Buckets full of soz for everyone still clinging onto the dream of summer, but we must face facts that autumn is nearly upon us. Thankfully though, this means we can start getting prepared with autumn/winter shopping and some of next season’s trends are so exciting that we’re sure even the most stubborn sun-worshipping winter hater will look forward to them. Enter mini-trend of the season number 1: the duster coat.

Duster coats are apparently so called because back in the day people wore these long coats when they were riding either on horseback or in carriages, where they would get all dusty from the road. As an olden-days woman I would have been FUMING if my nicely chosen winter outfit had been ruined by dust, so I can understand why dusters were such a biggie. Nowadays, we’re lucky enough to have things like tarmac and car doors to keep us relatively dust-free on our journeys, but that hasn’t stopped duster coats coming back into fashion. Due to their lightweight material, they’ve been spotted out and about during the summer evenings already – but this A/W they’re going to be very big news.

We haven’t actually tried any on yet so we can’t vouch for how the oversized, longer-length jackets are going to look on petite girls. We kind of predict they’re not going to be the most flattering things, but before we see this for ourselves and ruin the dream, we thought we’d share with you some of our fave dusters from the high street. Some of these are already available NOW (so err, what are you waiting for?!) whereas others are due to drop in the next couple of weeks. 

Topshop Checked Duster / River Island Red Duster Jacket / New Look Mint Green Duster Coat

I always used to hate coats because I saw them as total outfit-ruiners, but these fresh, contemporary dusters from Topshop, River Island and New Look respectively show that they can be as much a part of your outfit as what you wear underneath. Both the Topshop check and the River Island bright are statement pieces that are sure to brighten up any outfit, while it’s nice to see pastels sticking around for another winter. The New Look one, which is available in 2 weeks, is also a polyester/wool mix and so will be much warmer than the lightweight dusters we’ve seen so far this S/S.

Miss Selfridge Jacquard Duster / New Look Crepe Duster Coat / Topshop Khaki Duster

These three jackets are from the more classic end of the spectrum and so perfect for people who like their coats a bit more neutral. Jacquard is always a popular texture in the winter and the monochrome of this Miss Selfridge coat will mean it goes with everything. New Look and Topshop provide another two corkers; the pale pink New Look coat proves the oversized shape doesn’t need to make the duster masculine, while the Toppers one looks very authentic – I imagine it’d take a dusty road very well indeed.

ASOS also stock a few nice ones and I’ve seen on Instagram that people are snapping up some BEAUTIES from Primark too, so we would definitely recommend checking those out as well. Come payday I plan to launch my own duster coat mission, so I’ll report back on whether it makes us short girls look chic and androgynous, or like a massive sack of potatoes…

What do you all think of the duster coat trend?