I’m laughing that this was a week ago and now we are snowed in here in Dallas. It was in the mid-60s and sunny on this day, so a nice lightweight trench jacket was just perfect. Fast forward and I haven’t been outside in three days because it’s so damn cold. Texas weather is not for the faint of heart, nor for the heavy of coats. 9 times out of 10 my lightweight coats get me through but today I’m typing all of this under three blankets and a heating pad. I am built for comfort, not the cold.
(PS: My trench is past Madewell but I’ve sourced a few below! )
Last week we celebrated our 18th anniversary at some wineries in Fredericksburg (this is Signor Vineyards outside Fredericksburg — not the best wine but they do have best vibes.) I’m always a bit nostalgic when we go to the Hill Country since that’s where this all started. I don’t know if you remember but we used to live in Kerrville when I first started KE and right after we married. We were just babies, I tell ya. Every once in a while we would drive over to Fredericksburg for a pizza or a hamburger, but we didn’t have winery money at the time. Plus there were only a handful of wineries that I can remember. It was just another small town to us. So now when we come back to enjoy the wineries around here, it’s crazy to see how much it’s grown in twenty years. But I will say as much as it has grown, it’s still quite sleepy to me. Everywhere we go in the Dallas area there is traffic, there are people, there are crowds. This past weekend we had most places to ourselves. It reminded me of the old days in the sweetest way. It was just us, in the hill country, like in the beginning. It was also very easy to snap these outfit photos because absolutely no one was around. Just like it used to be.
Okay enough personal anecdotes, let’s talk about a drapey trench jacket or a soft trench. However you want to call them, they’re an under the radar staple in my book. I’ve usually had one in my closet at any time for years; back a decade ago it was a soft blush hue and then I went through a camel stage and now this nice olive-y brown. All neutral adjacent of course, but not just a black or grey. I actually like finding a soft trench that isn’t black; because it’s a looser and drapey fit it can be a heavy look so bringing in a lighter color or a different neutral breaks up the silhouette of the jacket and makes a bit more sense to the eye. (That is to say I’m not against a black soft trench, but I would want one that is a bit more slim fitting and tailored. For all intents and purposes, I don’t want to risk looking like a dementor.)
My jacket is old Madewell but the one I found that is closest is this one here. That one is a bit pricey so I’ve rounded up a few others below — first the ones that look like this one and then I found some other options in browns and neutrals.
Olive Soft Trench Jackets
Neutral Soft Trench Jackets
