The weather here in the Bay Area is not the idyllic Californian sun that many people think it is â in fact it can be downright c-c-cold. There was frost in the hills today, for example. OK, so not ice storms and driving winds, but cold enough to warrant a proper overcoat. So once again I was on the hunt for piece of clothing that no-one seems to sell, my exacting tastes (or âfussinessâ) causing me grief yet again.
I have an old raincoat from the UK, which is looking a little tatty these days, and it also doesnât have a hood. This was very important â I hate using umbrellas. I hate using them, carrying them, remembering them, and struggling with them in the slightest breeze. In addition, I hate the way some people carry golf umbrellas while walking on the sidewalks. Theyâre not designed for that â theyâre too big. They poke people in the eye, and theyâre the equivalent of the SUV on the road: a big bullying âIâm dry so screw youâ antisocial thug.
So anyway, I needed a coat with a hood. Thereâs plenty of those around, but I wanted something I could wear over a suit. I could get any number of waterproof hooded jackets from the sports store, but they wouldnât go over a suit. Theyâd either be too short, so the suit coat would protrude â very bad â or theyâd be inappropriate colors, or have a big logo on them. I canât understand why menâs raincoats donât have hoods. Iâd love a good Burberry raincoat with a functional hood, but it just seems not to be the way theyâre designed. Tradition? Women have it easy â several of my female colleagues have overcoats that I would love a male version of.
I searched around for a possible candidate, but for a long time I had no luck. I was hoping for something with a collar and hood arrangement a little like this:

âŚbut thatâs more like a duffle coat, with toggles on the front, and made of wool so it wouldnât be waterproof. Not exactly what I was after.
It looked more and more like I was after a parka of some kind. I have no problem with that at all, after all, another source picture was this:

I like the combination of the suit with the parka. I donât ride a scooter any more, but I do like that look a lot. Better than Sting in the same movie.
Finally I looked at the Eddie Bauer website, and found the Port Townsend Commuter Trench, which seemed to fit the bill. EB is a bit âelderlyâ, and certainly very outdoorsy, with fleeces and down jackets. But this particular model checked most of the boxes – at least enough of them. After looking around some more, and not seeing a better choice, I ordered one (theyâre not available in the stores). I chose black, because I tend to choose black for most accessories like this. It was also available in grey, but the problem with artificial fabrics in grey is that they just look grey â thereâs no heathering or texture to it.
It arrived a few weeks ago and Iâm very happy with it. Itâs a little on the chunky side, with its zip-out warm lining, but itâs really been good these past few days waiting for the bus. I tried taking the lining out, but then it was just a very thin layer, which didnât keep me warm and didnât do much to stop the wind.
The hood works fine. It packs away into the collar, but I tend to leave it out. The collar is a little on the stiff side because of the zip, but I donât mind that. The combination of that, the artificial fabric, and the dystopian urban dreamscape in which I live, makes me think I look like this:

A man can dream can’t he?