MERYL STREEP'S OUTERWEAR IS LEGENDARY

Meryl Streep will be the first to tell you she’s just not that into fashion – in fact, she’s said it more than once. A quick search will surface the phrase 'I couldn’t care less'. And yet here she is on The Devil Wears Prada 2 press tour – a shining example of the fact that you don’t need to be into trends to be stylish. All you need is the right coat. Meryl has been big in the outerwear game for almost fifty years – her famous beige trench coats in 1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer were the first to spark a slew of lookalikes. Fast forward to today, and she's still making a case for statement coats. Want inspo from some of the icon's recent head-turning looks? Gird your loins!

Thanks to the burgundy shade and shiny vinyl fabric, Meryl's trench is polished to perfection. She's not too far off from her Devil Wears Prada character Miranda Priestly, which leads us to believe that Meryl and her stylist Micaela Erlanger are indulging in a bit of method dressing. What we love most about her choice of coat? The trench is such a classic shape that it’s easy to remix with different colours or fabrics, and still feel effortlessly put-together.

The right statement jacket can do all the heavy lifting, meaning you can keep the rest of your styling simple. And that's exactly what's happening here. Meryl opts for effortless blue jeans and black flats, and elevates the whole look by throwing an oversized polka-dot jacket on top. Polka dots are a major trend this spring – Meryl got the memo. And while we love her bright-green and black palette, a brown and blue colour combo would be even better. Lucky for you, we've designed a jacket just like that.

The car coat is the minimal little sister of the trench – and the refined shape on Meryl's version lets the tomato-red shade really sing. The car coat was dreamed up as protective gear for drivers (think more Ford Model T than Formula 1) but has since transcended its humble origins. Here’s how to spot one in the wild: it has a single-breasted front, a short collar and two (optional) pockets. The car coat is terminally slept on as the perfect springtime coat for people who want to keep things simple. A neutral shade might be the obvious choice, but why not take a note out of Meryl's sartorial book and opt for something just as eye-catching – like this gingham jacket from Reclaimed Vintage.

We’ve said it a million times: leopard is a neutral. Meryl proves our point in this voluminous number, which is a blouse-coat hybrid topped with an oversized bow. Leopard is easy to style with almost anything and deserves to be ranked highly in your coat roster. It also hides a multitude of sins – like that inevitable early-morning coffee spill for instance.