During the 1950's it seemed to me that all women at least possessed a mac in one form or another.
The only thing that puzzled me was that if they went out on a hot day, they did not wear them or appear to be carrying them. But as soon as the weather changed, then all of a sudden, they seemed to be wearing their macs, without returning home. It always made me ask myself, where did they hide them? A question I still ask myself sometimes.
It just seems to be the older women these days with this skill. Can anyone shed any light on this out there do you suppose?
I've asked my wife, and she says the only thing she can think of is that they are worn under the coat and then changed over when the weather changes, but I can't imagine that this is the case, or at least not as a general run-of-the-mill thing.
The idea of layering coats with macs on top is very appealing to me and this has been the case as far back as I can remember. At school we had navy blue gaberdnes as part of our uniform both in summer and winter. We were not allowed to remove these until after the morning assembly, and as such used to be uncomfortably hot when sitting indoors on a hot day. Quite often we boys wore a dufflecoat between our blazers and our gaberdines which made us hotter still.
Gillian, a girl who lived next door, was practically always dressed as if there were a blizzard outside, whatever the weather, and enjoyed the feeling of being so wrapped up in her thick coat under her gaberdine, and she would always be the first into the cloakroom at playtime asking anyone she could to help her squeeze into her gaberdine again. Frequently on hot days, she would allow us to put our coats and gaberdines on to her for the walk from school which meant that she could be wearing 6 coats altogether, almost unable to move for the bulk.
I shall send more on this when I have more time.
[It's here]
Many thanks.
Malcolm
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