BY now, most of us will have unwrapped our Christmas presents – and if you found a coat underneath the tree, there’s a mistake to be aware of.
Before you leave the house to show off your new outerwear, there’s one thing you need to do – or you risk embarrassing yourself without even realising it.
At the back of every coat that features a ‘vent’ – where two sections or bits of fabric are sewn together – is a tiny stitch called a vent stitch.
These teeny stitches are designed to keep the coat from being pulled out of shape and getting wrinkled when it’s shipped to the store and hung on the rack for shoppers to snap up.
If the X stitch is not removed it means that the jacket can’t hang as beautifully as it is designed to, and won’t be as flattering on the wearer.
It’s not only women’s coats that have one of these stitches – millions of men are just as blissfully unaware of the common feature too.
Fortunately, if you don’t want to end up on TikTok for all the wrong reasons, the solution is simple.
Just snip the stitch with a pair of scissors, pull out the thread, and you’re good to leave the house in your new coat.
The sneaky X was designed to be removed, so fashionistas shouldn’t run into any issues.
But it’s not just coats you should prep before heading out to the streets – the same principle applies to suit jackets and blazers.
With winter now in full swing, it seems that many have forgotten to get rid of the stitch, as fashion police have taken to TikTok to warn others of this common mistake.
One social media user, only known as @_ohhellojo, recently begged fellow fashionistas to ditch the stitch after visiting a popular festive spot.
Secretly filming revellers on the streets, the TikToker said: “When you visit a Christmas market and everyone’s debuting their new coats.”
In the clip, which has since racked up more than 2.7million views, the social media user recorded plenty of people who were clearly not aware of the tiny feature.
“Please just cut the vent stitch,” she said in the caption.
Gen Z have recently rediscovered the trend of knowing your colour type.
And Fabulous‘ Deputy Fashion Editor Abby McHale, goes back to the original colour consultancy to check hers out.
“My wardrobe looks like a rainbow has exploded in it. You name a colour and I’m pretty sure I’ll have something that shade in there. And while I do like a neutral, I’m certainly not afraid of going bright.
That said, I have no clue what colours actually ‘suit’ me. So with colour analysis filters now popping up all over TikTok, I am intrigued.
But this is far from a new phenomenon. In fact, the trend first exploded in the late Seventies with Colour Me Beautiful, the seminal book on the subject by highly regarded colour consultant Carole Jackson.
Decades later, the Colour Me Beautiful movement is still going strong, with 220 consultants around the country, though they now categorise people as light, deep, warm, cool, clear or soft.
I make an appointment (£160 for 90 minutes) with colour consultant Angi Jones to test it out, and I found the whole experience great.
She tells me gold is my go-to for jewellery, blush pink, ruby red and warmer blues are my winning colours, and to steer clear of cooler tones as they emphasise the bluey undertones of my under-eye circles.
Getting your colours done is an investment that will last decades.
Once you know yours you will never go wrong again.”
“Most coats aren’t tailored these days so I suppose the knowledge is dying out.”
Close to 2,000 people flooded to comments, where one branded the mistake “the ultimate embarrassment”.
“This and leaving stickers on the bottom of shoes drives me nuts,” another chimed in.
“I hate it, I really, really hate it with a burning passion,” someone else said.
“I work in a shop that sells beautiful coats. I’ve started asking if they want me to open the vent before I wrap it,” a fourth wrote.
