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Being a male of a certain age clothes to me are something to wear and fashion is a thing that I let others worry about. I know some of my wardrobe is older than a lot of my readers are. In fact I have a pair of motorcycle boots that are over fifty years old and while I no longer ride a motorcycle they still get used quite often.

I assume that Debenhams have several types of this jacket as the one I saw in the press release could be worm outside in rain the one I was sent cannot as it’s not waterproof but I have still given it good wear on dry days.

I understand they are available in S, M, L and XL. I asked for XL and either by mistake or because the lady concerned has met me in the past I was sent L. This meant me removing one layer of clothing to be able to put it on.

Now my lack of fashion knowledge will be exposed is it a zip up jacket, a fleece or a sweater that zips up the front.

Mine was a very serviceable dark charcoal grey with elasticised cuffs and waist with a hood the importance of the hood will become apparent.

I have carefully avoided the word hoodie as it brings worry to many people of my age as they bring up images of rioting youth.

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Here the hood has a purpose other than keeping my bald head warm it has inbuilt speakers at the sides pointing in. There are drawstrings either side that serve two purposes, one to get the ear speakers perfectly positioned in front of your ears and, two, to choose how open the slightly oversized hood is dependant on the temperature.

There are two buttons woven into the left edge seven centimetres from the top of the zip. The top one gives a very low volume – only useful in a totally silent room and also a higher volume which in a lot of places may be too high. This however can be reduced by adjustment on your ‘i’ device or MP3 player to get the volume level for the situation. The second button is play/pause. Zip up to the top and both buttons become totally invisible.

The left slit pocket –just above the waist has another small zip pocket inside and this is where you place your ‘i’ device or MP3 player, I found the hold button was required to stop actions that you do not want happening.

The right slit pocket is normal. So how does your device connect to the speakers? Simple there is a 3.5mm lead in the left pocket. The slit pockets are deep enough to place your hands fully in as they go to the centre zip.

For those noisy occasions like on a train there are two tiny zips along the edge of the inside of the hood and each contains an earbud connected to a 30cm length of lead and these can be placed in the ear for added level.

I cannot be a judge of the ‘fashionably’ of this item but it is was not fashionable I doubt Debenhams would had launched it. The in hood speakers are rather good and if like me earbuds can be a pain after a couple of hours it is a nice alternative when moving around. I can vouch that during cold weather it kept me nice and warm.

The C.Vox is available from the link below for £65.  www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prod_10001_10001_075010756265_-1?breadcrumb=Home%7EMen