by MacMasterby MacMaster
There is no doubt that many people instinctively dislike rubber and are repelled by it. They do not like its feel, its smell, the sounds it makes and even the way it hangs and moves can make them shudder with revulsion. It is not surprising therefore that some people have been reluctant to wear a mackintosh. Even those that did wear one were aware that other people did not like them and that made them feel self-conscious.
The heyday of the mackintosh was in an era when discipline was all important and corporal punishment was widely used in schools and at home. The idea that some people were made to wear mackintoshes as a discipline became more and more likely the more one studied the possibility. There were girls who wore mackintoshes to school despite the fact that the uniform was the more usual school raincoat. There were women who invariably wore mackintoshes whatever the weather and when one mackintosh grew old it was replaced with another. The clearest example however, was a teenage girl at a summer fete who was wearing a black polished rubber surfaced mackintosh, sou’wester and rubber boots when there was only a light drizzle. This type of mackintosh was so unpleasant that they were usually only worn by motorcyclists who needed a garment capable of withstanding driving rain over a long period of time. The real proof came with the brochure from a company specialising in this type of mackintosh which showed them being worn exclusively by women with an almost apologetic note “men’s styles available”. The range included jackets and skirts and they also offered a white surface proof material presumably to encourage the wearing of them in the summer and fine weather. It was obvious that few women would need such heavy duty rainwear and were wearing them at the insistence of others.
It was into this environment that Julia entered when she started going out with her future husband who insisted she ought to wear a mackintosh. She was bought a robust mackintosh in a red cotton twill material with a stout rubber lining which she quickly grew to dislike. Not only did her protests fall on deaf ears but her boyfriend found it rather exciting to make her wear it . It was not too long before a tearful Julia was escorted to a shop selling the ghastly shiny black rubber surfaced type of mackintosh and she was bought one of these as well.
Over the following years wearing a mackintosh became a way of life for Julia but as one observer of the scene said “ you never get used to wearing one and you never accept it”. As the mass market in mackintoshes diminished so the industry began catering specifically for enthusiasts and many of them were disciplinarians. The styles became more severe and the materials more challenging and they offered a rubber surfaced material which was also rubber coated on the inside and SBR mackintoshes with separate rubber linings. It was whilst they were buying a mackintosh of this type that the assistant remarked that Julia was certainly not going to enjoy having to wear it.
This potential PR disaster actually helped the couple to discuss the subject more candidly. Julia was by now beginning to understand the motivation and was somewhat conditioned to wearing mackintoshes but what she found really difficult was having to wear one all the time. Her husband was prepared to make concessions in order to have a fully compliant wife and so a mackintosh wearing code was drawn up . Julia was so keen to escape from the continuous pressure that she even agreed to submit to being punished when she did not keep to the code. After that her SBR mackintoshes were always rubber lined and she had to wear a hated sou’wester and rubber boots whenever it rained or was likely to. Even on her birthday treat when they spent the whole day and evening in central London she had to wear the complete outfit even though it was summer and they knew the rain was going to clear early. When they emerged from the underground the sun was out but she had to keep the sou’wester on until the pavements had completely dried.
One of Julia’s husband’s greatest wishes was to have a mackintosh made for her in rubber sheeting which he was sure would be the most horrible type of mackintosh imaginable but he was not happy to use the usual garment grade latex. The project eventually got off the ground with a tip from a theatrical costumier friend who had come across an exciting rubber sheeting whilst researching for a film project. He noticed that it had a superb “rubber aroma” and a soft feel that made the surface cling as you touched it and caused an involuntary shudder. In discussion with the maker it was decided to use one millimetre thick sheeting which was much heavier than was generally used for latex mackintoshes. The style was one perfected by a firm who catered for disciplinarians and was intended to inflict maximum distress on the wearer. The double breasted overlap extended from shoulder to shoulder and had buttons inside to hold it in place. The maker enthusiastically entered into the spirit by adding wide inside facings to the overlap so that most of the front had four layers of rubber whilst the waist deep back yoke meant there were two at the back. The mackintosh had lots of buttons and with the wide neck and wrist straps the sensation of just putting it on was an exquisite torment in itself.
When the mackintosh was completed Julia was told that she was going to wear this unpleasant mackintosh throughout their forthcoming holiday in Cornwall. On the way they decided to visit Lydford Gorge where they had been before on a rather grey autumn day but even then the exertion of coping with the hilly rugged terrain had caused the lining of the mackintosh that Julia was wearing to become wet with condensation. As they parked the car in the warm sunshine her husband recalled the visit with relish and he got a tremendous thrill as his gaze fell on the gleaming black rubber of Julia’s mackintosh. He could not imagine anything as horrible as having to wear a mackintosh like that. They both knew Julia was going to suffer every type of torment during the holiday and they were starting with physical discomfort. She meekly held out her arms so that he could check that the straps were tight and as there was some elasticity in them he managed to tighten them a little more to hermetically seal her inside to fully experience the awfulness of the rubber that it had been designed to inflict on her.
Throughout the two and a half hour walk to the waterfall and back they were accompanied by the sounds of the skirts of her mackintosh slapping against her boots, the squeak of rubber against rubber and all the mackintosh music. The rubber buckled and rolled catching the sunlight and reflecting it. It was an immensely heavy garment and Julia was sweltering inside it as the sun made the rubber hot to the touch and the smell got stronger and stronger. Later in the day when they arrived at the hotel the smell of her mackintosh filled the foyer adding to her embarrassment. In the bedroom the mackintosh was hung in a prominent position to remind her of its presence. He knew from previous experience of the pleasure of waking up in the morning completely relaxed after a good night’s sleep and seeing it waiting to torment her with its evil embrace. They visited a National Trust property and Julia was acutely aware of her mackintosh during the guided tour as the group crowded together to listen to the guide. On the visit to the school room they were confined to a very small space just inside the room which made her even more aware of what she was wearing especially when her eyes lit upon a display of punishment canes and her stomach knotted in terror. To most visitors they were historical artefacts like a suit of armour but to Julia they were inextricably linked with having to wear a mackintosh. Each and every day of the holiday there was a fresh torment like wearing her mackintosh in the tropical and semi tropical bio spheres at the Eden Project. Lunch and coffee breaks were another ordeal because she was not allowed to remove her heavy rubber coat and the neck and wrist straps impeded her movements making it difficult to eat and drink. There was never any let up whether it was visiting the Lost Gardens of Helligan or rambling all day along the creeks of the river Fowey the mackintosh had to be worn and the most difficult aspect to deal with was self- consciousness - actually worse than the discomfort. That said it was the latter that occupied her mind on the journey home.
A commentator once remarked ”people wear rubber to experience the smell, the feel and the sheer punishment of wearing it”. As they neared home that thought was uppermost in her mind. Every other weekend she had to submit to being a rubber slave and part of the slaves training was to spend the entire night wearing a rubber suit and mask and after a week of rubber indulgence she knew her master was likely to be extra cruel.
THE END
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