Summer coats cool new trend

By Wendy Donahue

(MCT)

Pity the shivering masses who thought they could stuff their jackets into storage closets come May and rely on cardigans until September.

A spate of rain and unseasonably cool weather in much of the country has made the notion of "summer coats" seem a whole lot less anachronistic.

The addition of that accessory catapults the piece from an afterthought to an outfit in itself.

"The coat has become kind of a dress now," Morrison said. "You can wear something underneath that's as old as the hills and no one will care."

Where the mercury rises, so does the air conditioning.

So a dressy anorak or updated trench in a lightweight fabric can be kept in rotation all summer. Even if the coat comes with its own belt, consider subbing in a leather, braided, stretch, Lucite or metallic belt.

Blazers present a shorter alternative.

Finally, one of the most versatile alternatives is back: the fitted jean jacket. Morrison likes an undersized jean jacket paired with an airy tank dress, she says, "to play with proportion." Bonus: You probably have one in your closet already.

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Your tabula rasa: A Daisy Fuentes anorak in white, marked down at last check to

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stores and kohls.com, lends itself to a variety of wide belts, including a stretchy Simply Vera Vera Wang wood buckle belt,

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