Dear Wardrobe 2010-2011
Best wellie pic in 2010, imho. By Imogen C, brilliant fashion photographer, as featured in LookBook.nu
But not everyone loves wellies, I notice with horror. "A lot of people have wellingtons on and I can't help but notice how totally inappropriate they are for winter weather," writes the blogger for Lo-Base Shoes shop in Edinburgh. "I think wellingtons look terrible," he goes on. "General black wellingtons are pretty bad, but women seem to think that yellow and pink wellies are 'fun' and 'reflect their cheerful personality'. Well, they don't. They look bad."
Ouch!
But then the lovely man redeems himself completely in giving us this sweet sweet picture that unravels it all: He must be joking!
When he says wellies look terrible he must mean they loook absolutely wonderful!
Thank you! Not Lo at all!
1st January 2011
on the right:
Great Great Great Grandad's Brother
One of the most exciting things for me (just thinking of the website!) is when some celeb we've mentioned emails with a personal word of comment. One of the biggest deals as far as impermeaphilia is concerned is one Thomas Hancock, the 19th Century inventor and entrepreneur who pretty much magicked out of nothing (well, out ofHevea brasiliensis of course) the objects of so much joy.
David E has written to say that Thomas Hancock had a brother called Walter, and that Walter Hancock is David's 'GGGGrandad'!
The original (pre-vulcanisation) rubber raincoats were really ponchos or Tarps, he tells us. "They sold well for travellers on the outside of coaches but during the Summer the non-vulcanized rubber smelled worse than the horses."
But also, we have heard recently from Ros Drinkwater, one of the stars of the 69/71 BBC TV series Paul Temple. Domino wrote on our listing that Ros's performance was brilliant. Ros confirms Domino's information that despite some media reports, she is not related to Carol Drinkwater (Helen Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small). "I much enjoyed your site," she says, "and thanks for putting the Carol misinformation right." I've now corrected the Wikepedia entry.
After Paul Temple and all that, Ros became a photojournalist. She retains, you will see, her sense for sophisticated fashion... Thanks Ros.
Ugh!! I'm running late! One or two people already emailing to say where is the Jan 1st update... What a nice thing to do! Jonathan, Paul, GTM, I love you!
So everyone, please enjoy the new things, and more important everything else in the new year! May the new decade bring stimulation and promise.
Lorraine
PS Because I'm late I'll be doing my very best to put up more of the backlog over the next few days ...
Some time ago we noticed a trench without sleeves. Now, behold, a trench without a top.
Stunning homemade trenchskirt by Carolyn of Handmade by Carolyn. And what a fabtastic pic!
But where exactly will it end? You just can't go on lopping things off. The Cheshire mac?
Great site for plastic, guess you all know it already:
Christmas Cards
It's just possible that some of you might not know that there are sites which make it really easy to make your Chritmas cards from photos you upload. Photobox is the outfit we use - quite expensive (for 10 cards) I suppose, but wonderful if you have a nice pic. Here is one I did earlier - you are wlcome to use. If you are a club member glad to order them for you if you hate our Godmother the Internet.
December 1st 2010
At last! You can join the club!
People are always asking me how they can join the Rainwear Club, and I'm always explaining that you join just by visiting the site! No sub. We called it a 'club' because when the club was first thought of, a long while ago now, we thought there would have to be a fee to pay for the webhosting. But the ole firm, Lakeland Elements, very kindly said they would pay to begin with anyway: and the business has stumped up ever since, calculating that the club drummed up business on a more-than-compensating basis.
Last year LE - I mean the business - offered a discount for club members, which was a bit messy because we didn't know who they were!
So we've decided to make more of a club of it! No subscription, but visitors are welcome to 'register' from now on. So we will know who to offer the discounts to! Also, in response to suggestions, we will offer a regular email newsletter to remind members of the monthly update and new things in the shop etc.
You will agree that it is only appropriate if we are to have a proper Club that there should be a President. I'm thrilled to announce that our friend in Kolkota has agreed to accept this onerous undertaking: Mr Vikas Banka, Managing Director of Rajkumar.
If you would like to sign up, just tell me your best email and I will add you to the list.
Rajkumar
Rajukumar now has a Faceboook Page. You could try and make friends.
That hasn't prevented him developing a number of new styles, a a number of new names to go with them ... Sacchidananda (Sri Sacchidananda Bharati was a Hindu saint of the 17th)
Highlights
Among the highlights of the update this month: Part 3 of a beautifully detailed 'remembrance of things past' as SRA evokes touching friendships of his early years in post-war Portsmouth. I sometimes think with all the fascinating memoires that we have been able to accumulate on the site over the years that we are beginning to have a serious historical repository!
Too late for Capes apparently!
Here is our one-time guru Jess Cartner-Morley setting out her seventh Rule for Winter Dressing under the summary imperative: "Ignore Capes":
"There I've said it. Because truly, what is the point? They are silly. Just silly. Either you can't use your arms at all or your arms stick out of holes at an awkward angle so you look as if you are doing a Punch and Judy show. Plus, anyone who would actually be impressed by the fact that you are wearing acape is abit of a prat. Yes, supehheroes wear capes, but usually they wear them for flying. can you fly? Quite. take it off. Now." Guardian Weekend, 30:10:10, p.43.
BOO!!
If you go on like this Jess we will have to set John onto you!
For a corrective from your junior but I'm sorry to say wiser colleague Imogen Fox, also in the Guardian Weekend (but a week or two ago) see below.
But, OK, what about a poncho then?
- H
November 1st 2010
This month an absolutely fascinating letter from Colin which I have had in a pile for ages! (Very sorry Colin - I've only just got my text-reading software working again after buying a machine with Vista...which works beautifully just as soon as you can find the right drivers ...)
Actually, Colin might have a driver issue himself...Only an entirely positive one. He seems to have a superbly innovative piece of software which by some miraculous digital quirk works on his relatively old machine. One that puts in a link between pleasure and quite ordinary things, like having to do up your coat...
Lovely to see our friends WeatherVain are now making their things available in double-rubbered materals... Their shortie trench is double-wonderful....
Anyone know about Bonzo? A very interesting letter from SJJ makes it sound very important indeed.
Special thanks to André for his brilliant work looking out videos - another clutch this month.
And apologies to friends who have submitted things that I haven't managed to put up yet. Keeping up with Rajkumar is almost a full-time challenge...
LE
Rajkumar, still on-trend.
Peter L of the Mackintosh Society tells me there is a change to the address of its website. It's now www.themackintoshsociety.org.uk
October 1st 2010
Abigail writes:
Could you please, please, scan or copy my enclosed letter regarding gaberdine mackintoshes on to your site next month. I would hate it if this section were to become obsolete...
Spending so much time at the moment trying to use Ebay. I've thought it was supposed to be easy, but there are so many choices, and so many ways you can mess up... I say you but I guess it's probably just me!
I'm driven to this because Rajkumar is producing so much in the way of new styles and experiments etc I keep running out of space on the rail(s).
The easiest strategy I discover is just to set up an auction with a £1 start. But! - I'm not at all sure that's the best way to get your money back!
Still, quite a thrill to watch the bids go up ... Or not. £1.20 for a pair of Raj's slickr shorts? I know they are too small to actually wear but still - isn't it enough to feel?
Friends from the site have been holding my hand - many thanks, esp MD.
Hope the update is OK.
LE
September 1st 2010
Hurrah! Have you noticed? They're here!
Fashionistas in the Summer promised capes in the Autumn, and here they are!
Rajkumar, as ever, is ahead of the game, with sweet Babu and hot Sadhana, above.
Imogen Fox in the Guardian Weekend so agrees:
"Capes are practical. Really, they are. Admittedly it took me a broken bone, a sling and the loan of a vintage Burberry cape from a ridiculously stylish friend to realise it, but once I did I was hooked. Hence I am totally thrilled that capes are hot now."
But doesn't her idea of a cape look like a bondage prop? - arms pinioned to the side and looking horribly awkward.
This cape is printed with a map of the States, but at least it's a cape.
The Satnav cape? From 1939.
Thanks to Modern Mechanics
Two great troves reached me this month -
from Anna, eg:
and from RC and partner, who sent a tranch of original pics like this:
Can you hear the clink?!
Thanks so much to these two so-generous friends of the site. Much more from their folders to follow.
You can see I'm getting steadily behind, sorry. But that's only because people keep sending me lovely things (and buying Rajkumar's) . Sorry if yours has missed the cut - it will be in the queue. Do keep them coming.
Lorraine
July 30th 2010
If you find rainwear too exciting you might find a use for the Tingley® MVJ148 Safetyflex® Green Flame Resistant Specialty PVC on Polyester Jacket, which bosts the singular property of being self-extinguishing.
Lots of serious rainwear for the plastic lover at the Magid Glove & Safety Manufacturing Company.
Thanks to Michael Youngman.
Speaking of jackets, out of the goodness of their heart someone equipped me with a 'breathable' waterproof jacket for my hols a couple of weeks ago. "I know you love that mac of yours but really! You need something light and bright and cheerful for July!
It looked OK and I had to show willing. Quite expensive - not one of those terrifically high tech things they wear for the North Pole, but still quite a bit more than £29.50 from the market. But, I wonder, when they say 'breathable' is it just a pure con? Every time I used it I got itchy hot within a few minutes. Even in the evenings when quite cool outside.
Alas, pic not me! - need I say..
LE
Rajkumar has done a photoshoot for us!
What can I say? The MinkyMac as never seen before...
On the right - Monsoon outfit - shirt and shorts in featherweight rubberised cotton. How cool is that?
I'm keeping lots more pics to myself for a bit...
YouTube is absolutely wonderful I know, and gives us so much just by searching for the obvious tags. But there's lots of lovely things that are up there for a quite different reason, clips no one would dream of tagging 'rainwear'. So special thanks to the scouts we have amongst us, looking out treasure that is buried, sometimes quite deep! Some new pointers on the video page.
Thanks very much as well to everyone else who has taken time to contribute this month.
LE
It's not often rubberised cotton reaches the High Street, but here it is in a very covertable jacket in the classic colourway.
The Witnesham Mac in from Jack Wills.
Thanks to MacJames.
Meanwhile Namrof has been creating tremendous interest again this month on Flickr with his great flow of great pics. Her's Nicola in her Abha.
July 1st 2010
Glastonbury a HUGE disappointment, hardy a pair of wellies in sight. What is He playing at? But at least there were eight - sticking together for support?
Thanks anyway for trying to do the proper thing.
Plan B - Converse?
It's not the same.
A friend has laboured long and hard to produce a new listing of films of interest to the impermeaphile - by date, title and director. What a nice thing to share!
You must follow Stormstroller as she braves the monsoon on our behalf! She has almost dissolved completely more than once, but is now discovering the Way.
Several depositions this month - really interesting.
And lots of other stuff - many thanks indeed to everyone.
(I have a new machine with a dedicated separate backup hard drive. About time too, I'm afraid. Apologies to all those whose work I have lost or mislaid or delayed... )
LE
June 7th
Do please keep your eye on Stormstroller as she field-tests her rainwear in the Monsoon.
A friend pointed me to Montcler's plastic mac site recently and I loved it. Great choice of styles and great prices, but also beautifully presented - I'm envious! One specially endearing feature - what must be a strict House dress code. If you don't wear classic Hunter wellies with your mac, you must wear your white Converse hightops. (The model breaks the rules once or twice, but she's a good girl mostly.)
"Some of us have not seen capes worn by actual 
humans during our lifetime" says Joanna Douglas, of Shine, though there are others surely who have maybe not seen anything else....
At any rate, now everyone is noticing the pleasures of the cape. "The garment is enjoying a resurgence" reports Beth Hale in the Daily Mail, - "and not just for fancy dress parties."
Meanwhile the Guardian has moved beyond the mere presence of the cape on the high street. 
We are to wear our jackets as though they were capes, advises The Measure in the Guardian. And even the perfectly dreadful new Sex and the City flick has Samantha in a swimsuit under a silk cape
Peter A writes to document Wallis contribution to the sum of human happiness in the 1970s. I notice Wallis now has a nice blog, as well as several smart trenches (LE)
June 1st
Lakeland Elements is proud to be associated with the work of Fiona Macauley, about to launch her career, whose designs will be appearing at the Graduate Fashion week in London next week. She has used our metallic polyurethane material to produce a range of great jackets. Some pics here and here.
Namrof, having made a tremendous hit on Flickr with his great range of rainwear pictures, has now produced a new portfolio featuring among other delights Rajkumar's very own Abha.
Wonderful stuff, Namrof, warmest congrats, a thrill to be associated with your outstanding work!
I'm home but not quite dry as far as my machinery is concerned - thanks for many messages of sympathy! New machine installed, all my data recovered, me more or less recovered, programs beginning to yield to my command - but still with a will of their own. If they were human beings I would know what to do ...
But, basically, all I have to do now is catch up! Happily, as Hazel puts it, Ex India semper aliquid novum. Lots of nice things in the pipeline...
Hope the update is OK - thanks to contributors.
LE
Rainwear in Spain - the latest from Ayshea
Can anyone help? Charmaine writes:
I
have a black rubber or vinyl long trench coat with the markings "ETS
BARMETTE PARIS 1964", size 32. It appears at one time to have a button-in
lining (which I do not have). I have had for over 25 years and would dearly
like to know more about it. Any information about this model of coat and
its maker would be warmly appreciated. Thank you!
One or two mentions on the site, and one or two Barmette macs for sale on Ebay - and, as here, on the OXFAM site. But any further info?
May 1st
For
some time now photgrapher Namrof has been allowing us to post pictures
here of his (many! and gorgeous!!) Girlfriends.
His pictures have been among the most popular of the site.
He has not stopped!
Anita, right, is his latest intriguing subject, and I have a sequence of their work together almost ready to go.
That's good! - But even more so: he has now put up many of his hitherto unseen pictures on FlickR, where they are already attracting a good deal of admiring attention. Thanks so much Namrof, such a terrific contribution to our well-being! Do please, please, keep those pixels playing.
I'm always slow in getting people's things up, very much including Namrof's, but things are worse this month because my machine is still in need of tlc. Also a doctor. He is coming I hope. Maybe today! He was in Thailand when my call went out and I have had to put down the revolution and put a stop to that wretched volcano business in order to make possible safe air passage home.
In case you were wondering, the rainwear vote has only one way to go.
LE
April 2nd
Saw A Single Man the other night and thought it was just terrific! Trying hard to find a rainwear connection so I can mention it here but it's hard going!
There's a torrential downpour moment, but not a mac on the plot and it didn't really drench the hero like that swim in the lake a long while ago. Julianne Moore is there, but on the inside, and the connection with the rather indefinite gaberdine she wore in The End of the Affair is not really very convincing. There is Tom Ford of course. But handbags? The only other thing is his sunglasses!
Easter is the time when everything goes wrong, and sure enogh my machine has crashed, hopelessly, and I am having to camp out at the nether end of my wits. I will try and add the other things I was going to say asap. I had got a nice updates list almost ready - but haven't been able to retrieve it yet.
I'll put up what I can ....
(Did someone say Backup? Well, key things were backed up but fast changing things not...What a bore.)
LE
The new must-have fabric, we are assured by Jasmine Gardner, is latex.
TopShop are leading the way on the High Street, says Jasmine, but she may be stretching a point there - I can find only cycling shorts on the website. (Do I sort of like them? )
Leading
designer must be Kim West,
don't you think? Has such a feel for what you can do, and should
do, and MUST do with rubber and the body. And video
clips with serious class.
Maybe Rajkumar's SlickR shorts will ride the wave!
Thanks to Anton
March 1st
M
writes to give us notice of some must-have films he is about to offer
on e-bay. Some rarities, he says, such as the original VHS version of
No
Blade of Grass, - original or not, one of the must-have
must-haves imho. Also La Chatte - which is the only
film where I've had someone warn me off putting up pics for copyright
reasons - and Des Gens sans Importance,
both featuring Francoise Arnoul. ("If anybody knows of an actress
who has spent more time on screen wearing a raincoat I would like to know
who it is," M says); Made in the USA,
where each and every frame, surely you agree, is an individual masterpiece
of structure and colour - whether it has in it Anna Karina in her brilliant
French Trench or not; and The
Huggetts Abroad and Lady
Godiva Rides Again, both with the iconic descent down the stairs
of the the girl in a whispering mackintosh. M says don't hesitate to "Ask
the Seller Question" - questions and answers can be exchanged without
being shown publicly on ebay.
Time to get a new mortgage from one of UK's friendly banks.
And factor in the next key purchase from Rajkumar, a MinkyMac in black / black SlickR.
LE
Postmistress Alta Misner hanging the
mail for the Southbound train
1920, Lakewood, Arlington, USA
Courtesy Lakewood Schools District
4th February
A friend suggested I ought to offer to drop people a regular email to tell them about site updates and new excitment from Rajkumar etc. - just in case - horrible thought - they don't always remember to come over and look on a regular basis. What I would do would be to send round more or less a copy of the 'What's new' list every month.
Please let me know if you would like to receive such a thing.
A friend has written to say Love the trenchcoats but have you noticed it's not just Burberry who makes them?
I have, and we all add Aquascutum to our bookmarks do we not?
But yes there are lovely things elsewhere, looking good for 2010, and here's one from Banana Republic.
For video though you do have to keep up with Burberry - and here is the Times review of their September London catwalk show (thanks to MacJames).
1st February 2010
Let's
remember Éric
Rohmer who died a few days ago, thank goodness not before
giving the world La Femme de l'Aviateur. As we say on
the listing, No better susurrus on
film. (LE) H adds: And with Anne-Laure Meury slipping in and out
of her sweet little imper it's not just the susurrus we have
to be grateful for in Rohmer's most eloquent exposition of the thesis
that plot is not necessarily the point. (H) (And let's refresh our thanks
to Alan D who brought this icon to the site.)
LE
Ayshea tells me she is bringing out two new films early in 2010, offering "the best in capes, mackintoshes and fetishwear to the discerning viewer." [More]
L
12th January 2010
Have
you noticed the lovely things on MacMan's
elegant site? Mostly he offers the body pure and simple, beautifully
presented, but here and there a dash of rainwear makes an imaginative
and piquant offering. The bodies are professional - Lana Cox is featured
- and the rainwear shines.
Gathering enthusiasts fast I'm told and I see why.
H
Trending in the TwentyTeenies ...
Wellies
Emma Johnson flouting the Guardian's wellie rules in the Liverpool Daily Post |
Do you remember when you had to think Niagara Falls or trips down sewers to find a wellie? Or Guardian persons gardening. Not any more. They were standard Festival kit in the Noughties and look set to march straight ahead into the the Century's teenage years... So much so that Guardian persons feel the need to differentiate. Fashion Wellies are ahem not quite the thing, with their primary colours, polka dots and positively darft heels. Choose something much more expensive and preferably flown in, like the Aigle, or Le Chameau, although a pair of Lowthers will pass muster if the bonus is hurting.
Read Paula Cocozza in the Guardian.
Capes
A cape, says Alexis Petridis, confers an "elegant, wicked sophistication" on its wearer, who would pay £870 for the one he favours, by Undercover, at Browns. Me, I think Mandarmani in SlickR by Rajkumar for £159.
Trenchcoats
Cross
fingers on this one. One more season? They've transformed the high street
for three years now, I'm thrilled to see Marks and Spencer still reworking
the magic in their latest line-up. Video
1st January 2010
Here's wishing everyone a 2010 that willl let them find pleasure, and nudge them to hand a bit of it on.
I've been run ragged in recent months by the Bazaar, but it's been very exciting to play a part in introducing really new things into the impermeaphile repertoire. In view of the great reception they have received, that's set to continue. To the MD of Rajkumar, a terrific round of applause, for knocking spots off his Nokia as he responds to our emails throughout the (Indian) day and night: always friendly, always tolerant, always helpful.
And to the many many who continue to pass me pictures and stories and ideas - many many thanks. Do please go on tolerating the delays that build up. Don't stop now!
EARLIER LE BLOG ....
