The $200 eBay jacket Annabel Crabb wore every day for a month.

Imagine having to choose one outfit to wear every day for a month. You thought this was a dilemma only judges on The Voice faced, didn’t you?

Wrong.

Annabel Crabb, one of Australia’s most beloved and respected journalists/bakers/TV hosts/podcasters had to make this difficult choice when she began filming for her ABCTV series, The House.

Despite the questionable premise (behind the scenes at Parliament House in Canberra), there are a lot of extremely interesting things about this show. It’s actually terrific and I now hang out for every new episode (there will be six in total and you can watch them all on ABC iview).

I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting to be riveted when I tuned in for the first episode. I mean, it’s a building.

But in her signature style, Annabel is able to make anything sound interesting. For example, the way she weaves in this great story about a kangaroo’s scrotum on the coat of arms at Parliament House.

You can watch The House here and listen to the No Filter interview I did with her about it here.

HOWEVER. Get to the jacket already.

I know.

Here we go. As I watched the first few episodes of The House, I couldn't help but notice.... what she was wearing. The Jacket. Annabel's style is always stellar. It's very 50s, totally her and she wears clothes - they don't wear her. She has fun with fashion in a way I find so delightful it makes me truly believe that I too could carry off a sleeveless vintage tea dress with pineapples on it and pop a bottle green cardigan over the top.

I can't but still, I love to look at what Annabel wears almost as much as I love to hear what comes out of her mouth or read what comes out of her brain.

THE JACKET. FOCUS.

OK, so when I'm looking at Annabel in The House and thinking about the fact the series would have been filmed over a long period (10 months as it turns out) I thought a lot about how she would have chosen the clothes she'd have to wear again and again during filming - for continuity.

When she came in to Mamamia and we sat down in the podcast studio, I asked her and quite the story unfolded.

It turns out the black jacket and pants she wears in most episodes is not in fact a suit but rather her favourite pants and a jacket she bought on eBay after noticing that her friend, Sky News political journalist Samantha Maiden, had one and it looked particularly terrific.

"I had to wait for it to come onto eBay because it was by the label Willow which doesn't exist anymore," she told me.

"Wait, it's Willow?" I asked.

Confirmation came immediately that yes, it was in fact Willow.

"It's called a Ponti jacket and it has great shoulders."

Here is the jacket in motion:

The Ponti jacket does have great shoulders, this is true. Also, it is stretchy, unspeakably comfortable and has an extremely flattering neckline no matter what size your boobs.

How do I know this?

BECAUSE I USED TO OWN A WILLOW PONTI JACKET.

Until.... I sold it on eBay. Around the same time as Annabel bought hers. On eBay.

And now I want it back.

Although maybe I don't want that one back - not after hearing how Annabel had to wear it every day for a month. How many times can you dry-clean a jacket before it disintegrates into molecules and simply blows away? Many, it seems.

Despite the fact that Annabel would rather never see her Ponti jacket again because she feels the same way about it as every woman feels about her maternity clothes by the end of her pregnancy (ie: if I look at it again I may vomit), I bet she could sell it for more on ebay now that it's embedded with her sweaty DNA (and possibly mine but that would probably require a discount not a premium).

While she ponders this as an exciting new income stream, I've found another Willow Ponti jacket that's available now:

Now I want to hear from you. What's the best bargain you ever nabbed online?

Listen: Annabel Crabb can make anything interesting. Post continues...

If you want to read more about Annabel (who doesn't) you can go here!

To read more of our cult buys, click here. 

To read more about fashion, click here.