January 26, 2017
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Looking at Vintage Coats
I need to thin my coat collection. There are just too many coats in the closet. It is going to be hard to get rid of any of them. I have 3 coats that I haven't worn in a long time: my Grandma Tena's grey suede cape with a long wool lining, my black Persian lamb jacket which is my only legitimate fur coat that I bought at a resale shop, and a black goat skin fur cape that was again my Grandma Tena's. I've kept them mostly for nostalgia.
I have never worn the grey suede cape - it is so very 1960s that I need a mini-skirt and a pair of white patent leather go-go boots to go with it. It is just so like my Grandma that I can't bear to part with it.
The goat cape is a novelty. It has seen better days and the fur has rubbed off along some of the edges but it looks interesting. In fact it is very Bohemian. I keep thinking I'll wear it but then the weather gets too cold. It is not a warm cape so the window of opportunity to wear it is quite narrow.
The Persian Lamb jacket is warm but much too elegant for causal wear. I think the last time I wore it was New Years Eve 2015. It has tiny hooks as closures that don't like to stay clasped. It requires you to clutch the front closed as if you are in the midst of a heart attack. Still it is a nice fur jacket... I know as soon as I let go of these capes and jackets I'll wish I had them. I guess it will be easier to get rid of the variety of raincoats with the disintegrating rubber linings!
Comments (12)
I think the gray coat would be pretty spiffy with black pants (or tights, if you wear them)!
I don't know if I really want to wear it. It is really old but the leather is still soft and looks good.
The one goatskin cape used to be your G'ma Marceil's 1948 fur coat. When it became out of shyle, she had it made into a cape. Just a little correction. I have a photo somewhere of her in her coat. She got me a brown mouton fur coat at the same time....wide shoulders on both!
Ah. I knew it belonged to a grandmother... I wish it were lined with some sort of insulating material so that I could actually wear it in the winter. As it is the lining consists of a thin acetate. Hardly adequate for this climate!
I love the sentimental you. I'm very sentimental about things too. Too much so, I guess. If no one was sentimental about things we would have no museums because old things would get thrown away.
It is a bit of history for sure and it does have sentimental value! Glad to know I'm not alone...
I vote for getting rid of the old raincoats, and keeping the sentimental coats and capes. I'm sure they don't take up that much room.
I was considering the raincoats- 6 in total. And I haven't worn 3 of them forever. The last time I wore the beige one it was flaking bits of rubber from the under side of the fabric! I should have tossed it then but for some reason kept it...
Today is cold enough here that I got to pull out an old faux fur trimmed patchwork coat that I haven't worn in a couple years, but used to be a favorite,
That is why I have such a hard time. I have my old winter coat still. It is so frayed at the cuffs that the elastic is showing - but it is still warm and it still fits. I'm calling it my winter geocaching coat sine I don't have to worry about it getting ripped, snagged, or dirty when casting about in the woods!
These are some very interesting coats. Maybe instead of getting rid of them, would you want to take a few scraps and make a quilt for sentimental value?
Oh I could never cut them up! They are still good - but not as warm as needed for this climate! I still wear the jacket but the capes just don't keep me warm. Besides it is devilish hard to sew leather.