I never thought I'd write a post about coats but sometimes this blog surprises even me. Here's the deal: For the last 10 years almost all of my winter coats have come from thrift shops or have been handed down to me by friends and family. And I have been so happy about this. I mean, what's not to like about getting something so utlitarian (and crucial when you live in the city of Chicago and do quite a bit of work outdoors) like a coat for little or no money? But recently I had a slight change of heart and big plans, people. Big. Coat Plans. More on that later. For now, a little rundown on some of my coats from the last decade or so.
I got this coat probably around the time Sam was born. I scored it at the great little thrift shop on Clark Street that was run by a moody Russian lady and it was $6. (Sadly, the thrift store is now a fancy furniture shop that is overpriced and not my style.) It was made in England and I adore the safety orange color. I am not certain that anyone else feels the same way. No one has ever said "That's a great coat," to me before. But that's okay. It has this heavy sail-cloth feel to it but actually it's on the light side, so I always have to wear a fleece under it. Not necessarily a bad thing but sometimes I feel a little cumbersome. And on really crazy freezing days like we've had of late, it just doesn't keep me quite warm enough. But I still wear it occasionally, have been wearing it all week actually.
My friend Suzie gave me this jacket about 4 or 5 years ago. She has more style in her pinky toe than I'll ever possess in my whole being. And she can pull off looks I didn't even realize were an option. Like crazy purply-red furry tassle things on the collar of a slightly metallic wine-colored jacket. From Oililly no less. This coat is so un-like me that when I put it on I feel both punk-y and a teeny bit fancy. At the same time. Plus it fits me snugly and it's quite warm (and soft and fuzzy on the inside). Once one of my co-workers looked at me and said, "I would have never believed in a million years that you would wear such a jacket. But it looks good on you. And it's fun!" It is fun. And when you have to slog through the brutality of a long Chicago winter, why not have fun and potentially look good? But it's kind of short at the waist and some days I want to be a little more mellow and that bright red clowny fur just doesn't let you blend in with the crowd. I still dig it though and it's still in mild rotation. But I have to be in the mood for it.
I got this coat last year. I had spent two years doing a lot of winter programs and walks in the garden and I was tired of being kind of cold. And so very orange. What I really wanted was one of those long down coats but when Ted and I went looking at them in a few shops I had a bit of sticker shock. $300, realIy? I scored this at the Brown Elephant on Halsted in Boys Town. It was in the Men's section but it's a Woman's coat. I think I paid $12 for it, which seemed kind of steep in terms of thrift store pricing but obviously considerably cheaper than three hundred bones. It fits me like a glove and I have worn the hell out of it.
In fact, I have been wearing all through this epic winter and then a couple of things happened. First, the zipper got caught in the door jamb twice, the first time it lost the actual zipper pull and the second time it got so crushed that it could no longer move. The big orange jacket came back into heavy roation. And something else happened. I started to get serious Long Down Jacket Envy. I'd see someone walking in a long down coat and they didn't look freezing, they looked warm. (Most of the time.) I began polling my friends and neighbors and strangers in the store. "Do you like your long down coat?' Where did you buy it? Do you think I deserve a long down jacket after years of buying coats from thrift shops even though I am currently unemployed?" The answers were mostly: Yes, on-line and Yes, you deserve a new jacket, don't be silly. Go buy one. Go. Go. But don't pay full retail. Get it on sale.
And so on Monday of this week I decided I would begin researching long down jackets on-line and that I would purchase one and that I would wear it for a decade to justify the cost. Life got in the way and I had some writing to do and I had a few lovely lunches in a row. I was still bopping around in my old orange coat, but I was cool with it because I knew a long down jacket was in my future. I was walking home from a few errands on Clark Street when I remembered we needed to replace our broken Brita water pitcher. I was right in front of the Brown Elephant thrift shop, so I quickly ducked in. Sure enough, there on the top of the housewares rack was a completely intact pitcher for $3. So I grabbed it. Out of habit and perhaps a bit of that strange curiosity that creeps up on you when you walk into a thrift shop, I walked over to the coats. Not much at first, old leathers, tired Vintage wool, cheap, stained jackets from Target and then . . . this.
Well, I guess I've blown the punch line since you see it hanging on my door so you know it came home with me. But indulge me. I'm almost done. It's a dark grey down filled coat and it fits me so well. The brand is Hagenson, which put a twinkle in my eye as my Grandma Ruthie's maiden name is Hagen. I thought it might be made in some Scandinavean country but when I looked closer at the label it said "Russ 34." Closer inspection on the label that tells you how to wash/care for it revealed a bunch of Russian characters that made no sense to me and then "MADE IN RUSSIA." That's right it was made in Russia. Now I figure they might know a thing or two about winter in Russia and that might bode well for this coat. And for me.
Oh sure, it isn't a brand name any of us recognize -- there's no North Face stitching in white screaming up there on the shoulder. But I don't care a whit about brand names. I'm more interested in something that is well-made and will keep me warm and fits properly. And that seemed to be what was going on with this coat. The price tag said $24. I was really on the fence (I know, I'm insane) but then right in front of my nose was an orange sign proclaiming that all clothing was 50% off. So I got it for $12. And there was 36 cents in the right pocket. And a tiny folded up scrap of paper that was completely blank. I think I skipped home, watching carefully so as not to slip on the huge patches of ice.
Maybe next year I'll get a real coat, the kind that you buy on-line or at Dick's Sporting Goods or Sierra Trading Post, someplace like that. But for now I am quite happy with my 12 dollar Brown Elephant Russian Long Down Hagenson Jacket. And you're welcome to tell me how warm and happy I look in my "new" jacket next time you see me.
