If you follow me on Instagram, you know I had a small accident on Thursday night. My daughter and I were playing and I got a bad scratch on my eyeball, eek! Not to worry, I’ll be totally fine. But I had to eliminate screentime for about 48 hours and thus my Fashion Friday got delayed.
Rather than chat about the business of fashion (it’s at a standstill thanks to COVID-19), I chose to chat about something uplifting!
I’ve been wanting to start a new series on the blog and “The One That Got Away” has been in my head for at least 5 years. While the production of it will continuously evolve – what’s in my head isn’t meeting what’s coming out – today I’m sharing the first episode.
The One That Got Away
This series was born out of those diamond in the rough pieces we found while shopping, but for whatever reason didn’t purchase, and regret that decision to this day.
I’ve been shopping since age 5, so I have a TON of these stories.
About 12 years ago I was doing my weekly round at Nordstrom Rack when I saw it.
Black. Leather. Floor length.
It was the trench coat of my dreams. Leather so buttery soft, it practically melted in my hands. As a huge fan of The Matrix, this coat channeled Trinity like no other. I HAD to have it.
Sure enough, as soon as I slipped it on in the dressing room, I almost fainted. It fit like a glove. The waistline nipped in perfectly, the sleeves ruched in the coolest way, the collar could be worn popped up for extra badassery, and the length was perfect. It skimmed the floor in a way that was made for me to float from room to room. It almost made me look like I was walking on water.
Walking on water.
If all of this weren’t enough, the next part really tipped it over the edge.
It was Rick Owens.
If you are unacquainted with said master, you should know that black and leather are his thing. No one does it better.
This trench coat basically descended from the heavens into my hands. Then I looked at the price.
$999.
It’s important for me to first share the original retail price – $8500. With tax, this coat retailed for almost $10,000. And here it was, hanging in front of me at almost 90% off.
I panicked.
Palms sweating, I started to run numbers in my head. How could I make this work? Put it on a credit card? The coat was more than my rent.
At this time in my life, my budget was very different. This coat would equal my clothing allowance for the YEAR.
I just couldn’t do it. So I passed.
I still dream about this trench coat. Did I make the right decision? That’s arguable.
For a moment in time, I could have been Trinity from The Matrix.
The black leather Rick Owens trench coat… it was the one that got away.
Image via IMAXTREE (while this is not the exact trench coat, it’s close)