My apologies to my readers who live in warmer climates. If you lived here, you would love fleece!

Chesterfield coat

Back in another time, I had two coats. The good coat that I wore for…well…good (which included work since we dressed up for work then) and the bum-around coat. That was more like a jacket, pea coat, car coat or parka depending on what was in style at the time.

I always wore Chesterfield coats for dress. When one wore out, I bought another one. The length was below the knee and it made of wool — grey herringbone or charcoal tweed or some tone of black. It was tailored so it looked good on; went with everything; and had a velvet collar. I loved those coats.

As I become more financially sound, I branched out but not obscenely. I never had a lot of coats. That is, until they invented fleece.

It all started maybe ten years ago. I received a mail order catalog that had a red fleece coat with a satiny lining. It wasn’t a long coat, maybe to the tops of the thighs. I bought it and fell in love with it. It was lightweight, fluffy and warm but I didn’t look like a panda. It became my ‘go to’ coat. I wore it all winter. You could wash it (you never could do that with those wool coats) and it didn’t stink when it got wet. (Did you ever smell wet wool?) It also looked dressy and professional, unlike car coats and ski jackets.

I wore it all the time for two winters. Then I bought the oatmeal version for variety. It was glorious. Those coats are really warm. I still wear them.

About four or five years ago, the manufacturers started coming out with other fleecy coats that were unlined. They were sporty, but work had become more casual and I could get away with a casual coat. How warm were they? Very warm and inexpensive. Now I could buy by color and on sale. Before you knew it I had a dusty pink, fuchsia, navy, tan and yellow. This year’s addition was a crème brulee from Lands’ End that is stunning. That is in addition to the red and oatmeal coats that never wore out even though they are washed twice a season and the other coats for specific events like rain or very heavy snow.

The beloved husband looked in our large coat closet not too long ago and noted that there was barely room for his three coats. My suggestion to build an addition for the coats was not met with much amusement. He had a point. Unlike shoes which you wear every day of the year, you only wear coats about six months each year in my area. Some coats will never wear out in my lifetime (but that will not stop me from buying more). I decided that was it. I wasn’t going to walk near the coat section to ensure I wouldn’t get sucked in.

That was last week. Yesterday, I did a sale walk through. The Christmas sales have been great this year. I have purchased items that I won’t use for Christmas because it’s a better price than I will get later (at least that is my rationale).

There, on the sale rack, marked 60% off, was a PURPLE fleece jacket. It was gorgeous – soft and fluffy. I walked by it three times without trying it on. I left the store, did more errands and came back. I should try it on. Sometimes you love something, then you try it on and it doesn’t work.

It’s hanging in my upstairs closet. What can I say? It was only $12.