Joules Parka Review – A Coat For Pram Pushing and the Park
A Joules Parka Review…
We review the Joules Parka – is this a perfect coat or parka exist for the intricacies of mumlife, and all the park trips, pram pushing and pavement pounding that it entails?
Coats, when you’re a mum:
I’ve written before about ‘mum’ dressing, but here’s some things about being a mum, and coats:
- When you’re out with a small child in a pram, you can’t hold an umbrella because you don’t have any spare hands (especially if you’re also holding onto a toddler, a Frozen rucksack and someone else’s folded Mr Tumble umbrella, obviously)
- This means you’ll get wet if it rains, as they don’t do rain covers that cover all of you (and most pram rain covers hardly even work on the pram. Why are they so universally rubbish?)
- More importantly, you’ll get wet hair. And if your kindred hair spirit is Orphan Annie or 80’s Bonnie Langford, like me, you’ll know the kind of frizzy fear that rain will give you. And if you straighten your hair a lot you’ll know that this takes the sort of time you don’t really have much of as a mum, so you want to make it last
- So basically, you really need a hood
- If you don’t have a car you do a lot of pavement pounding with the pram, especially in central London, so you’re outside more and more chances of getting rained on
- There’s lots of standing around outside in the cold park, sneakily trying to look at Facebook on your phone, so you need something that’s warm
- Loads of pockets are also handy to house all the winter stuff you need to cart around (millions of tissues, travel card, phone, other people’s gloves, some kind of snack, 80p in change, some kind of small thing that’s a swallow risk, more tissues)
So you want / need a practical coat with a hood but you probably don’t really want one that looks like something they sell in a outdoors shop that you had to wear on Duke of Edinburgh expeditions. Especially when you’re still mourning your pre-pregnancy wardrobe of jackets and lovely, impractical Zara numbers.
I don’t know where everyone stands on the whole mum coat debate, but when you factor all of these things in it does all point to something more sensible. And even now I hate, hate, hate sensible, practical things (most of my teenage years were a battle with my dad, whose constant refrain was ‘it’s not a fashion parade!’ When everyone knows at that age it really is a fashion parade).
This is where parkas are handy, because they are practical (warmth, pockets and hood) but the thing about parkas is that everyone wears one, from pop stars to Zoella.
Step Forward The Joules Parka…
I’d been looking at Joules coats but was handily offered one to review, so chose the Joules Gayle Parka, which is a showerproof half fur lined parka.
Great things about the Gayle Parka…the amazing fur lining and the hood, the length, it’s quite fitted and also has a waist string so you can cinch it in more and there are lots of pockets. It’s only showerproof, apparently, but I’ve worn it in torrential rain and been fine.
The slightly disappointing thing for always-freezing me is that it’s not as warm as I was expecting, especially for your arms, and I’ll probably still layer up underneath it in really chilly weather (I do get freakishly cold though). It’s also £179, which is at the higher end for high street coats – but it is a really well made one from a quality brand.
But with this coat, it’s all about the fur and the hood. It’s a pretty immense hood, as hoods go – It’s also quite heavy, so it means it stays on your head when faced with a strong breeze. You can also zip it off (although why you’d want to, I don’t know; your hair is 100% safe under it).
Do you have a mum coat? Let me know if you have a good one. (PS it was actually blowing a gail when these photos were taken. E’s clutching ‘sticky’, her yellow stick toy. Not really sure why).
More posts…Christmas jumpers for babies, a SnuzPod bedside crib review, things they don’t tell you in NCT classes – and follow me on Pinterest
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10 Comments
Slummy single mummy
December 2, 2015 at 11:14 am
I quite agree, a good coat is EXTREMELY important. It’s the sort of thing that one should really think about very carefully, so as to get something that ticks all of the boxes. I am terrible at buying coats – I go for way too much fur which is terribly impractical in the rain. My current coat is gorgeous, but useless – it has a massive fur collar, but only one button, so it just sort of drapes around you. It was absolutely bloody freezing walking around Central Park in it last January, just after their freak snow storms. I really didn’t think that through. I’ve had my eye on a yellow mac for ages, but I’ve yet to find one that has quite the right fit. I have a relatively big bottom you see, which makes mac buying tricky…
Molly
December 2, 2015 at 11:58 am
Ah man, I want one! I have the most ridiculous parka that doesn’t have a hood. It’s totally impractical and leaves me with the worst hair EVER. This one looks really good – stylish AND practical. Who knew such a coat existed?!
Alice
December 2, 2015 at 2:31 pm
I love parkas! Mine’s navy and from Gap but I also love this one too, you’re right about the glorious hood!
Candy Pop
December 2, 2015 at 7:51 pm
Beautiful coats and I especially love the immense hood – haha! Have a great evening. x
Polly
December 2, 2015 at 8:23 pm
oh i’d be lost without my parka!!! hood & pockets are vital for a mum arent’ they?!
Kathryn
December 3, 2015 at 11:59 am
I used to have a parka and lived in it and I’m not sure why I no longer have one now, especially when I see you wearing this. It’s so practical but always cool and that hood!!! x
Jess @ Along Came Cherry
December 3, 2015 at 12:28 pm
It looks great! So warm and comfy. A good coat is so essential, I only got my first parka recently but it’s changed my life! x
Shirley
December 4, 2015 at 5:28 am
I like the shiny material, more like a Mac than a parka without the hood you would be able to wear anywhere
laura redburn
December 5, 2015 at 1:51 pm
ooh i love the hood on this, and you manage to make it look rather lovely! i’d look like a shrunken michelin man (lady)!
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