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Inept, single guy alert! Inept, single guy alert!

The last time I had to buy a coat was 1999, and I don’t know what to do. I was living in Chicago, and some woman (it’s always a woman that makes me do stupid things that turn out to be brilliant) convinced me to go all in on two coats from Bloomingdales. I bought a casual, brown, leather coat ($600) and a long, black, Matrix-like coat that I can wear over a suit ($500). The black coat is still going strong after 21 years, and to be honest, the brown coat still works. It’s just that after 21 years, it’s finally beginning to look bad, and that’s despite never having taken it somewhere to get cleaned. Think about that. I did the typical “single guy” thing, yet one coat is only now “looking bad,” and the other is doing quite well.

But that shouldn’t be your first thought. It should be, “WTF?! You spent over $1,000 on coats!” Well, yeah, but they lasted over 20 years, and as I said, I don’t strictly need to buy new ones yet. If I button the brown coat in a Chicago winter, I sweat. I’ve never experienced such wonderful insulation, not even from a house. You get what you pay for. This raises a rather significant social issue about how it costs a lot of money to be poor. Not everyone can drop $1,100 on coats even though, in the long run, it makes sense. I’ve absolutely been there in my life, so I sympathize, but I don’t get into heavy-handed discussions on this blog, so I’m not going there.

The question on the table for this inept, single guy living in the DC area is this: Where should I go to buy a casual coat? I’m once again fortunate enough that, if necessary, I can favor substance over cost, and I need to buy only one coat. I want it to last. If I’m successful, I won’t have to buy another coat again (I’m old). So, where should I go?

Once I’m there, the salesperson can take care of me.

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