I was picking my son up from school the other day. It was raining and we were heading off for the weekend, so I drove down to his school to get him. As usual, he wasn’t the first one out, so I sat in the car and watched, bemused as a stream of kids wandered past in the drizzle, not one of them wearing a coat, arms wrapped around themselves against the cold, chatting and laughing, happy that the week was over.
It seems that it’s not cool to be seen wearing a coat, even on a cold, wet day in February.
Those few kids who were wearing coats were wearing that very typical, very sensible school coat. The one which comes in black or dark navy and is sensibly padded for warmth, with large, sensible pockets and a large, sensible hood. The kind that your mum buys you for school and you only ever wear at school for as long as you absolutely have to and which, as soon as you’re able, you replace with something cool and un-sensible.
Then you get older, and you go through a variety of other coats. Maybe you’ll favour a denim jacket (if you’re of a certain age, *cough*), or a leather biker jacket. Or a nice wool coat which looks smart with a suit, dressing to impress. Maybe you prefer the gore-tex jacket for out on the hills or walking the dog in our lovely British weather.
But then, as the years go on you’ll get to a certain age, where elasticated waistband beige slacks seem like a sensible fashion choice, and some nice beige shoes to go with them. And a nice, sensibly padded coat, with large, sensible pockets and a sensible hood…
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