Confessions of a Rainwear Fetish Mom - Chapter Two - The Maincoat: London Fog Introduces the Perfect Balmacaan

Stories and fantasies about rainwear.
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joe
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Confessions of a Rainwear Fetish Mom - Chapter Two - The Maincoat: London Fog Introduces the Perfect Balmacaan

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Chapter 2 - The Maincoat:
London Fog introduces the Perfect Balmacaan

In March, 1954, a Saks Fifth Avenue advertisement appeared in the Sunday New York Times announcing a new and innovative raincoat: the London Fog Balmacaan for men. The founder of London Fog, Israel Myers had learned the trade of raincoat manufacture over three decades since the 1923. Those raincoats included various styles of rubber slicker overcoats, tightly rain repellent gabardine coats, and early versions of poplin Balmacaan raincoats just before the Second World War. In 1938, Myer’s company won a contract to make waterproof raincoats for the US Navy. Like other raincoat manufacturers from 1942 and for the duration of the war, Myers had to soon make waterproof coats without the use of rubber. With the end of the war, and the adoption of the military inventions of nylon and plastic for civilian usage, there were new developments in rainwear. Lightweight and chemically treated nylon raincoats were more durable and wearable than their cellophane predecessors. Men and women turned to these water resistant nylon raincoats during the warmer months of the year. These were relatively inexpensive and designs could also be made available for boys, girls, and teenagers. Plastic raincoats were also widely available for warm, drenching heavy rains where their waterproof qualities were desirable. These plastic or nylon raincoats had the additional virtue of being easily packable for travel. If they were purchased oversized these raincoats could be worn over winter wool overcoats to afford the additional protection of a rain resistant or waterproof outer layer. These additions to heavier weight raincoats brought about the possibility of choice and or adaptation of raincoats to a variety of conditions and temperatures. There were an increasing number of options and alternatives to the rubber slicker.

Israel Myers, however was focused on traditional poplin or gabardine raincoats. While in the employ of other manufacturers, he saw much in the construction and design of these raincoats but could be improved upon. The sewing of buttons and buttonholes, for example, could be strengthened and better reinforced. Polyester cotton fabrics might need to be more rain resistant. Better chemical treatments to make these fabrics rain resistant were becoming available. And an inner shoulder cape could add and additional protective layer of fabric along the top half of the raincoat. The invention of Dacron polyester cotton fabric was all important. There were initial problems as to how to sew this fabric in the sewing machines that would not cause this fabric to melt. Myers solved this and called the innovative Dacron fabric “calibre cloth”. He made this cloth additionally rain resistant by treating it with a chemical called Zepel. His raincoat could be washed in modern washing machines and then put on a hanger to drip dry at home avoiding the need of specialty dry cleaning. Touch up ironing would help the fabric retain its water repellency. Reach through pockets helped the wearer to easily access keys or wallets. The innovative bachelor buttons were secured in a new sewing technique and along with reinforced buttonholes allowed this raincoat to be available for everyday wear. The initial production run of 300 London Fog raincoats was quickly sold out in New York and Philadelphia.

Yet winter overcoats and mid weight spring and fall topcoats remained a staple piece of outerwear in men’s wardrobes despite the emergence of the London Fog raincoat. On a cold December evening that found Israel Myers driving his car with the heat on, he recognized a significant opportunity for his new raincoat. Myers quickly became overheated in the car wearing his winter overcoat. He was hot In that heavy and cumbersome overcoat. He set to work developing a zip-in pile liner to winterize his raincoat. The weight of his London Fog with the zip-in lining was ideal for being in a heated automobile, bus, or rail car during the winter months. Suddenly he now had the perfect everyday all-weather raincoat that he called the Maincoat. Other manufacturers quickly imitated his raincoats. But by the 1970s, two-thirds of all raincoats sold in the US were made by London Fog.

The basic single-breasted raincoat was prized for its sleek appearance which heralded the oncoming jet age and desired for its very practicality. It was adaptable to a wide range of temperatures and weather conditions and appropriate for every occasion. Men quickly adopted this raincoat for everyday wear and women quickly wanted to have a London Fog of their own as their “go to” coat. Israel Myers soon introduced a women’s model to clothiers and expanded the distribution of his raincoats nationwide. This emerging fashion icon became wildly popular among college students who seemingly were never without a London Fog raincoat on their backs. And it was the perfect step-up raincoat for school students who outgrew their rubber helmet-hooded slickers. For both boys and girls, this generally happened in seventh or eighth grade although balmacaan raincoats also appeared on growing children in elementary schools.

But the beige zip-lined raincoat was the most perfect fit for high schoolers and the many students who were enrolled in private and boarding schools. These were schools with a defined dress code: jackets and ties, skirts and dresses over which the balmacaan raincoat was the perfect and stylish everyday cover throughout the late 1950’s and the 1960’s. While the latter portion of these years saw a relaxation of dress codes and adoption of many other kinds of outerwear, rainy days would still put students in a London Fog balmacaan raincoat and many of their less costly imitations which of course did not stand up to a constant steady rain quite as well. Students would soak these popular raincoats right through walking to and from school in downpours. In such weather, students became used to drenching their raincoat on school days or on college campuses.

An alternative item of rainwear continued to be the lightweight fold-up travel raincoat. Often an emergency choice in pouring warm weather rain storms, these lightweight vinyl or proofed nylon coats also offered their wearers useful protection. It was an economical choice for students whose families did not provide them with a balmacaan raincoat. It was also a useful waterproof cover up worn on top of a wool overcoat particularly in drenching winter rains for both adults and students trying to stay dry. Certainly from the latter half of the 1950’s and into the early 1970’s, this lightweight fold-up travel raincoat, also known as a Pacamac in England, along with the yellow rubber helmet hooded slicker were the most commonly seen raincoats in the United States along with the Balmaccaans whose class leader was the Maincoat - the creation of Israel Myers and his rainwear company London Fog.
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