A Shopping Spree
Among the items Nephew sent me for Christmas was a Brooks Brothers gift card. Mid-January is usually the best time for sales, even better than Christmas. This is basically their time to clear the shelves of all their winter items.
I walked across the bridge (the nice one) over to BB's Trade Center store, figuring that I'd save a couple more bucks towards the purchase of a shirt or a couple of ties. I had no idea what the card was worth; it wasn't written anywhere. Imagine my shock when the clerk at the store told me it was for $100. Wow, Nephew. Way to go.
In the back of my mind, I was actually thinking of putting the gift certificate toward the purchase of a car coat. I'm pretty good with my clothes; I get good use out of them. The car coat I have now is about ten years old. A new one would not even be on my radar but for the fact that I noticed it fraying a bit along the seams.
The problem was that I like the old one; ideally, I would have loved an exact copy of it.
That's sort of what I appreciated about BBrothers; that you could get that classic look and stick with it. But, getting an exact copy of my old "barn coat" proved elusive. The coat that came closest in appearance didn't have the same moisture resistance. The one that was moisture resistant only came in plaid. I don't do plaid.
I began to realize that ten years is a long time even for mens clothing. Manufacturer's change. Countries of origin change (the old one was made in Sri Lanka; the new one is from China.) Even sizes change: what was Medium ten years ago, was suddenly considered Large today. Apparently, I needed a Large size even though my Sri Lankan made coat of ten years ago fit me perfectly in a Medium.
The Trade Center store was fresh out of Larges.
This meant a trip uptown to their East 43rd Street store (I paid the subway fare -- hey, it's Nephew's dime, I told myself.) The mid-town store had a bit more selection. There were more things in my size. But, nothing exactly like my old, microfiber barn coat.
The thing is this, this coat had to fill a certain niche in my wardobe; it was that back-up coat for when it was too warm for a parka but too cool to go coatless. Something I could wear through the late Spring and again the late Fall.
I have a jean jacket that I've had since I was in law school. For most of its life it was too big for me (the other problem is that I have a composite size, my arms are long enough for a Large, but my waist and shoulders really want something Small-ish -- Medium was the uneasy compromise for most of my young, unrequited, clothes-shopping life.)
But, the problem with jean jackets is that they look great with everything -- except jeans. In a matching jean jacket and pants, I look like Glen Campbell. Or, someone trying to look like Glen Campbell. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004794/ It doesn't work for me.
I felt like an old college campus trying to replace a signature building. I wound up compromising on the color and the detailing. It was less a barn coat with its signature corduroy collar and slightly baggy look; and, more like a safari jacket with a pair of chest pockets and everything fastened by gromets.
The important thing is that it was mostly cotton with a kind of oil treatment that makes water bead on it. And, this being Brooks Brothers, they even included a free tin of the special fabric oil in the hip pocket of each jacket. That sold me.
In the end, it was really a sort of updated jean jacket -- but, a rich brown color instead of blue-jeany. And, it fit over my hips so I could conceivablly wear a suit underneath it.
The true test came a short time later when I wore it out the store (bearing the old barn coat, wrapped, in a dignified Brooks shopping bag.) For the next hour and a half, roughly the length of time it took to walk from midtown Manhattan, all the way across the Manhattan Bridge (the ugly one) to my apartment, the coat kept me warm, but, didn't suffocate me as a parka almost certainly would have. I enjoyed catching glimpses of myself whenever I passed something with a reflection.
By the time I exited the elevator at my floor, I had barely broken a sweat. Good coat. Thank you, Nephew! Thank you, Brooks Brothers. See you in ten years!
I walked across the bridge (the nice one) over to BB's Trade Center store, figuring that I'd save a couple more bucks towards the purchase of a shirt or a couple of ties. I had no idea what the card was worth; it wasn't written anywhere. Imagine my shock when the clerk at the store told me it was for $100. Wow, Nephew. Way to go.
In the back of my mind, I was actually thinking of putting the gift certificate toward the purchase of a car coat. I'm pretty good with my clothes; I get good use out of them. The car coat I have now is about ten years old. A new one would not even be on my radar but for the fact that I noticed it fraying a bit along the seams.
The problem was that I like the old one; ideally, I would have loved an exact copy of it.
That's sort of what I appreciated about BBrothers; that you could get that classic look and stick with it. But, getting an exact copy of my old "barn coat" proved elusive. The coat that came closest in appearance didn't have the same moisture resistance. The one that was moisture resistant only came in plaid. I don't do plaid.
I began to realize that ten years is a long time even for mens clothing. Manufacturer's change. Countries of origin change (the old one was made in Sri Lanka; the new one is from China.) Even sizes change: what was Medium ten years ago, was suddenly considered Large today. Apparently, I needed a Large size even though my Sri Lankan made coat of ten years ago fit me perfectly in a Medium.
The Trade Center store was fresh out of Larges.
This meant a trip uptown to their East 43rd Street store (I paid the subway fare -- hey, it's Nephew's dime, I told myself.) The mid-town store had a bit more selection. There were more things in my size. But, nothing exactly like my old, microfiber barn coat.
The thing is this, this coat had to fill a certain niche in my wardobe; it was that back-up coat for when it was too warm for a parka but too cool to go coatless. Something I could wear through the late Spring and again the late Fall.
I have a jean jacket that I've had since I was in law school. For most of its life it was too big for me (the other problem is that I have a composite size, my arms are long enough for a Large, but my waist and shoulders really want something Small-ish -- Medium was the uneasy compromise for most of my young, unrequited, clothes-shopping life.)
But, the problem with jean jackets is that they look great with everything -- except jeans. In a matching jean jacket and pants, I look like Glen Campbell. Or, someone trying to look like Glen Campbell. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004794/ It doesn't work for me.
I felt like an old college campus trying to replace a signature building. I wound up compromising on the color and the detailing. It was less a barn coat with its signature corduroy collar and slightly baggy look; and, more like a safari jacket with a pair of chest pockets and everything fastened by gromets.
The important thing is that it was mostly cotton with a kind of oil treatment that makes water bead on it. And, this being Brooks Brothers, they even included a free tin of the special fabric oil in the hip pocket of each jacket. That sold me.
In the end, it was really a sort of updated jean jacket -- but, a rich brown color instead of blue-jeany. And, it fit over my hips so I could conceivablly wear a suit underneath it.
The true test came a short time later when I wore it out the store (bearing the old barn coat, wrapped, in a dignified Brooks shopping bag.) For the next hour and a half, roughly the length of time it took to walk from midtown Manhattan, all the way across the Manhattan Bridge (the ugly one) to my apartment, the coat kept me warm, but, didn't suffocate me as a parka almost certainly would have. I enjoyed catching glimpses of myself whenever I passed something with a reflection.
By the time I exited the elevator at my floor, I had barely broken a sweat. Good coat. Thank you, Nephew! Thank you, Brooks Brothers. See you in ten years!