A few weeks ago I was near downtown New Westminster, alone, and decided to go into the Grand Central Consignment store. It is a store that stocks clothing in sizes 10 and up and its selection of giant shoes is spectacular. I don’t really need shoes. No. But I went in anyway.<\/p>\n
Having found no shoes I browsed the coat rack. I don’t need a coat, either, but someday my beloved corduroy coat will die and I will need a replacement. I tried on a few. Mostly they sucked. And then, I tried on The Not Raincoat.<\/p>\n
If I were to need a coat, it would be a raincoat. I have a green, waterproof jacket, which has served me well these many years with kids and walking in the rain, but I often wish it was longer (wet, jean-clad thighs are unpleasant) and maybe not quite so bulky-jackety. More like a coat. More streamlined.<\/p>\n
A few years ago I saw a woman wearing the perfect coat but I was driving so I never got to find out what sort it was.<\/p>\n
No fewer than four moms at preschool have the same Lululemon raincoat,<\/a> and it is pretty much what I want, (I would love it in red) but not for $178 and also, then how will my kid know it’s me? (By the ugly men’s rainboots, probably. The other mothers have pretty, decorated rainboots.)<\/p>\n The coat at Grand Central was the right length. It even was longer at the back. It was fitted and it fit me perfectly. It had a huge hood, which is important because I have a huge head. It had two sets of zippered pockets, it had *inside* pockets, it had cuffs under its sleeves to keep rain from going up your sleeves, it was ELEVEN DOLLARS…<\/p>\n …and it was not waterproof.<\/p>\n It was made of cotton. Untreated cotton. <\/p>\n I just stood there, staring at it. Because what good is a perfect raincoat if it is not, in fact, a raincoat? Why would someone go to the trouble of designing a perfect raincoat (pockets, sleeves, hood, etc) and then make it ABSORBANT instead of repellent?<\/p>\n Would you design a giant umbrella and poke it full of holes? Would you design a pillow and stuff it with rocks? Form is important, or I’d wear a garbage bag, but function is important, too.<\/p>\n I walked away, but I was very sad, because it still felt like a good deal. I walked home, thinking about ways I could buy it and love it and wear it – just not in the rain. (un)Fortunately my brain was having none of it. Eleven dollars is not a good deal for something that is useless.<\/p>\n Do you own anything perfect – and perfectly useless? Or do you have no patience for non-functional designs? Would you have bought the eleven dollar raincoat made of cotton and then sprayed it with shellac?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A few weeks ago I was near downtown New Westminster, alone, and decided to go into the Grand Central Consignment store. It is a store that stocks clothing in sizes 10 and up and its selection of giant shoes is … Continue reading