. My old jackets each had one job. This one has all of them, and it barely gets hung up.
The Lucinda, against the jackets you have been buying
You can find an everyday jacket for thirty-odd pounds anywhere. I know, because I own the evidence. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Shapeless and puffy, adds a dress size
A fixed hood, or no hood at all
Stiff fabric you cannot lift your arms in
Open pockets that lose your keys
Fashionable for one season, then dated
A tailored cut that follows your figure
A hood that zips off in seconds
Soft and supple, easy to move in
Secure zip pockets
A classic biker shape that stays right
About the price
The Lucinda is £74.95, down from £224.00.
I will be honest and say I do not know how the original price was arrived at, and I did not lose any sleep over it. What I can tell you is that a sale price this low is usually where I start wondering what is wrong with something, and a month of wearing it most days, I have not found it.
And I do not like being hurried into things, so I read the small print before I ordered. Delivery is free and tracked anywhere in the UK, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee, and if you buy more than one piece you save up to 20%. If it had turned out to be another jacket for the back of the wardrobe, I could simply have sent it back. I did not need to.
In the hallway, ready for the walk into town. The umbrella is staying behind, the hood is coming.
If you have a dog walk, a day in town, a family lunch or a whole British winter in your diary, and your current jacket is either a sleeping bag with sleeves or no use in the rain, this is the one I would hand you myself. Stop owning two jackets for every kind of day and go and have a look.
Nancy
Lucinda | Hooded Moto Jacket
- Flattering tailored fit, never tight
- Removable hood, two looks in one
- Soft, supple and easy to move in
- Secure zip pockets and smooth front zip
- Classic biker shape that will not date
- Khaki, black and brown, sizes XS to 7XL
- Bundle & save up to 20%
- Free tracked UK delivery
30-day money-back guarantee · Free tracked UK delivery