Scottevest to roll out a carry-on coat for women

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Although functional, one of the things I noticed when I shrugged into one of Scottevest’s carry-on coats to research an article for the January Los Angeles Times Magazine was that the shapeless shell wasn’t exactly the most fashionable-looking piece of outerwear. In short, it was exactly what you’d expect a 33-pocket gadget garage with arms to look like.

And though fashion points might not matter to the kind of guy bent on circumventing an airline’s carry-on baggage fees, I think it’s safe to say they’re running a different game on the other side of the style aisle.

So I was heartened to see that the women’s version of the carry-on coat -- which is tentatively scheduled to go on sale in mid-February -- has amped the fashion quotient a tad by offering a double-breasted trench coat in three colors (adding red and blue to the khaki used in the men’s coat) with epaulets, a generous notch lapel and a belt.

And although the pocket population of the women’s trench is nearly half that of the original coat -- just 18 instead of 33 -- you can expect to pay less too, because it’s expected to retail for $130 instead of the $225 for the men’s version.

For anyone keeping track, that makes those 15 jettisoned pockets worth about $95 -- or about $6.34 out-of-pocket per pocket.

-- Adam Tschorn