Can Vertbaudet replace our favourite coat?

Curly Girl is growing like a weed. At three months shy of four years old she’s been in four-to-five year old clothes for some time. Tall and slim, she’ll be a super model one day and keep me in the style I’d love to become accustomed to. Seriously.

No, not seriously. Heck I want her to grow up in a world where it is acceptable, no, just normal for her to be whatever she wants to be. Model, scientist, doctor, writer, racing car driver (yep you heard me Sterling Moss *blows raspberry*), teacher, mother, whatever.

Phew! Glad I got that off my chest.

In the meantime however, she needs to be clothed. Big time. She needs a new pair of shoes every eight weeks or so. She’s in size nine’s y’all. But what she’s needed most for some time is a new coat. I think what’s held me back from buying her a new one is how much I love her current coat. It’s a cerise felt duffel coat from the Marks & Spencer Autograph range c. 2010 and the only item of her clothing that we have left from our time in China. I bought it way too big for her at the time and now it’s way too small. But I still love it. So I wasn’t at all sure when French children’s clothing company Vertbaudet sent us this new Spring raincoat to review. Could it replace our favourite coat?

Well, in a word, no. Her old coat embodies so many memories for us – from walking down Danshui Lu in the heart of Xintiandi in Shanghai to returning home to the UK and starting nursery school – it has experienced life along with us and kept her warm and dry.

The jacket folds up into its own little bag

But hang on, let’s give the new coat the benefit of the doubt for a moment. It’s certainly Curly Girl’s favourite colour – pink – and fully reversible with little cat faces on the cotton side, plain on the nylon side. There are even cute little cat shaped patch pockets on the front. I see it’s also available in pink/navy stripe which is lovely too. We were sent size 5-6 years which I thought might be a bit too big even for my little weed, but when she popped it on I was pleasantly surprised to find it fit her well. Puuuurfect length (sorry, the cat theme took me) and just a bit too long on the arms but they can easily be turned back. A quick run under the tap showed that the nylon side is indeed waterproof on the although I’m not sure how it would fare in a deluge. It has a nice chunky zip that she can learn to do up herself (helpful as getting dressed is one of the things we’re learning at the moment) and a generous hood that actually covers her head completely. There’s also a zip on the back of the plain side which you can use to fold the coat up into a pocket to pop in your bag. So on suspect days (and lets face it we have a lot of those in the UK!) I can pop it in her school bag ready to be whipped out if it starts to rain when she goes outside to play. Clever!

So while it won’t, it can’t replace her gorgeous old coat, perhaps it can be there when we shape a whole new set of experiences this Spring. Yes, I think so. And as it’s on sale at the moment at £23.20 it won’t break the bank either *grin*.

Giveaway
Woo hoo! I’ve got two outfits up for grabs – one for a girl and one for a boy – so two lucky readers can experience Spring with Vertbaudet’s certain brand of je ne sais quoi.

Two Vertbaudet outfits up for grabs

The girls outfit is a tunic and leggings, perfect for warmer days. Please note I have it in size 6 years only. The boys outfit is a t-shirt and denim shorts. I have this in size 8 years only.

To enter simply use the Rafflecopter widgety thing below and don’t forget to say which outfit you are entering for. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer, terms and conditions and the all-important small print: 
Vertbaudet sent us a raincoat to review and offered two outfits to give away. We received no other compensation and all opinions are my own. This giveaway is open to UK residents aged 18 or over, one entry per household. There is no cash alternative. The winner will be chosen at random via Rafflecopter. The winner will have 48 hours to claim the prize or another winner will be chosen, again at random using Rafflecopter. You DO NOT have to subscribe to Bod for tea or like my or follow me on as part of your entry.

ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions