The Traveling Coat
I collect coats the way some women collect shoes. Cashmere and capes, camel hair and tweed - keep them far away from me for I need no more. But what a challenging task it can be to resist them. Strangely enough though, given my extensive collection of these garments, whenever I reach for my passport for a wintertime trip, I seem to also, always, reach for the same coat. It's the one I'm wearing in the photograph above, taken at Tintagel, in Cornwall, near Merlin's cave.
It's a near perfect traveling coat - rainproof and windproof, long and black - it has taken me up mountains in the afternoon and out to dinner the same night, without the tiniest sacrifice of comfort or style. I love it. The only problem is, when I look at any photographs taken of my travels, I'm always wearing the same coat. It looks as though I'm on one long interminable journey, instead of several separate ones. Just take a look at the next several photos and you'll see what I mean. These were all unique trips, but they look like the exact same one, all because of that coat. (And yes, I realize my hair stays the same as well, but this post is about coats.)
Edinburgh... love that sign above my head.
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Deep In Thought In A Garden in Aryshire
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Inverlochy Castle Hotel in the Highlands of Scotland
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Coming Through Beatrix Potter's Garden Gate on a Rainy Day in Cumbria
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Sad, isn't it? I have looked for a replacement, believe me. But try as I might, I simply could never find a traveling coat that I liked as much as that one. Then lo and behold, a catalog arrived at my door last week and as I flipped through it over lunch, my eyes fell upon a fabulous coat.
Black - the perfect colour for traveling.
Rainproof - a necessary requirement.
Large pockets - I'm crazy for pockets.
And, a hood! Oh, I do adore a hood.
So yes, I took the plunge and now this new upstart is hanging on my closet door, ready and waiting for its inaugural trip to London next week!
Is it my imagination, or it this an ideal coat for strolling the winter streets of that most magical city?
