Puffy Down Clothes and a Casting Call for HuffPost

While obsessing over the vintage clothes on 1stdibs in recent days, I spotted this down coat/dress by Junya Watanabe.

$1,500. Click to buy on 1stdibs.

It’s from Watanabe’s Fall/Winter 2009 collection. Sarah Mower of Style.com wrote:

“Leave it to Junya Watanabe to take a generic utility garment—in this case, a chill-blocking down jacket—and elevate it to an incredible level of romantic imagination. ‘Feathers and air’ were in his mind when he began work with the tubular components of a puffer and then started treating it to myriad turns of construction that lifted it far away from its casual origins.”

You can see the whole collection here.

The Watanabe piece reminded me that I’d Instagrammed a photo of hair stylist Julie Matos’s leopard puffa skirt last month, and it was one of the most popular things I’d Instagrammed in a while.

Click for original post.

Julie got this supercute mini at Patricia Field quite a while ago. I don’t know if they have anything like it in-store now; there’s definitely nothing online.  Too bad, because Julie says it’s warm AND comfortable.

I hated puffa (or puffer) coats while growing up because the only ones I saw were shapeless, but, for years now, designers have been making much more appealing versions. I have two myself. One is my crazy, cropped, fringed and ultra-puffy jacket by Boudicca.

The jacket in 2011. Click for original post.

I don’t think I have an outfit picture with the other one, which is a coat by Pucci with a nipped-in waist and a printed lining.

Please pardon the photobombing gorilla.

Norma Kamali was one of the designers who made puffas chic by introducing her “sleeping bag” coats in the 1970s. The French designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac (I collect his current designs) also did some wild puffas around the same time.

Puffa by Castelbajac. Displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2006.

My favorite puffa ever is Castelbajac’s jacket with a transparent shell and dyed feathers. I risked the wrath of a Parisian museum guard to snap this blurry photo of it.

Shapeless, but awesome because of the colors. Click for original post.

I’ve seen some good puffas out and about lately, so I’d like to feature the style in one of my fashion slideshows for the Huffington Post. In the past, I’ve limited participation in those slideshows to fashion bloggers, but it’s time to branch out. I don’t care if you’re a fashion blogger, tweeter, Instagrammer … or if you are lurking on this blog and have never shared any fashion photo ever. Don’t be shy! If you have a puffa that stands out due to its cut or color, send a well-lit outfit photo to me at wbjewelry at hotmail dot com. Let me know how you want to be identified (first and last name, just first name, blog name, Twitter handle, whatever!); the name of the coat or jacket brand; and what you like about your puffa. As always, I’m looking for a diverse crowd: you can be any age, weight, height, complexion, cat-owning status, etc., to participate. The only thing that matters is that you have a good quality photo and that your puffa strikes me as special. I will let you know if I choose you for the slideshow.  I’ve already got two peeps and I would like at least eight more: This is your chance to be HuffPost famous, so take it!