Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

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The Vintage Raincoat and Hat

Some Men Bring Flowers...

 

The raincoat and hat, especially the hat, well actually only the hat, the hat that made me laugh, and that would embarrass Chelsea and Sacha whenever their father wore it. The raincoat that French Husband bought when he was in his twenties, and the hat he had since he was fifteen. You see French Husband's clothes are vintage, because he rarely buys clothes you know. I wish he did, but he doesn't. I like old things, but there is a limit… I think.

The raincoat and hat were iconic, such a part of French Husband's lifestyle. The other day when French Husband was coming home by train from Paris someone stole his raincoat and hat from his backpack. 

Sad.

Why the raincoat and hat?

Weird.

 

    As funny as that hat was, as much as we detested when he wore it, as often as I begged him to carry an umbrella instead… I miss it and so does he.

 

Comments

44 responses to “The Vintage Raincoat and Hat”

  1. Kipper

    He looks Welsh in the photo, what with the hat and carrying leeks. I guess the good thing about it is now he will buy a new hat and raincoat?

    Reply
  2. Jacklynn Lantry

    What goes around comes around, he kept them long enough so they are now highly sought after Men’s vintage clothing items!

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  3. Marilyn

    Sad that someone would steel it, but maybe they really needed it. Who knows, but we can hope.

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  4. Leau

    are you sure it wasn’t the kids?

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  5. Rebecca from the pacific northwest

    How very curious. Were there other things in his pack that didn’t get stolen? I hate it when people steal things.
    Remember the lyrics to that old Joni Mitchell song?
    “Don’t it always seem to go
    That you don’t know what you’ve got
    Til it’s gone!”

    Reply
  6. Kathie

    Well, I happen to LIKE the coat & hat, and see nothing funny about them at all. It’s a shame they were stolen, but I hope Yann get find identical replacements!

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  7. Kathie

    Erratum: …I hope that Yann CAN find…

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  8. Diogenes

    Um, I also like his vintage hat. I would wear it, lol.

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  9. Kathie

    If only you had more rain in La-La-Land…

    Reply
  10. Molly

    How sad someone felt the need to steal!?!? But you will always have such fun memories of the hat & coat! & obviously him loving both! 🙂

    Reply
  11. Our French Oasis

    How sad that someone saw th need to steal a raincoat and hat. My Father had a hat that was very similar, I cannot remember him ever wearing anything else my entire childhood, it was very much a part of who he was!

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  12. Chico Sue

    Do you think Sacha and Chelsea were on that same train? Naaaaaah!

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  13. Taste of France

    Let’s hope whoever took them really needed them and is giving them another few decades of use.
    And if this is what it takes for your man to buy something new, well, hope he lives it up!

    Reply
  14. Kiki

    I just thought for a moment you were talking about my Hero Husband… lol – same story – he’s still wearing an English trench (typical raincoat with ‘pattes, ceinture’ etc and it WAS lovely for many, many years. Then we bought another one, in a lighter, cream tone – beautiful and still like new. HH wears this old (well over 20yrs old) one AND a battered rain hat as the very same Yann is wearing on the photo.
    I shall ask him when he has a RV which asks for a TGV trip (he has a few coming up) to please take his old gear with him…. as chances are good that they get stolen! Sad story really but one we only hear too often. The only puzzle in this is that TGV’s don’t have many stops and it would be quite difficult to run off with somebody’s clothes – or has he been watching his suitcase (as I do at the few stops between Paris and my destinatiion)? In any case, this gives you a chance to do some serious shoppping and you might find something in those great colours we so much love to see our man in!!!!

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  15. Tongue in Cheek

    If he can find the same he will.

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  16. Tongue in Cheek

    yes that is probably true.

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  17. Tongue in Cheek

    lol! No they weren’t on the train.

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  18. Tongue in Cheek

    Nothing else was stolen. xx

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  19. Tongue in Cheek

    I liked the coat, but the hat not so much. Yes he has to find the same I sure he will.

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  20. Tongue in Cheek

    If I find one I am mailing it to you!

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  21. Tongue in Cheek

    lol

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  22. Tongue in Cheek

    So true x

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  23. Tongue in Cheek

    Yes that is how I feel, it was a part of him too.

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  24. Tongue in Cheek

    lol, no they aren’t mean.

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  25. Tongue in Cheek

    That is another way of looking at it, thanks.

    Reply
  26. Tongue in Cheek

    Lol that is a good one to ask your HH to take his abroad the train! Yes the TGV makes one or two brief stops on the run between Marseille and Paris. Whoever did it was fast, and sneaky, most pros are.

    Reply
  27. Leigh NZ

    Maybe it was the Fashion Police and they thought that Yann needed to be saved from himself so they took the offending garments to dispose of…just saying ; )
    He does look rather fetching in his hat and the leeks are a nice touch!

    Reply
  28. Dd

    A sad story
    I have a similar hat in green if he would like

    Reply
  29. Teresa Young

    We will miss it! Every time Dave sees a hat like that here in the states, he puts it on and does his Yann imitation (accent included). He always thinks of Yann saying to him, “Dave, this is my American hat” I can’t imagine Yann not wearing it on a rainy day. So sad. Dave said maybe it was a flasher that stole it :!

    Reply
  30. Judyo

    Saw similar one on Amazon. Google men’s bucket rain hat. Won’t be the same but might fit the bill.

    Reply
  31. cheri

    He looks adorable in his vintage look. My husband is the same when it comes to clothing. I love everything vintage, preferably French, but not so much in clothes. He still has shirts that his darling Mother made him 35 to 40 years ago. I would love to update his wardrobe because he wears clothes so well, but I guess having only 1 “clothes horse” in the family is better than two. I adore your blog and dream of life in Provence.

    Reply
  32. tut-tut

    I guess the hat and raincoat had served their time with French husband and had decided it was time to move on . . .

    Reply
  33. Maureen

    Corey I have only two words…..DIVINE INTERVENTION !!! xxxx

    Reply
  34. Kristin

    Love the “outfit” in the photo – surely the person who has it now will stay dry when it rains – I am hoping they were truly in need, makes the taking less dreadful – and that they only took these two items, seems likely they wanted/need them. Now what fun to be on the search for replacements. The hat is, to me, wonderful!

    Reply
  35. Joanne Tuchman

    It’s not just the loss of items one cares about…it is the feeling of personal invasion when an outsider enters your world and you suffer from their actions. It’s not the monetary loss but the emotions that follow that are the biggest impact.

    Reply
  36. Anne

    I love that hat. I used to have one like it. I wonder what happened to it. It disappeared along the way. I hope it is making someone else’s children groan and laugh.

    Reply
  37. Ann in UK

    Perhaps the thief had listened to the weather forecast. So sad for Paris.

    Reply
  38. Momof5

    I like the Inspector Clouseau look. It’s sad and upsetting someone would steal it. Looking forward to seeing the replacement.

    Reply
  39. WR

    No more inspecteur Clouseau (Pink Panther)…

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  40. Rebecca from the pacific northwest

    You’ll mail a new/old hat to Diogenes instead of giving it to Yann?

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  41. Rebecca from the pacific northwest

    And were there items of far greater value than a coat and hat in it? Sorry! How’s Yann taking it?

    Reply
  42. Rebecca from the pacific northwest

    I think this is the answer. A flasher needed it.

    Reply
  43. Jan

    Oh, I’m so sad for French Husband! I understand and know that even if he found ones the same, they would not bring the same touch to the heart.

    Reply
  44. Leigh NZ

    Hahaha…Exactly what I was thinking!

    Reply

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