All throughout the winter, I have been satisfied by one single coat. This coat shed the rain, warmed my body, and shielded me from annoying island winds without so much as loosening a stitch. The culprit? The Mia Melon Provocateur iii jacket.
Before I go any further into this review, let me quickly tell you that Mia Melon is set to launch plus sizes, and are raising money through a Kickstarter fund!
The Stella Jacket will be $123 in sizes XS-3X.
The Ava Jacket will be $127 in sizes XS-3X.
Mia Melon is our old weather-resistant coat friend based out of Vancouver BC. The brand was started by two design nerds, one of whom was a pioneer in the ski and snowboard gear industry. I hesitate to call them a fashion brand because their wares are so incredibly functional! Mia Melon jackets are an awesome combination of form and function, and definitely contend with fashion designers with their unique shapes and styles.
If this Kickstarter campaign is a success, a total of five pre-existing styles will have their size range increased with 1X, 2X, and 3X. Check out the Mia Melon Plus Size Kickstarter page to see the other styles as well as the expanded size chart.
The plus size range will offer something that curvy, busty, and voluptuous gals don’t often get: performance and design in the same place. So often, plus sized women feel like the design of their clothing is an afterthought. The boxy, baggy crap they try to sell to us makes it seem like we’re so hard to design for. Give me a break! Mia Melon has it figured out, take some notes!
A few months ago, after I wrote about Mia Melon, they sent over one of their signature rain jackets for me to try out. Not like I was surprised, but the quality surpassed my expectations. They sent over the Mia Melon Provocateur iii Jacket for me to check out as a fellow Pacific Northwesterner.
The thoughtful design details of the Mia Melon jackets are my favorite part. For example, the interior of this jacket – the entire thing, even the pockets – have never-cold microfleece lining to instantly comfort cold hands. There is a waist tie on the Provocateur iii jacket that has adorable, raw-edged leather slides. The hardware at the tips of each string and the snaps that run alongside the zipper are the same bright silver. The classic trench-style flaps in the front and back allow for maximum water-shedding and ease of movement. There is a double zipper to allow you to zip it all the way up, then unzip it from the bottom to allow you to walk more easily.
Look at those shoulders! The peaked shoulders are extremely cool looking and probably help water shed or something. Mostly they make me feel like the un-famous forest version Lady Gaga.
The hood gets its own paragraph, too, because it fulfilled a lifelong fantasy of mine. Thanks to Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential and Princess Buttercup from A Princess Bride, I have a soft spot for enormous hoods. Mia Melon jackets have hoods that girls who constantly wear top knots will appreciate. I get swallowed up in it sometimes, but most of the time it just feels like a mega-shield against the rain. When wearing it, the hood behaves best when the jacket is zipped all the way up. It also looks really good when it’s down, so the occasionally stubborn hood is easy to forgive.
The Provocateur iii’s performance in the rain is nothing short of spectacular. The material the coat is made from might feel rather stiff when you first get it. This is due to the serious business DWR coating they put on to help the rain bead off. While it looks like a boutique jacket, it performs like a jacket from a outdoor good store. Despite its heavy duty feel, it can easily be rolled up, compressed, and packed into small spaces. I had mine in a tiny backpack while I browsed OMSI and it came out essentially wrinkle-free!
I have an XL in their standard sizes, but I definitely could go up a size to a 1X if it were available – mostly for boob space. Busty girls can relate to having the “waist” on jackets and anoraks usually end up more like an underbust or empire waist situation. I’m a size 12-14, right in-between standard and plus sizes. Let me tell you, it’s tough to figure out where to shop and what to buy when people are constantly changing which group you fit into, literally!
Mia Melon’s plus size range project will only be funded if it reaches its goal by . If you believe in affordable, powerful, weatherproof outerwear for plus size gals, throw them a couple dollars!
Check out the rest of the Mia Melon’s jackets, available in XS-XL, on MiaMelon.com. If you’re in love with my Mia Melon Provocateur iii Jacket, you can pick one up from their website for $159.