LilyEve Upcycled Hermès Blanket Coats and Cropped Trench Coats: Outfit Ideas

LilyEve's one-of-a-kind pieces turn vintage Hermès blankets, scarves and beach towels into outerwear, and the styling question is straightforward: with a blue-and-white blanket trench coat or a cropped towel jacket made from vintage Hermès textiles, how do you keep the upcycled print the only pattern? The answer is a plain-base formula. Everything beneath, beside and below the coat stays solid, matte and quiet, so the textile you fell for does all the talking. Build outfits around the coat, not around it plus a second print.

Start with the plain base as a rule, not a preference

Elle's interview with Lily Clempson lists blanket coats, cropped trench coats, shearling vests, silk tops, oversize totes and bucket hats, all upcycled from vintage Hermès blankets, scarves and beach towels. Treat each outerwear piece as the single pattern in the look. That means a solid base layer — a fine-knit crewneck, a plain cotton shirt, a simple tank in a color drawn from the coat — then solid trousers or a column skirt. Choose base tones that echo one color inside the textile rather than competing with it. For a blue-and-white blanket trench, cream, navy, pale grey and white all read as support. Avoid stripes on the top if the coat's print already moves in lines.

Formula one: blanket trench over a column

• Blue-and-white blanket trench, worn open or belted
• Plain cream fine-knit top or a crisp white shirt
• Straight or wide-leg trousers in navy, charcoal or ecru
• Matte leather loafers or a low suede boot
• One small silk or towel detail at most — a slim scarf tucked inside the collar

Elle notes that Kelly Rutherford recently wore a blue-and-white blanket trench, and it is the more demure end of the output; some other pieces, like a raspberry-and-tangerine jacket, run maximalist. That difference governs your base. The quieter trench can carry a full column skirt or tailored trouser. The brighter jacket wants a darker, calmer bottom half. If you are weighing a black shoulder bag against a lighter option for the column look, this guide on a black shoulder bag with wide-leg trousers shows how a single neutral accessory keeps a patterned top layer in charge.

Formula two: the cropped towel jacket

The Terry Towel Series consists of cropped jackets made from vintage towels, with stylized seagulls, parrots and cheetahs across them. A cropped jacket ends near the waist, so the bottom half does the shaping. Pair it with a high-waisted plain trouser or a simple midi skirt in a solid tone pulled from the print — a sand, a deep green, a flat white. Keep the top plain and close to the body so the jacket's hem sits clean. Matte leather sandals, plain sneakers or a flat mule all work; gloss and hardware on shoes add a competing texture. Do not add a second animal motif in a belt, bag or charm.

Choosing between a coat and a cropped jacket

Decide by role, not by print. A blanket coat is outerwear for a plain outfit you already own: it covers a column, a knit dress or a trouser suit, and it wants longer, quieter companions. A cropped towel jacket is a focal top layer for a warm day; it works best over a plain tee and light trousers, and it needs a bag that sits close to the body rather than a large patterned tote. If you want a longer outer layer for transitional weather, the ideas in this guide to trench details across garments show how belt and lapel choices change a coat's outfit role, which applies equally to a blanket trench.

Matte shoes, one small echo, nothing else

Because the coat's textile is already complex, give the shoes a matte surface: plain leather, suede or canvas in a solid tone. Use at most one small echo of the print elsewhere — a slim silk scarf, a towel-textured bucket hat in the same palette, or a coin-sized color detail — and let the rest of the outfit stay plain. If you carry a bag, pick a solid neutral or a deep color drawn from the print, and keep its hardware minimal. A structured bag with a plain base can shift the outfit's balance; this herringbone coat and cargo trouser guide is useful for thinking about bag scale and coat volume together.

Build a small rotation

• Quiet trench, office day: cream knit, navy wide-leg trousers, black loafers, no scarf
• Quiet trench, weekend: white tee, straight ecru jeans, flat suede mules
• Cropped towel jacket, warm day: plain white tank, sand wide-leg trousers, leather sandals, towel bucket hat in the same palette
• Cropped towel jacket, dinner: black column skirt, black flat mule, small solid bag

Each look uses exactly one patterned item: the LilyEve piece. The existing wardrobe reference titled "Hermès So Kelly 22 Bag: Outfit Ideas for Day and Evening — existing wardrobe reference" is a separate same-brand wardrobe reference, not a photograph of this upcycled output.

The short answer

Keep the upcycled print the only pattern by deciding the base first: solid top, solid bottom, matte shoes, one small echo at most. LilyEve attributes the upcycling to the brand itself, not to Hermès, and each garment is one of a kind, so the outfit should be built around that single piece rather than layered with additional prints.