Coat Story

I have a new coat.

Do you have a new coat?

I have a new coat.

Yes, this morning we broke our yearly tradition of avoiding stores on the day after Thanksgiving. Master Fob had to take some shoes back to Sears and we had a little cash from the sale of his comic books, so we bought him a new watch, the kids a new diaper bag (our other one bit the dust the other day), and me a new coat. This is really only the fourth or fifth coat I've owned in my life, as far as I can remember. When I was small we lived in San Diego, and I never needed a coat. We moved to Idaho for a few years and I remember owning a puffy pink coat and groovy light blue moonboots. Then we moved back to California and I didn't wear a coat on a very regular basis. At some point during high school I acquired a dark green jacket from Land's End. When we moved to Maryland during my senior year of high school, this coat came in very handy. It accompanied me to Utah and served me well for three years of college. Along the way, however, I started to dislike it. It wasn't very cool or cute looking--I envied all the girls who had cute little wool peacoats. But I never could bring myself to get a new coat, because it seemed foolish to spend money on replacing an item that still worked just fine, no matter how ugly and unhip it was. When I left on my mission I bought myself a long black dress coat, since I assumed that would be the best thing to keep me warm during the cold Spanish winters. The coat did keep me warm, but it proved to be rather awkward for all the walking around I did. It was large and heavy, so midway through my first winter I replaced it with a cute, cheap European peacoat like all the other Spaniard girls were wearing. Never mind that I didn't wear it with thigh-high boots and a miniskirt--now I was hip, warm and comfortable. I kept my Spanish coat when I came home and continued to wear it each winter. It eventually started to wear out and got big tears in the lining. One of the pockets is completely ripped to shreds. I also realized that it wasn't very comfortable for most of the day-to-day things I do now and that I'd rather have something more parka or jacket-ish. I think I've spent the last four or five winters saying "I want to get a new coat". Once again I felt constrained by the foolishness of spending money when I had a functional coat to wear. This morning at Sears I finally moved on to a new era of coat ownership. I have a very nice, chocolate brown coat with a fuzzy white lining. It is waterproof and has a hood, so perfect for Seattle. It's not too flashy and covered with doodads, and it's lightweight enough to be comfortable for schleping babies around. More than anything, it was sixty percent off because we got there before 11 AM, so I don't have to feel guilty about the money I spent on it. I should have a chance to try it out soon, too, because the temperatures here are supposed to drop below freezing by Monday. Hopefully I'll get a few years of wear in on it before I decide that it's uncool and needs to be replaced.

*If you don't know what the first part of this post is about, you must go out and read a copy of The Happy Hocky Family. I promise that you will die laughing.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Congratulations! It's really fun to buy something new once in awhile, isn't it! And even more fun that all of you could do it together.
Anonymous said…
I have a new coat too! Not only that, but it is also chocolate brown and waterproof with a hood. Not only that, but I have also been wanting a new coat for three or four years, but unable to justify the purchase when my ugly coat was still functional. Not only that, but I have long coveted the cute, hip pea coats everyone else is wearing (but unlike you, I have yet to buy one).

I think we're coat twins!
Fraternal or identical?
Earth Sign Mama said…
And I quote, "My real mother emerged as she picked up her plaid green car coat with the shawl collar and the knit sleeves and put it back on saying, "This coat will still do for a few years." Egads! You sounded like Carol Welch there for a minute. I'm thrilled that you bought a new coat. I did too this year. An impractical longish dress coat, so that I can go to Cool Guy's party in Baltimore looking chic. I'm not going to have much use for it here.
Anonymous said…
Love, love, love The Happy Hocky Family!

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