I live in England.
That much I'm sure you knew already, but it's important to remember. Because there's something that England does really well, in fact we're famous for it;
RAIN.
Up until the last week we've been plagued with torrential rain for a few weeks, and I got pretty bored of having to lug around a bastard umbrella with me all the time!
And this is where stumbling across
Elements Rainwear was absolutely perfect!
They're a rainwear brand (obviously) that started in 1991, and most of their items are handmade to order in the same factory on some on the same machinery that the first PVC rainwear was made in the UK back in the 50s and 60s, which personally I think is pretty exciting to know!
They've got quite an extensive range of styles, from
galoshes to
long trenches and
festival ponchos to
full-skirted 50's styles, all in over 40 different colours in both PU and PVC!
I decided I desperately needed a see-through raincoat and was really excited to see that they do an 4XL size, which comes up as a 42" bust, 38" waist and 46" hips on their
size guide. My personal measurements are actually over that, so for a hot minute I was actually concerned about it fitting, but I was quite pleasantly surprised!
After discussing with Elements about what style would be best for me since I wanted it to fit over petticoats and be long enough to cover my longer skirts, and we decided on the
50s Pleated Coat in NAT2, a semi-transparent PVC with a slightly heavier weight. Their customer service is fantastic, and I was offered a sample pack to work out exactly what fabric I wanted for this coat, since it was difficult to decipher the differences between their PU and PVC.
The Pleated Raincoat is called such due to its pleated high-bust and back, which would easily fit a bust that was slightly bigger than both the measurements and my own. One thing that isn't mentioned on the listing is that this particular style is actually a-line in shape from the pleating instead of being a fit-and-flare style, in favour of just being belted at the natural waist.
This is certainly not a bad thing! Since it has no defined waist or bust, as I said, it could probably accommodate measurements slightly bigger than the stated ones.
I'm generally against hoods on coats thanks to mainly having ridiculously styled hair that I don't want to get messed up, but the hood on this coat is actually one of the best features! Not only is it big enough to encompass a decent height of hair with a drawstring - it also is removable due to the snaps!
I bloody love an item with multi functions.
My secondary favourite thing about the coat is actually the buttons, which unlike my thoughts aren't actually traditional buttons - they're actually made of flexible plastic (possibly PVC, but I haven't a clue with plastics) which not only makes them completely waterproof, but also super easy to button due to being able to bend. Even with ridiculous nails like mine, there's no issue!
At 5'7", this coat is the perfect length to cover most of my clothing, and since the a-line flare is practically freesized, easily fits a petticoat underneath. I actually tested this coat out for waterproofness during torrential rain whilst doing gardening, and I'm so, so pleased to say - only my hands got wet. This will keep you dry and stylish, and I love that the see-through fabric means I can show off my outfit without compromising dryness!
I bloody love this coat!!
Necklace; Handmade
