At 62, the Rain Jacket That Still Looks Smart
At 62, the rain jacket that keeps me dry and still looks smart
Six things the Brenda gets right that rain jackets get wrong, from a woman who is not a fashion writer.
Caroline Richards · Customer · Nottinghamshire · 5 min read
Let me be plain about who is talking. I am Caroline, I am 62, I live in Nottinghamshire, and I have never once sat down to write about a jacket in my life. What I have done is spend a lifetime of British mornings choosing between getting soaked to the skin or drowning in a shapeless plastic mac that makes me look like I am off to sea. So this is not a review. It is a woman who finally found a rain jacket that keeps her dry and still looks nice, saying why.
The one I am writing about is called the Brenda, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. I first saw it on a woman on the high street on a drizzly grey morning, smart and dry while the rest of us were neither, and when the boutique later asked if they could put my letter up for others to read, I said yes, on the condition I could be completely honest in it.
A rain jacket. I can hear you, because I said the same to my friend Sue. Keeping dry means a horrible shapeless cagoule, I thought, the sort that rustles and adds two stone. Then I saw how neat and smart and dry she looked in it, and I changed my mind. Read on.
Here is what a lifetime of wet mornings taught me. When the rain comes we tend to have two things to reach for. The shapeless pile, the cagoules and plastic macs that keep you dry but rustle and hang like a bin bag and add years and pounds. And the flimsy pile, the pretty little jackets that look nice but let the rain straight through by the time you reach the car. I have owned plenty of both and never once had one that was dry and smart at the same time.
A shapeless cagoule that keeps you dry, or a pretty jacket that lets the rain through. Those were my two choices, and I was tired of both.
The Brenda is the first jacket I have owned that is both, and having worn mine on every doubtful morning since, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it arrived. Light as anything in the hand, but with a proper collar and zip.
IT KEEPS YOU DRY, BUT IT LOOKS SMART, NOT LIKE A CAGOULE
The cagoule worry I will deal with first, because it was mine too. This is nothing like that. The fabric is smooth and showerproof, so it keeps a light rain off beautifully, but it has a neat collar, a proper zip and a real shape, so it looks like a smart jacket rather than a plastic sack. I have worn it into town and to meet a friend, not just to put the bins out, which is more than I can say for any raincoat I have owned.
The neat collar, the proper zip and the drawstring waist. A smart jacket, not a cagoule.
It keeps the rain off but looks like a proper smart jacket, not a cagoule. I am happy to wear it into town.
Christine B., West BridgfordIT IS GENUINELY LIGHTWEIGHT, AND FOLDS AWAY TO NOTHING
It is wonderfully light to wear, so there is none of that heavy, sweaty feeling you get in a thick raincoat, and you can wear it all day without a thought. And because it is so light, it folds down to almost nothing, so I keep mine in the bottom of my bag and in the car for when the weather turns, as it always does. Prepared for anything, with no weight to carry.
So light I forget I have it on, and it folds up tiny. I keep it in the car for those days that start fine and turn.
Margaret E., SouthwellTHE DRAWSTRING WAIST GIVES IT A FLATTERING SHAPE
This is the part that surprised me most. There is a drawstring at the waist, so instead of hanging straight down like a sack, it pulls in gently to give you a proper shape. You can leave it loose over a jumper or draw it in for a bit of waist, whichever you fancy. It is the difference between a raincoat that adds two stone and one that actually flatters.
The drawstring waist. Draw it in for a shape, or leave it loose over a jumper.
The drawstring waist gives it a proper shape so it does not hang like a tent. So flattering for a raincoat.
Dorothy S., BeestonTHE COLLAR STANDS UP TO KEEP THE WEATHER OFF YOUR NECK
It has a neat funnel collar that stands up and zips right to the top, so when the wind gets up or the drizzle comes in sideways, as it does here, your neck stays covered and dry. It is such a small thing and it makes such a difference, no more cold trickle down the back of your neck while you fumble for an umbrella.
The high collar keeps the wind and rain off my neck. I zip it right up on a blustery day and stay lovely and dry.
Pauline H., ArnoldPROPER POCKETS, AND IT LAYERS OVER A JUMPER
There are proper pockets with little flaps to keep the rain out and your hands and your bits and pieces in. And it is cut with just enough room to go easily over a jumper or a cardigan, so it works from a mild damp morning right through to a cold wet one. One sensible, useful jacket that does the job on almost any grey day.
Good deep pockets and plenty of room over a jumper. It has become the jacket I grab for nearly every day.
Eileen T., NewarkFIVE COLOURS, AND HONEST SIZES
The sizing runs honestly from a medium up to a 4XL, so it fits properly with room for a layer underneath, and a wipe or a shake is all it needs to come up clean and dry. It comes in five colours, my sensible beige and a black, a khaki, and a cheerful pink and yellow if you would rather brighten a grey day. I have the beige. I am half tempted by the yellow for the spring.
By the door, ready to grab whenever the sky looks doubtful.
It goes up to my size with room for a jumper, and it wipes clean in a moment. I have ordered the yellow as well.
Maureen C., BinghamThe Brenda, against the rain jackets you have been buying
You can find a rain jacket for thirty-odd pounds almost anywhere. I know, because I have a peg full of them, most of them either shapeless or flimsy. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
A shapeless cagoule that adds two stone
Or flimsy, and lets the rain straight through
Hangs like a bin bag, no shape at all
Heavy and sweaty, or rustly plastic
Only fit for putting the bins out
Showerproof, but smart as a proper jacket
Genuinely light, and folds away to nothing
Drawstring waist for a flattering shape
Funnel collar keeps the weather off your neck
Smart enough to wear into town
About the price
The Brenda is £36.95 at the moment. It was £74.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that the popular colours and the middle sizes are the first to go, and once a size in a colour has gone it can be a wait for it to come back. Their words, not mine. What I can tell you from my side is that half price is usually where I start asking what is wrong with a thing, and I have found nothing wrong with this one.
And I do not trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I ordered. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars, which sounded like real women rather than robots, so I read on. The same six things I have just walked you through come up in them, over and over, in other women's words.
Folded away small, ready to keep in the car or the bottom of your bag.
If you spend every wet morning choosing between getting soaked and looking a fright, and you would like one light jacket that keeps you dry and still looks smart, this is the one I would put on your shoulders myself, while your size is still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Caroline
BRENDA | LIGHTWEIGHT WATERPROOF COAT
- Lightweight and showerproof, keeps the rain off
- Smart neat collar and full zip, not a cagoule
- Folds away to almost nothing
- Drawstring waist for a flattering shape
- Funnel collar keeps the weather off your neck
- Flap pockets, layers over a jumper
- Five colours, honest sizes M to 4XL
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
Popular colours and middle sizes go first.