Esqualo Coats: Teddy, Faux Fur And One That Reverses
Esqualo coats came in four shapes this autumn and no two of them do the same job. A longline teddy that clears a dress. A reversible that is faux leather on one side and teddy on the other. Two mink faux furs, both cut short, both with a collar big enough to turn up against the wind.
At a glance
- Sand longline teddy, double-breasted, finishing below the knee
- Cacao reversible: faux leather with a shearling collar one way, teddy the other
- Mink faux fur in merlot and in dove grey, both cropped at the hip
- Dutch label, bought here for colour and print rather than neutrals
- Knitwear in the same delivery, cut to sit under a coat without bulking
- The longline teddy coat
- The reversible, and what it reverses to
- Two mink faux furs, merlot and grey
- What goes underneath
- Where Esqualo coats fit, and how they run
The longline teddy coat
This is the one that photographs best and, more usefully, the one that solves the most days. Sand-coloured teddy bouclé, double-breasted with proper notch lapels, dropping well below the knee so a midi dress does not hang out underneath it.
Teddy coats went through a phase of being cut short and boxy, which looked fine on a rail and odd on most people. This one is long enough to have a shape. The buttons are tortoiseshell rather than matched to the fabric, which is a small thing that stops the whole coat reading as one flat block of beige.
The reversible, and what it reverses to
Reversible is a word that gets used loosely, so it is worth being specific about this one. Worn the way it is photographed above, it is a chocolate faux leather jacket with a dark shearling collar folded over, four buttons and deep patch pockets. Turn it and you get the teddy.
That makes it two genuinely different coats rather than the same coat in two colours, which is the usual disappointment with reversibles. The leather side reads smarter and takes a heel. The teddy side is the school run and the dog. Nothing about the cut gives away that it works both ways, which is the difficult part to get right.
It sits at hip length, so it goes over trousers and jeans rather than over a dress. Our full outerwear range is on the coats collection page if you want to see it against the quilted and down styles.
Two mink faux furs, merlot and grey
Same style, two colourways, and the colours are further apart than the names suggest. The merlot is a deep brown with wine running through it, warmer than it sounds and easier to wear than a red would be. The grey is a pale dove, almost silver in daylight.
Both are cropped to the hip with three-quarter sleeves and a wide spread collar that stands up on its own. The pile is long and dense, and it moves when you do rather than sitting stiff. A gold zip on the merlot, silver on the grey.
The three-quarter sleeve is the detail to think about. It is deliberate and it looks right, but it means a long sleeve underneath in December rather than a bare wrist. The grey in particular wants something dark under it.
What goes underneath
Coats are only half the delivery. The camel and grey argyle knit came in alongside them and it was designed to work with this outerwear rather than sold separately by accident. Grey in the pattern picks up the dove faux fur, and the camel sits against the sand teddy.
There is a cream rollneck poncho in the same range for the days a coat is too much. It goes over almost everything and it is the piece customers try on last and buy first. The rest of our knitwear is worth looking at in the same visit.
Where Esqualo coats fit, and how they run
Esqualo is Dutch, and it sits in the part of our rail that customers come to when they want colour and print without the whole outfit becoming a statement. The coats are the quieter end of what the brand does, which is partly why they work: the shapes carry themselves and you put the personality underneath.
On sizing, the outerwear is cut with layering allowed for, so your usual size will take a jumper. If you are choosing between the longline teddy and one of the faux furs, think about what you wear most. The teddy covers a dress and a skirt. The faux furs stop at the hip and want trousers.
Come and try them on if you can. A coat is worth five minutes in a mirror, and we can bring out the sizes either side while you are there.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy Esqualo coats in the UK?
We stock Esqualo coats at Experience Boutique on Fleet High Street in Hampshire, and the range is on our website as well. We buy a rotating edit of the collection each season rather than the whole range, choosing the pieces that suit the women we dress. If you would rather feel the weight of a coat before committing to it, the autumn outerwear is on the rail in the shop and we will happily bring out the size either side of the one you try.
Where is Esqualo from and what is the brand known for?
Esqualo is a Dutch womenswear label. It is known for confident prints and considered colour, and for cutting clothes to be worn rather than admired on a hanger. In practice that means printed knitwear and cardigans built for layering, trousers that move from day to evening, and jackets designed to pull an outfit together instead of competing with it. It suits people who want a few pieces with personality rather than head-to-toe pattern.
How does Esqualo sizing run?
Esqualo is a continental label and sizes accordingly, so the numbers on the label will not match a UK dress size. In our experience the fit is true once you allow for that, and the outerwear in particular is cut with room for a jumper underneath, which means your usual size rather than a size up. Every product page carries the measurements, and if you are ordering online and are unsure, ring the shop on 01252 621035 and we will check the specific piece for you.
What does the reversible coat actually reverse to?
One side is chocolate faux leather with a dark shearling collar, four buttons and patch pockets. Turn it inside out and the same coat becomes teddy bouclé throughout. They read as two different coats rather than as one coat in two finishes, which is what separates a proper reversible from a novelty. The seams and the collar are finished so that neither side looks like the wrong way round, and the buttons work from either face.
Will a faux fur coat keep its pile over time?
A good one will, and the deciding factor is usually how it is dried rather than how it is worn. Heat is what flattens a pile permanently, so keep faux fur away from radiators and never put it in a tumble dryer. Air it rather than washing it whenever you can, follow the care label when it does need cleaning, and shake the pile out once it is fully dry. The denser piles hold up better than thin flat ones, which is part of what you are paying for.
Written by Emma Molyneux
Emma opened Experience Boutique on Fleet High Street in 1996 and has run it for thirty years. Her daughter Laura now handles the buying, across more than forty European and international womenswear labels.
