Ok folks recommend your rain boots!!

I’m sorry I offended you with my crocs, leggings, and hoodie under my wool coat and a PJ and parka clad child at Safeway on Tuesday night. I was relaxing after dinner when my 4th grader suddenly remembered his class is collecting cereal boxes for the food assistance center. I quickly checked which store had cereal on sale and we threw on our coats and dashed out because it was 20 min before his normal bed time. Thankfully no one melted and I even paid the extra 15 cents for plastic bags to keep the cereal boxes dry.

I didn’t know running errands was an event I was supposed to prepare for as if it is a lengthy outdoor excursion. Next time I will bring my compass, flashlight, and first aid kit just in case as well.

If you’re not walking a long distance and driving to and fro , I don’t see the big deal with needing a rain coat. It’s actually more annoying/noisy, holds on to more water, hard to drive in and take on and off

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone recommend a great women’s raincoat? I have been searching high and low and cannot find one that meets these standards:

- long (at least mid-thigh if no longer)
- not completely shapeless
- a nice color - not black. the Patagonia long raincoat looks perfect but only comes in black or drab)
- actually waterproof. per online reviews a lot of coats actually are not waterproof

I have two raincoats that I find to be functional and stylish. (I have others that are more for outdoorsy activities, but these two are my work/traveling raincoats.) One is the Patagonia Larissa trench coat in a navy blue. It appears that Patagonia no longer sells it, but you can find it on Poshmark, the RealReal, etc. It's similar to this Helly Hansen one:
https://www.hellyhansen.com/en_us/w-urb-lab-welsey-ins-trench-53853?color=629733&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAwP6sBhDAARIsAPfK_wZtZ1_3VfHQ7_pRKHGMZLYQeeMfNOyqvFwlcHNCwsXliXoL_DdHP4caAntQEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I also love the English brand Rains. I have a Rains "longer jacket" that I purchased in London a decade ago, and it's held up very well. The silhouette is simple and elegant.
https://www.us.rains.com/collections/jackets-women/products/long-jacket-female?variant=39839760449559

They have a trench coat version, too:
https://www.us.rains.com/collections/womens-rainwear/products/curve-jacket?variant=39561511829527

^ weird to live here and NOT have rain gear

DC gets more rain annually than Seattle, and 115 days per year with some form of precipitation. Seattle has more rainy days, but DC is more prone to accumulating a large amount of precipitation very quickly.

I think it's weird to live here and have rain gear. It would be perfectly easy to live here without any snow gear at all (we get enough snow to merit real snow gear like once every 5 or 6 years -- you can just stay inside those days). But DC actually gets a decent amount of rain!

One nice navy waxed cotton Barbour is all anyone needs on this board. If you hsve more than that, you're in the wrong place. And probably don't live in the Nova area *snicker*

Anonymous wrote:I'm an outerwear addict and I have come to realize proper outerwear is not something people prioritize, at all. Especially rain wear. I wish I could show off my rain jacket collection to you, OP. You would be proud.

I don't own one rain jacket but I want to see your collection, I'd be proud too.

I'm an outerwear addict and I have come to realize proper outerwear is not something people prioritize, at all. Especially rain wear. I wish I could show off my rain jacket collection to you, OP. You would be proud.

"inappropriate" is a strange word to use. "Insufficient", yes. 'Inappropriate", no.

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Why do you care?

This whole forum is about caring what other people wear and you are here...why?

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?

Why do you care?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cant stand the feeling of being soaked from rain. Several years ago I bought a winter rain jacket and spring/summer rain jacket. I also bought so really good rain boots. Came in handy yesterday.

I don't get the people saying they wouldn't wear it enough to justify buying. I had my last pair of rainboots for 15 years, I expect to have the new pair for as long or longer. A good classic raincoat can last decades. I don't understand why you wouldn't just make those investments even if you live in a place where it doesn't rain that often. I often bring my rain gear for travel to rainy locations too -- Europe is super rainy, but also Seattle, Boston, the midwest, even LA during the June gloom. The idea that anyone lives anywhere where you don't need a raincoat at least 10x a year is crazy to me.

If someone doesn’t mind getting a little rained on 10 out of 365 days a year, but they would mind getting rained on 250/365 days a year, then the frequency of rain is a perfectly rational consideration.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's 'adulting' to have the right clothing and to use it dress for the weather. Some will never get there. Shrug.

There’s nothing adult about wearing rain boots with your business suit. Invest in a nice umbrella. That’s all you need in DC.

So you drive everywhere and wear cheap shoes, got it.

Yes I do drive everywhere and pay for parking. Is that supposed to be shameful? Sorry not sorry.

It’s a giant SUV to boot. Flame away.

You need to chill and stop calling people idiots. Nobody cares about your big car

You know you can step over or around puddles? I’ve never gotten my shoes wet from going out in the rain in the DC area. Also I don’t care about my hair getting a little rained on (it’s naturally curly and it looks kind of cute when it rains a bit on it) and I cannot stand the feel or sound of weatherproof outerwear. I would much rather be a little damp.