For this Antiques Clothes Show, Peter from Adsum (and his dad) tell us the story of a very nice beige coat…
There’s a coat I like quite a bit that has some family history. It’s a unique jacket because of the size and details on the jacket. Classic brass dome snaps… beige herringbone wool lining… a taffeta liner towards the bottom section of the jacket most likely for when you sit on a cold wet bench.
There are more details, but it’s the men that have worn this jacket that make it important to me. I’ve always reached for this jacket which now resides outside of Toronto at our family’s farm. My pops wears it all the time and here’s why it’s important to him.
"My boys called my father "Grumps." I guess they were trying to say Gramps, and it stuck.
My dad wasn't demonstrative but he really loved my two boys. He would watch them with amusement and joy.
In the early 1980's my mom asked me to buy my dad a warm winter coat. He had some coats but none were very warm, and they were uniformly awful looking. My dad was happy with them, mostly because he hated shopping. He hated shopping for anything.
He bought a car one night, a red Pontiac Strato-Chief, by driving his car to the dealership and asking what new car might be available for him to take home. I'm sure he paid list price and got a crummy trade in. But he was happy to get it done quickly.
So my mom asked me to buy him a coat. She wanted it to be warm and comfortable and extra large (so it would fit around his big stomach).
I found an LL Bean coat, basic tan color, great pockets and a warm lining. I brought it home and he said he loved it. I think he did. He wore it all the time. With a crazy looking tweed hat.
Or maybe he loved it because he didn't have to buy it.
I miss my dad. I love the coat and I wear it whenever I can."