The coat everyone is recommending right now costs 49.95 euros. The bag in the same photograph, in the same article, signed by Polène, costs 390 euros. The loafers are 159. The other bag, Mauska, is 480 euros.

This is not a criticism of the article - it is the running arithmetic of fashion advice. One affordable item carries the headline, and around it line up eight objects costing ten times more. The reader remembers that the coat is cheap. The bill, if they actually assemble the look, is an entirely different story.

From the trenches to Broadway

In 1914 the Briton Thomas Burberry was commissioned to create a coat for soldiers in the trenches. Hence the name - trench coat. Over the years that waterproof and practical garment moved into the popular wardrobe, and today both the runway and the affordable brands keep renewing it with new materials, lengths and details.

In the last week of August, Zara regularly launches its versions for the coming autumn-winter season, counting on us to make room in the wardrobe for one more coat. And it works. Every year. The question is not whether the garment is nice - it is why the same threat of cold manages every year to sell the same garment under a new name.

What the short coat actually does

The difference between the long classic cut and the short one is more than length. The long one carries functionality and so-called quiet luxury. The short one, puffier, bomber-style, suits more relaxed days. The model now being recommended tries to combine the two: a wide, comfortable cut cinched at the waist with a belt in the same fabric, for an hourglass silhouette.

That is also the only technical recommendation from the whole article worth remembering. The belt in the same fabric is what holds the look together - not the logo on the label.

The three combinations, translated into reality

The first is French and eternal: a striped cotton jumper and straight high-waisted jeans in a light wash. The key, it says, is in the brown suede accessories with gold detailing. The second is romantic - a white blouse with a square neckline and a long checked skirt, with ballet flats in olive green.

The third is the most usable: an all-black look with capri trousers and open sandals with a thick heel, instead of the usual loafers. When the base is a single colour, choosing accessories becomes far simpler. That is advice that requires no new purchase at all.

The Balkan bill

Here, September weather does exactly what it does in Madrid - a morning when you need a layer, an afternoon when you do not. The coat is a practical answer to that, and that is a truth independent of any campaign.

But it is worth noticing what exactly is being sold. What is being sold is not a coat. What is being sold is the feeling that there exists one garment that will solve the entire transitional season. That garment does not exist - what exists is the wardrobe you already have and three ideas for putting it together. The difference between those two sentences is several hundred euros.