The weather has finally begun to dip where I live, making it ideal again for real outerwear. I’m particularly looking forward to breaking out a quilted jacket and rubberized raincoat I bought from Mackintosh last year. The quilted jacket (named “Waverly”) isn’t too unlike what you’d get from the much more affordable Barbour Liddesdale, or any one of the handsome pieces made by Lavenham. Perhaps the most significant difference is the closure system. Where Barbour and Lavenham use metal snaps, Mackintosh utilizes large buttons and buttonholes, which to my eye makes the piece look more like a coat, rather than a removable liner. The only downside is that, because of how the buttons and buttonholes must connect, you get more overlap at the front, which makes it slightly less flattering when the coat is closed. Still, if one plans to wear this unbuttoned, I can’t think of a better-looking piece than Mackintosh’s version. Norton & Son’s Patrick Grant can be seen wearing it in many of the video episodes he did for Esquire.
Mackintosh’s Waverly is pretty expensive, but you can find a similar coat, offered at a much more attractive price, through Traditional Weatherwear. Traditional Weatherwear was actually the original name of Mackintosh before the company was bought out in the 1990s in a near-bankruptcy deal. The name has been dead for decades now, but it’s been recently revived by Mackintosh’s parent company in an effort to make Mackintosh-esque garments for a younger clientele. That means slightly trendier styles offered at a much more affordable price. I haven’t handled any of the stuff, but some of it looks quite good (assuming you’re the right kind of customer). If you’re not in Japan, where most of the line is sold, you can make purchases through Rakuten. Here’s a quilted gray Waverly-esque jacket, for example, for $177. For those unfamiliar with Rakuten, it’s a site where you can purchase directly from Japanese stores. Expect to deal with some broken English and be prepared to make use of Google Translate. You may also want to use Paypal instead of submitting your credit card information, as it’s a bit more safe.
Unfortunately, a quilted jacket from either company won’t protect you from a real downpour. Those days are best met with one of Mackintosh’s raincoats, which are produced with the company’s signature rubberized fabrics. There are three “standard” models: the traditional Duncan, the slim fit Dunoon, and the slim fit, but slightly longer cut, Dunkeld (which is what I own). There are also slightly more unique (but still traditional) models, such as the Dalkeith. Retail on these are all, again, very expensive, but you can sometimes find deals. J. Crew recently had them at 25%-off with a special promotional code, and End Clothing has a more affordable version made from cotton twill (rather than rubberized cotton). Mr. Porter also has a brown Dunkeld and navy Dunoon, which might make it to their end-of-season sale. Of course, by that time, the rainy season might have already passed, but you know … it will rain again.
