A Letter From Eleanor · Co-founder of Merlow London
Merlow London · October 2026
Every Autumn, Women Tell Me a Hoodie Is Too Thin and a Coat Is Too Heavy. Ainsley Is the Jacket I Chose for Everything in Between.
On the six things I insisted on when we chose the Ainsley jacket, how she compares to the jackets already in your wardrobe, and why she is £49.95 during our anniversary.
Ainsley over a white tee and jeans: the jacket you grab on the way out.
I am Eleanor, and in 2011 my sister Sophie and I started Merlow London with one stubborn belief: no woman should ever have to choose between feeling comfortable and looking beautifully dressed.
There is a question I hear every single autumn: what do I put on for the dog walk, the school run, the quick trip to the shops? Something you can grab on the way out of the door without thinking about it.
And the answer always seems to fall into two piles. The first is the thin fleece or hoodie, comfortable but letting the cold straight through the moment the wind picks up. The second is the heavy puffer coat, warm but bulky, the kind that makes you feel twice your size and too warm the second you step inside. I never accepted that a woman had to choose between cold and cumbersome.
Charcoal quilting, cream sherpa and a touch of brown trim.
The Ainsley jacket is my answer, and she is the jacket hanging by my own front door right now, the one I reach for every morning this October. When Sophie and I were putting together this autumn's collection, I had a list, and I was not going to give up a single point of it. These are the six things I insisted on.
1Sherpa that feels like a warm hug.
Inside, Ainsley is lined with a soft, cream sherpa, through the body and all the way up into the hood. The moment you zip her up on a cold morning, you feel the difference.
The sherpa lining, soft from the first wear.
"The sherpa lining is unbelievably soft and cosy. It keeps me warm even on properly chilly mornings."
2Warm, without the weight.
A softly quilted outer with ribbed cuffs and hem that keep the warmth in, but none of the bulk of a puffer coat. You can bend, reach and carry the shopping without feeling wrapped in a duvet.
Quilted outside, ribbed at the cuffs and hem.
"Really warm without being heavy or bulky. I can actually move around comfortably in it."
3A hood and zip that make life easy.
A smooth full-length zip, so you can wear her open on a mild afternoon or zipped right up when the wind turns. And a sherpa-lined hood with a drawstring, for the days the weather changes its mind halfway through your walk.
A sherpa-lined hood for when the wind picks up.
A smooth zip that never catches.
"The zip is lovely and smooth and the hood is brilliant when the wind picks up. Such an easy jacket to throw on."
4Pockets you can actually use.
Two deep front pockets, finished with neat brown trim, big enough for your phone, your keys or simply your cold hands. No more balancing everything in one hand on the walk home.
Deep enough for a phone and keys.
"Finally, pockets that are actually useful. They're deep enough for my phone and keys when I'm out walking."
5Every size from S to 3XL.
This was the point I would not move on. A cosy jacket should not stop at XL. The woman in a 3XL deserves the same Ainsley as the woman in a small, at the same price.
"I'm a 3XL and this fits beautifully. Plenty of room without making me feel swamped in fabric."
6A fit you do not have to second-guess.
Ainsley is true to size. Order your usual size and there is room for a jumper underneath, without her ever looking oversized.
"I ordered my usual size and the fit was just right, even with a jumper underneath."
Ainsley, against the jackets you have been buying
You can find an autumn jacket for around £50 almost anywhere. I know, because I have tried a great many of them. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
- A thin fleece that lets the cold straight through
- Or a heavy puffer that makes you feel twice your size
- A hood with nothing warm inside it
- Shallow pockets that lose your keys
- Stops at XL
- Soft sherpa lining through the body and hood
- Warm without the weight, easy to move in
- A sherpa-lined hood with a drawstring
- Deep pockets for your phone, keys and cold hands
- Every size from S to 3XL
I refuse to sell a jacket that asks a woman to choose between staying warm and feeling like herself. That is the whole reason Ainsley is in our collection.
Why Ainsley is £49.95 right now
This year, Merlow London turns 15. Sophie and I talked for a long time about how to celebrate, and we kept coming back to the same answer: with the women who made these fifteen years possible.
So for our 15th Anniversary Sale, the Ainsley jacket is £49.95 instead of £100. And when you choose more than one piece, you save even more, taken off automatically at checkout: 10% extra on 2 pieces, 15% on 3, 20% on 4 and 25% on 5 or more. So Ainsley with a second piece at the same price comes to £89.91 for both.
The anniversary prices are only here for a limited time. When the celebration ends, so do they.
If fifteen years of Merlow London have taught me anything, it is that once a woman owns a jacket she can grab without thinking, she wonders how she ever managed without it. That is the quiet bet I am placing in writing you this letter at £49.95.
"I've practically lived in this jacket since it arrived. The sherpa lining is wonderfully soft and warm, but the jacket still feels light enough for everyday wear. I throw it on for dog walks, shopping and chilly mornings and always feel comfortable in it."
Folded, tagged and ready to go out to you.
I am genuinely proud of the Ainsley jacket. She is everything I was looking for all those autumns, and I hope she becomes the jacket you grab every time you head out of the door. Delivery is free across the UK, and you have our 30-day money-back guarantee. If she does not make you feel wonderful, simply send her back.
With love,
Eleanor & Sophie 🤎
Ainsley · Cosy Sherpa-Lined Zip-Up Hooded Jacket
- Soft sherpa lining through the body and hood
- Warm without the weight, smooth full zip
- Deep front pockets, S to 3XL
- Free UK delivery & 30-day money-back guarantee
Choose more and save: 10% extra on 2 pieces, up to 25% on 5+.
See if your size is still availableAbout the writer. Eleanor co-founded Merlow London with her sister Sophie in 2011. Fifteen years on, she still chooses every piece in the collection with one question in mind: would a woman feel both comfortable and beautifully dressed in it?
This is a personal letter from the founders of Merlow London. Anniversary prices are valid for a limited time and while stock lasts.
15th Anniversary Sale