The pre-order for the PS Donegal coats, including this one, will open on Monday. Details in an article then.
Instinctively, you wouldn’t think a camel-coloured coat (whether actual camelhair or not) would be that versatile.
It’s not the business standard navy or grey, or the more rural brown or green. It’s not even the black beloved of fashion, or the beige of a trench or covert coat.
Camel is a stronger colour than all of those, and it should be harder to wear. It’s certainly less common than all of them.
But wearing the coat above – a camelhair version of our PS Donegal – and my Anthology polo coat below has made me realise quite how many things camel goes with.
Three years ago when we first talked about that Anthology polo coat, I showed it with both grey flannel (above) and blue jeans (below).
The grey flannel looked good against camel, but then mid-grey works with almost everything. The pink shirt and cream cardigan were more interesting, as they seemed to suit it very well, as did an alternative combination with a green cashmere scarf.
The blue jeans I knew were a good partner as someone like Ralph Lauren shows them so much with camel, and that ability to do both smart and casual was a big part of the polo coat’s appeal.
But pops of colour were more effective than I’d anticipated, like the red watch cap.
A chance sighting of a woman in Mayfair wearing black jeans with her camel coat recently gave me the idea to try blacks and charcoal with our Donegal sample, and that proved surprisingly effective.
In the image below I’m wearing the new coat with black jeans (nineties 501s), a charcoal cashmere crewneck (Dalmo) and a grey watch cap. Black is great with the camel – these jeans are a little washed out, but I’ve also tried it with my black cords.
Charcoal is always going to be easier but black makes a very nice, perhaps more modern combination.
The second new outfit I did for that shoot, below, was intended to push the casual possibilities, with a sweatshirt instead of the cashmere crewneck worn with the Anthology coat.
But it was the Alden boots that I enjoyed most in the combination, as they showed how complementary snuff-suede was.
Trainers work in that kind of combination too, but I like boots with this kind of outfit myself, so everything isn’t quite so casual. It suggests a little more thought going on, somehow.
I was starting to wonder what wouldn’t work with camel. Perhaps navy, but actually Ralph Lauren also styles camel with its chalk stripe suits all the time (first image below).
Olive is a nice option too (second image below), as well as lots of bright colours like yellow and that red watch cap. I don’t think purple or orange would be so good, but that’s about it.
Then I remembered the guys from the The Anthology in Taipei. Some of them have the polo coat, and they’re always posting pictures of themselves in different combinations. Looking back through them (I’ve included a few below) I realised I should have seen a while ago how nice it was with black, as well as sportswear.
Of course, polo coats were originally sportswear, thrown over sweaty kit following a match or a chukka. But I didn’t necessarily think it would work as well now.
I personally wouldn’t wear sweats top and bottom with it, or Converse. But I can confirm that it is really nice with a hoodie in a lot of colours – this kind of cream, grey marl, black, faded navy, faded red etc.
A camel-coloured coat will always be showier than other options, and therefore not for everyone.
I remember convincing a lawyer friend to join me in buying a camel coat from an Italian discount shop on Cheapside, many years ago. Mine was this classic colour, his a touch richer. They were good coats and good value, but he always said he regretted the purchase – in a corporate law firm it stood out too much against everyone else’s navy and charcoal.
Maybe it would be easier today, given how casual things have become. Maybe it would be easier because he’s more senior and running his own team. But either way, that’s the only obvious downside of camel – that it will stand out, because it’s bright and because so few people have them.
Then again, maybe that’s changing too.
Below, a few other options culled from my inspiration board – there are so many!
