Rubik's Cube Clothing

Help.

Please. Someone? Anyone? I can't figure out my clothes. Well, this particular piece of clothing, anyway.

"Here," my friend Jessica said, pulling a long, plaid coat/vest thingie off a hanger in her closet. "I've been wanting to give this to you. It's really cool, and it's perfect for you — you're so good at layering."

Layering, yes, I can do that — toss on a cardigan or a vest and ta da! But solving puzzles? Not so much. This is like the Rubik's Cube of the fashion world.

You know how I solved the cube back in the day? Pried off the loose square tile in the middle, used a screw driver to undo the hidden screw and then I pulled each piece out and put the whole thing back together again. Oh, I had the book on how to solve it. I just didn't understand it.

So here I am with what is obviously a beautifully well-made piece from a European clothing line, Transparente. Yes, I Googled it. Know what came back? A lot of links to sheer clothing along with a few stores that used to carry Transparente.

A wool-cotton blend, the sleeveless coat has buttons and a scrap of matching fabric that appears to hook onto said buttons. I'll be darned, but I'm hopelessly, completely lost. Just lost.

I've never owned any fashion item so nice that it required its own instruction manual. But, I'm determined to figure this out. I really don't want to whip out my screwdriver, though.