V8346 - Cashmere Coat with Vintage Fur Collar (in progress)

In the spirit of Sewing Resolution #2, I spent a large portion of New Year's Day 2013 working on V8346.  I cut out the fabric for this coat a while back with the intention of making it for the mini-wardrobe challenge at Pattern Review.  Sadly I never moved past the cutting out stage, failed to enter the contest as planned and the coat became a UFO.

 

After a few hours I would say that construction of the coat is about 50% complete. It is made of a navy blue cashmere coating and lined in a black and white graphic floral print. The collar is a genuine vintage fur inherited from my cousins' grandmother. I altered the pattern to match the shape and size of the already finished fur collar. I've attached the underside of the collar to the coat and will handstitch the fur to coat once it is otherwise complete.

I cut a size 18 to assure that the coat will fit appropriately through the shoulder. Having tried on what I have so far it seems that the coat will fit well albeit closely through the bust and sleeve. I think ultimately this will be a dressy winter coat to wear over fitted sheath dresses and not something to throw on over a sweater. I also apparently inserted the pockets way too high in the side seams (they are currently centered over my natural waist which is clearly not correct). I think I may ultimately just cut out the pockets and sew the side seams up completely. I don't typically use my coat pockets anyway, what with carrying a purse, so I think that eliminating the pockets may make for the sleekest fit. 

At this point the entire outer shell is constructed and the lining sections are pinned together and ready to stitch.  I am still trying to decide which buttons to use.  I like the plastic navy buttons that are cut in a jewel-like shape (second from the left) but they are a brighter navy than the coat.  The plain navy buttons are a better color match but less interesting.  I may ultimately go with the gold but I'm afraid that it might lend too much of a military feeling when I'm actually aiming for vintage glamour.  Any suggestions or opinions?