Privilege Blog

A Rain Jacket For Those Of Us In Deep Denial About Summer’s Passing

Sharing a post with Une Femme d’un Certain Age, as we have done before. This time, our topic is “Sneaking Up On Fall.” She is over here.  If Une Femme is new to you, you’ll enjoy her eye and her thinking, both.

The other day I saw aubergine leaves fall from my neighbor’s plum tree. They flashed by like schools of fish turning in the sea.

I’ll pretend it never happened. August rolls along in summer its whole course.

But hey, might it rain in summer? Maybe not here in California, where our bones grumble for rain, but somewhere? And if it does, might one need a rain jacket? And if one has worn one’s J.Crew number over and over until it loses its capacity to delight, might one want something new?

Yes, and nothing at all to do with fall.

I propose Stutterheim’s Stockholm Jacket. “Swedish Melancholy At Its Driest” is their tagline.

Stutterheim at Barneys

From Sweden. Available in the US from Barneys NY, which seems right.

Available all over the world in peculiarly apt versions. Pink for men, in Berlin. Sizing’s unisex, so women from Maine to Florida to Padre Island to San Diego, it can be yours too. Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis, and anywhere else for that matter. Who am I to dictate geographical preferences?

Stutterheim in Germany

Vivid stripes, from Milan. What one might generalize as Italian flair. At a guess, also a hit in San Francisco.

Stutterheim in Milan

In the UK, Stutterheim’s special collaboration for Whistles sold out.

You can always go to Stutterheims’s own site, for the full array of goods. The aesthetic is really something. I’d probably wind up in navy, because, navy. Although black calls me, like rain slanting sideways outside a morning window. Insane to go out, but also irresistible.

Let’s take a Sturdy Gal break from poetics. Stutterheim makes two versions, the Stockholm and the Arholma.  The Arholma is the original, and more expensive, at close to $600. It’s handsewn in a narrow cut, and numbered by the responsible seamstress. The Stockholm has welded seams, a full cut, and no lining. It’s lighter weight.

The company cuts everything in men’s patterns, sized from XXXS to XXL. Jackets are unisex. Because anyone might want to step into the place of a lone Swedish fisherman, outlasting the winter, year after year.

Stutterheim’s says, “Embrace Swedish Melancholy.” Must I?

I say resolutely, I do not covet this jacket because fall is coming. It’s a summer thing. Summer, so beautiful, let’s say it lasts forever. We’ll have no sorrows at the change of seasons.

And besides, aren’t these jackets cool? Cheer will out. Let’s embrace melancholy now and put it in the closet when we’re done.

Again, Une Femme, who sneaks up on fall in her own inimitable way, is over here.

 

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39 Responses

    1. It looked familiar to me when I picked it, I bet you’re responsible! I love it, and don’t you love to say the word, “Scalamandre!”

  1. I like the striped jacket. Although I think visibility in the rain is important, I myself just bought a Jack Wolfskin jacket in a dull dark blue. The seams are sealed, and it’s breathable, but also stretchy. I don’t know anything about the company so fingers crossed.

  2. As we are in Sweden, fashionally, I have very similar one from Fjalraven,dark olive green,only with pockets. It is actually my son’s old jacket (only in years,because as I know, he didn’t wear it at all) bought a couple of years ago in Stockholm. I must admit that it is not my cup of tea,olive green( I had one of them in ice colour before-that was my choice,or navy of course),but I’ve got so many compliments that now I kind of like it ( Stockholm syndrom,no?)
    So, they must make good jackets,last for ever
    Dottoressa

  3. You write so beautifully Lisa.
    I love the clean lines of these raincoats and with the forecast of heavy rains for southern Calif this winter, it may just be time to get a new one. New rain boots, too!

  4. I love a good rain coat…the striped one would be great on the boat too!
    My rain Mac is bright sunny yellow and is ages old but when I wear it I am dry and feel cheered by the colour. Here in the PNW we can gets rains that last months….well that was before this heat wave and the obvious climate change.
    Let’s embrace melancholy! I like it.
    Cheerio,
    Leslie

  5. These are lovely jackets but I’m not sure they’re flattering to those with a curvier shape.

    And on the related topic, I am enjoying a heatwave with every fibre of my being – the second one of the summer which is not a common thing. I can easily wait for fall (in some ways the nicest season in Toronto as the leaves change and the sun is almost certain). It heralds true hideousness. I’ll stay as far from that as possible, for as long as I can :-)

  6. I like the Mossback style, more A-Line, as I think it’d be more flattering and a bit swingy. I love the white one, secondly the navy or green. Are you going to wear this for anything other than rain? I’ve had rubberized coats and they not that comfortable for just a regular jacket.

    1. @kathy, White Mossback would be amazing, especially in LA. I was thinking to wear it also as a windbreaker in SF, like the J. Crew field jacket…

  7. With the weather people forcasting a “Bruce Lee” El Nino this year, and the Farmer’s Almanac predicting a very cold, wet, snowy winter for the whole country, we better start building an ark now! Love all these raincoats, particularly the pink and striped ones. How fun to slosh around in the rain with them!

  8. I’m hooked on the PBS show “Wallander,” about a melancholy detective in Sweden(played by Kenneth Brannagh), so there must be something to it. Although, it puzzles me how the “Happiest People in the World,” according to well-cited studies anyway, can be so sad, and have the most gruesome murderers (I cite The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo series as evidence.)

  9. I love the white, sand, and gray version but may like the Mosebacke style even better. I’d buy the latter in green. I need a new rain jacket, but I have to think about it, as I am currently in a period of refinement. I loge the idea of embracing melancholy though, and agree with them about it being the root of creativity.

  10. I love the version in pink but between living in Southern California and being, ahem, cheap, I’ll probably still be wearing my old rainjacket when I pass on to the next level. It’s navy blue, by Pacific Trail, very lightweight and easy to care for. The hood can be removed and there are multiple sets of pockets, including a set on the sleeves!

  11. It’s hard to believe we’re already facing the end of Summer. Where does the time go? Having just come off a miserable heat wave here in NYC I have to admit I’m kinda looking forward to a few crisp Fall days, even though I know the upcoming Winter will be another brutal one. I’ll have my Barbour wax jackets to keep me dry into early December and my Woolrich down parka for the wet, cold after that.

  12. I have commented to you previously on these; seriously considered buying one but, they do.not.breathe. If you plan to be in an out of a car, or wear then open, maybe, but I walk around everywhere, even in rain, and a non-breathing coat is like wearing a plastic bag.

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