Any London Fog addicts here?

All rainwear discussions in general or that do not fit into other categories.
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jjs3
Posts: 5
Joined: September 28th, 2010, 5:59 pm

Any London Fog addicts here?

Post by jjs3 »

I know that this is a vinyl/rubber/PVC forum, but I registered some time ago and have been a member here since.

Does anyone have an interest in cloth (primarily London Fog rain/trenchcoats)?

I have plenty of images of my partner out and about wearing just that and nothing else.

Would anyone be interested in seeing these or not?
joe
Posts: 73
Joined: January 18th, 2010, 3:36 am
Location: Maine, USA

Re: Any London Fog addicts here?

Post by joe »

I am in Northern New England and started wearing London Fog type zip-lined coats in 1971 - a tan single breasted raincoat which I received as a gift to augment my yellow rubber school slicker with brass clasp closures. I was then about eight years old. I bought my first actual London Fog raincoat in graduate school and have worn their basic single breasted coat ever since. With the thick insulated lining it works and keeps you dry in every weather condition - even in in torrential soaking rains with the liner zipped in. I used to love walking home from school in New Jersey where I grew up. I wore my brothers hand me down black raincoat and loved how the cloth looked shiny when it wet in pelting winter downpours - just like a long rubber slicker in drenching rains. I used to nickname my coat "my soaker." I enjoy watching other pedestrians when their London Fog coats get really wet in driving rains. I could virtually live in my London Fog raincoat.

Joe
Last edited by joe on October 26th, 2017, 4:32 am, edited 2 times in total.
joe
Posts: 73
Joined: January 18th, 2010, 3:36 am
Location: Maine, USA

Re: Any London Fog addicts here?

Post by joe »

"So, how’d we get here? In 1964, London Fog was riding high. Its revolutionary “Calibre Cloth” repelled water like magic (or like a duck), while the sleek lines of its knee-length raincoats were de rigueur in every careerist’s closet. Even in the ‘70s, two-thirds of raincoats sold in the U.S. were London Fog. Then the skies began to darken. Competition from new, high-end labels, a failure to introduce more casual designs, and the decision to sell to outlet stores—all of it plunged London Fog into two bankruptcies and eroded its image and market share along the way."

This is an excerpt from a superb Ad Week article about London Fog and how the brand was featured in the AMC series Mad Men. Check the link to the article below:

http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/h ... ol-147613/

My love for wearing raincoats started with Weather Rite slickers with the brass clasps and helmet hoods and then - as a teen - off brand versions of the single-breasted versions of the London Fog. I bought my first actual zip-lined London Fog Andes in black while in graduate school in the mid-eighties. Later I owned the same coat with a thinsulate lining. It was marketed as the ultimate raincoat!

In the last year I have changed careers and have bought some venerable London Fog trenches and balmacaans on E-Bay in tan, the very light khaki color, and navy blue.

Today, here in Maine, we are in the middle of a three day rainstorm. I wore my newest purchase - an unlined light khaki single-breasted London Fog styled by Greenwood. (This is actually my first London Fog raincoat that does not have the zip-in liner. I've been missing the experience of a London Fog coat in its most basic elemental form.) It has the inner full barrier cape made of the same calibre cloth as the outer surface. And the Ad Week article is correct: heavy rain is as easily repelled as water off a duck's back. The coat is simple and beautiful in its cut and styling: at once both sweeping and sleek.

I would love to hear from anyone who loves wearing London Fog raincoats and especially those from the Mad Men era up to those manufactured in the early nineties.

The current models can't even be called an imitation. They just don't compare. :cry:

Joe
jjs3
Posts: 5
Joined: September 28th, 2010, 5:59 pm

Re: Any London Fog addicts here?

Post by jjs3 »

Hey Joe-

I am over in New Hampshire and have several London Fog single breasted raincoats- vintage only. Claeth Cloth and Calibre Cloth. Tan, dark green and dark blue.

I have also bought similar ones for my wife although she prefers raincoats with a belt. So she will wear the London Fog raincoats around the house for me.

PM me and I can send you some pictures if you want.

John
joe
Posts: 73
Joined: January 18th, 2010, 3:36 am
Location: Maine, USA

Re: Any London Fog addicts here?

Post by joe »

John: I sent a PM and I am interested in your offer and to converse further.

Joe
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