Anonymous wrote:About 12 years ago I invested in a really great pear of rain boots (French brand named Aigle, highly recommend) and a really good rain jacket and it was such a game changer for me. Before that I just had cheap rain gear -- knock off Hunter wells and whatever cute but only minimally rain resistant rain jacket I could buy on sale.

It's like finally getting a proper parka and lined snow boots for truly cold winter weather after years of scraping by with cheaper, less functional options.

I don't really know why, but when I was young I had this idea that practical clothes were not attractive, but also I had very little money so I often bought cheap versions of even impractical weather gear and it was so unnecessarily miserable.

Anonymous wrote:I was at Giant earlier in the downpour and a casual glance at my fellow shoppers showed me the little thought people seem to put into getting dressed when leaving the house in the rain. Ugg boots, large soaking sweatshirts, sneakers, wet hair.

Why not just wear a pain of rainboots, rain jacket and have an umbrella in your car?

Anonymous wrote:I have rainboots I like from Sperry, but would love recommendations for a good raincoat for winter and one for spring/fall. I really didn't need much by way of rain gear until getting a dog.

Anonymous wrote:I'm never surprised by the amount of people who don't know how to MTOFB.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are so defensive! I'm not OP but I get what she means. I think if she had been seeing people who'd obviously driven to the store and dashed across the parking lot for 30 seconds, she wouldn't have noticed. I am betting she was at an urban store where people walk and saw a lot of people with soaked-through sneakers and sweatshirts (which I've also seen) and wondered why they didn't have anything more appropriate.

BTW I don't have true rain boots but I have rain-appropriate shoes (a pair of weatherproof Chelsea boots with a good tread on the sole for slick surfaces). I do have a rain jacket because I think it actually rains a decent amount in DC, but its not stiff or thick or overly hot -- it's made of a lightweight technical fabric, not rubber, because we live in 2023 not 1953.

Actually my main issue is that my rain jacket is super lightweight because it was purchased for spring/summer/fall rain in DC. But as our winters have gotten warmer, we get less snow/sleet and more rain this time of year, and I feel like I need an insulated waterproof coat for that. I have a down coat that does great in snow but not in rain.

Yes this is my issue too- my lightweight north face rain jacket is not really appropriate for 40 degree rain.