Last winter I bought myself a chartreuse coat at Forever 21. Chartreuse had been popping up on the runways and I couldn’t resist taking a chance on the color, especially at an affordable price. Although a bright and unexpected color, it actually looked great with tons of pieces in my closet and turned a basic jeans and t-shirt ensemble into something fun. The best part, I got a compliment on it every time I every time I wore it. Fast forward about 2 months and the coat was finished. A few buttons had fallen off, the cheap material was pilling, and although I have told myself for almost an entire year that I should go find some cute buttons to sew on theZ coat and re-vamp it, it still sits in my hall closet untouched. Today I stumbled across this gorgeous coat from French Connection:

Swoooon. Not only is it the same bright chartreuse, but has a ton of cute details my old coat only dreamed of. The black toggles add the perfect contrast to the vivid color, and the Peter Pan collar, pleats and yoke detailing are the kind of girlie touches I am always a sucker for. You’ll stand out in the sea of drab winter coats, and the color will take you straight into spring, as I spotted chartreuse once again in more than a few of the spring 09 collections. The best part is, with the superb quality of French Connection, this coat will actually survive the journey from winter to spring… year after year.