Waxed

Yesterday I discovered the sort-of secret sale going on at Hilton's Tent City. I went there because I was interested in trying on a Filson waxed cotton coat, and Hilton's is one of the only places in the area that carries them. I wanted to try on the coats in person because I was unsure about sizing, but I hadn't planned on buying it from Hilton's, mainly because there's a place in Missouri called Crane's Country Store that sells Filson at a discount, and offers an additional discount to members of Style Forum, of which I am one.

Hm, let me back up a bit. I've had a waxed cotton coat for about eight years now. I found it at Banana Republic back when they still made some things I cared about, marked down to 1/3 of its original $225 price. It was made in England too, like a Barbour. It kind of resembled a Barbour in general, and I got a lot of wear out of it, but it's starting to look a little worn, and it's brown, which is the only color it was available in, but never a color I really wanted. I wanted dark green, which is the classic color for a waxed coat.

So last year I started thinking about getting a replacement, but I wasn't really inclined to spend $400 for a Barbour. I started looking on eBay and was able to get an older model Barbour that's no longer made for about $175. It was green, but more of an olive. When it arrived, I was crushed to discover that the sleeves were an inch too short. The seller had given all the measurements, but the only one I was really paying attention to was the chest. I was able to resell it without taking a loss, and the buyer seemed very pleased with it.

Meanwhile, I had bought another coat on eBay, this one from J. Crew from several years back, and quite a Barbour copy, but it was only $30. It was a very, very dark brown, closer to black than to my original coat, but still brown. It served me well for much of last fall, winter, and spring, but I knew it wasn't quite what I wanted. I bought another Barbour on eBay, and this one fit better, but I just didn't care for how it felt or looked on me. I had tried on other Barbour coats in stores, and those had seemed okay. Then I did something pretty dumb: I bought yet another Barbour on eBay, a different model that's cut a bit shorter. I didn't like how that one fit either.

Part of it may have been the shoulders; Barbours traditionally have raglan shoulders, which are supposed to be more comfortable, but I have always disliked the look of the angled seams coming down across the front and back of the shoulder. I probably could have thought things through a bit better before making these purchases, but I was caught up in wanting to look the part of a sophisticated city guy, the kind who eschews Gore-Tex for something more traditional. (I do have a Gore-Tex slicker that I use in summer, and it's fine for what it is.)

All this time, Filson had been in the back of my mind. It's sort of the American alternative to Barbour, used by a lot of hunters and outdoorsmen. Filson also makes things like old-fashioned wool hunting coats, and they've been around since 1897, so they know what they're doing. Filson still makes the majority of its clothing and luggage in the United States, too. And the model of coat I was interested in has regular, set-in shoulders.

The trip to Hilton's started as just a size-testing visit. I was surprised to find that a large was a bit more snug on me than I would have expected, especially since Filson claims their coats are cut for layering, but the extra large fits just right, with room for a sweater or other layering piece, but not cut so big that it looks boxy with just a shirt under it.

So, if you've been keeping track, I still have two Barbour coats, and I'm going to be selling them soon. I will probably try putting them on Style Forum first. Both are size 44; one is a sage green Beaufort, the other is a black Bedale (links for more info). The Bedale is new, never been worn (I did remove the tags, but I still have them) and the Beaufort had been very lightly used before I bought it. If anyone reading happens to be interested, please get in touch.