Winter is here, as always; Hesitant and stupid, as usual. A cold day here, a not so cold day there and rain in January. At least, I solved a long standing problem: My overcoat.
I picked it up from my tailor today. Then my camera decided to go insane. In real life, the coat is actually in focus. My life, however is not. It’s been that sort of day.
My water heater has broken and my afternoon began with me squatting in a bathtub, giving myself a sponge bath in frigid water while shivering. My teeth were actually chattering for some time after that, let’s say, invigorating experience. And I just missed my barber thus missing an already overdue haircut. But I did get into the All-Star Game in the RTTS mode of MLB 09 The Show and I managed to pick up my coat.
So some things are in focus.
The coat is made from cashmere with a lamb’s wool collar. I can, if I so wish, have this collar replaced with a number of different wools, furs or whatever animal strikes me as the one I wish to wear about my neck. So keep your cats indoors. I’m on the prowl.
The pocket space is immense. After leaving the tailor’s shop, I was able to vanish a copy of New Scientist into one. I also had a special pocket put into the coat for whatever infernal beeping device I might need to manipulate or quickly plug into my head.
Aside from the beautiful lining and effective windproofing, there’s a variety of pockets on the inside, all large and specialized to my needs. There’s even a chain to hang the coat from. A nice chain.
Not that you can see any of that but here you go:
When trying the coat on during the fitting process, I was immediately struck by the softness and lightness of the material. I’ve never owned cashmere before and not being one of those people who go around touching people, I don’t think I’ve ever even touched cashmere before. It feels wonderful. That’s a mixed blessing. Though I may want to cuddle up with my coat, I’m not looking forward to removing the groping hands of strangers on the street.
Should we ever meet, museum rules apply: Look, do not touch.
Insofar as the lightness, it seemed impossible that the coat would be warm enough to withstand winter. It is not, after all, some space-age material procured at the local sporting goods outlet. It’s a type of goat hair. But, after buttoning it up, my ideas of what’s possible underwent a drastic change. The coat is very warm.
My teeth stopped chattering and what was left of my chill was gone.
The coat, which fits better than my gloves, has two modes of wear. One is slightly more formal, with shirt and tie exposed. This is for warmer days.
[Had I the eye of a stylist, I might have thought to adjust my coat's lapel so that it was in its proper place. Thankfully, I have no such eye and I try to avoid thinking.]
The other mode of wear has the lamb’s wool collar turned up and front closed up. I’ll let you figure out what days that’s for.
I’m as bad of a model as I am a photographer. (At least I make no pretence to being either.) But you can see that, below, I have paired the coat with my opera scarf.
There’s something suggestive of the priesthood in that and the austerity pleases me. Worn with my Red Army ushanka, I should be a thoroughly mixed message. Some sort of cashmere, catholic communist. Hmm, come to think of it, that sounds about right.
As always, I’m pleased with the work of Don and his staff at Trend Custom Tailors and, as always, they went above and beyond the call of duty. I wish my photos did their work justice but I’d have to be one hell of a photographer with a much better camera.
As it is, the fuzzy pics are actually growing on me. Perhaps I’ll be like bigfoot. Because of the bad photographic evidence, you won’t believe in my existence until you actually see me. And then you’ll think: He needs a haircut.
