Pakamac

Hi Constance my daughter would not wear a plastic mac for love or money but my daughter in law lent mine to catch her bus home and said she would have to buy one I get my rainhats from Edinburgh wollen my daughter does have a black pvc mac but nylon or plastic seem to be a no no.

It’s interesting that a lot of recent postings are about brollies and plastic rain hats rather than pakamacs so people obviously like all sorts of different rainwear. When we first found this site we were actually quite surprised to see how many people liked pakamacs and hadn’t considered this might include other rainwear and even particular brands of umbrellas and macs. My wife likes Fulton brollies and C&A macs and I think they look nice so I guess we all have our favourites but it’s difficult to say why. In our case I think it’s a combination of nostalgia and practicality! Unfortunately people don't seem to want pakamacs now days whatever the weather although we have certainly had our fair share of rain and nice comments over the years. When we visited Ireland it rained pretty much the whole time we were there and it’s the last time I remember seeing lots of people in pakamacs. I can’t see that happening again anytime soon but I’d be interested to hear if others remember similar times.

I can empathise with your recent experience although I am of an age where the wearing of a plastic rain bonnet is not a problem while shopping. I can't imagine some of my younger friends doing so. I have some plastic rain bonnets that are lined with a nylon netting. My hairdo never feels plastered down, even in the heaviest of downpours.

I'm glad that your first renewed venture out was an enjoyable one. My daughter wouldn't be seen dead, she said, in most of the macs I like to wear!

Hi Scotty merry Christmas to you as well and Agness I sure your husband would have wanted you to be happy not easy for you at this time of year Canada is a country close to my heart are there any mac lovers out there love to hear from you and Elizabeth Anne your mac sounds exciting being a life long mac lover I am well used to disapointment

Elizabeth Anne. Sounds like your mac and plastic rain hat was just the thing to keep you dry. What colour mac did you wear and did you wear the plain or pattern rain hat.

I did notice a girl browsing in a Glasgow shop with a plastic pleated rain hat untied and holding in on with her hand pulling on the ties. I suppose that was to avoid taking it off like you and putting it on wet side down.
Perhaps you can convert your daughter, as she seemed to like your mac and to try one of your spare rain hats on when you’re both out. Maybe you will start a revival.

Agnes, my thoughts are with you this Christmas as well, take care and a
Merry Christmas to every one on this forum, hope Santa is good. All the best for 2014.

Thank you Gareth for your kindness hope you have a good Christmas.

Well the nylon mac and plastic rain hat passed the test with flying colors, even the '20-something daughter' test, which I hadn't seen coming. All Tuesday afternoon I was running errands, shopping, walking up and down the local high street, in steady rain and when I'd finished, apart from my face being a bit damp I was just as dry as I would have been under an umbrella.

But I had forgotten the 'plastered down' feeling your hair has straight after you take a rain hat off, and also the noise! The sound of the rain might be very relaxing from under your brolly but when it's literally pounding your ears that takes getting used to! Also, I took the rain hat off inside the first shop I went into, only to nearly put it back on wet side down when I left, something else I should have remembered from when I was at school. Eventually, once I stopped feeling self-conscious, I just left it on.

They were both well soaked when I got home, and took all night to dry properly. They were still hanging up next morning when my daughter arrived for our usual weekly morning coffee. She was a bit surprised when she saw them, she's still getting used to some of the ways I've changed since Pete arrived on the scene although she likes him and is very happy for me. She asked me to 'model', which I dreaded but eventually she gave the thumbs -up, said they looked fine, no she wouldn't walk ten paces behind me and pretend to be with somebody else, and that the mac was a wonderful color, and if it kept the rain out that was the main thing. I raved about how light and comfortable it was, and she tried the mac on, said yes it was very light and easy, and asked me where I had found it. Unlike me, she's always been a real outdoors type so she might be 'in the market' too.

She also handled the rainhat, opened it and pulled it shut, but didn't put it on. Her only comment about it was that it seemed thicker and stronger than she thought those hoods generally were.

BJ, thanks very much for the offer. I looked at their local Australian site but there didn't seem to be all that much 'historical' promotions posters and stuff there. Hopefully Brian will soon tell how he set this site up.

Gareth, sorry to disappoint but there will be no pics.

Agness, I'm sorry to hear about your husband. It will get better and eventually the memories will be a comfort.

Elizabeth Anne you're not the only one that loved those 70s and 80s telescopic umbrellas - if the page ever sees the light of day, I have a few old ads from Shelta's website I'd be happy to contribute to it.

Hi Constance sorry if my comments seem harsh just forget your inadequate ex I have sent a letter to Santa asking him to bring you in your plastic mac and rain hat and put you in my stocking it will be some Chritmas present

Hi Brian thanks for email great to have you back for new people to this site Brian is the most knowledgeable person about rainwear in the Uk shame about Isobel did she ever get macked up as you put it or was it the same as me only if you are a good boy then in the end no way boyo

Hi Elizabeth Anne, that was good you finding some pleated rain hats, they are getting so hard to find and collect able. I think the one with the white umbrellas will set the dressed for rain look so well, coupled with your nylon mac. Very classic look. I hope you get lots of rain to wear and enjoyment wearing them. Please let us know how you get on.

re nylon macs i use rainmac they are very good. Sale on with 20% off all macs but only untill Monday. I have ordered a new red one to keep in reserve. I have one or more in each of the colours. Not heard of stay dry will try to find it is it on nett. Bev

So Brian, any advice would be much appreciated, especially as there don't seem to be any instructions from AdvertMuseum.

Regards, EA

Hi again everybody, especially Brian who started this discussion group.

The search for a plastic rain hat is over. I had mentioned to Pete (my partner) that I was looking for one to go with my new nylon raincoat. He remembered his mother always had a draw full of them next to the front door 'just in case' and that maybe Lyn, his sister, had held onto some of them. He made enquiries, and when we called in on her late last week I took three which looked unworn, two plain clear, one with little white umbrellas. Rain is forecast again for tomorrow (yeah I know it's meant to be summer in Australia!) so I'll hopefully get a chance to test out my complete wet weather outfit before the always very risky 'outdoor carols' season starts in the next week or so.

Brian, it's really good that you reappeared now. I have only gone back to wearing a nylon mac in the last month or so after many years, but one item I have never stopped using, and never stopped wishing were still available now, is the 1970s Shelta/Knirps telescopic umbrellas.

AS well as setting a whole new standard for being convenient, they were also a wonderful elegant shape, the perfect size for romantic rainy day walks, lovely deep cheerful colors and bold, arresting designs, and lasted years and years. I'd love some advice about setting up a similar page to this one dedicated to those umbrellas which were such a memory of my teenage/young adult years.

I haven't contributed to this site for some time, so it is great to see it is still wonderfully vibrant. I hope to be adding more comments regularly from now on.
Some people here have acquired the status of real waterproof celebrities-the indefatigable Gareth especially. It must be all that rainy weather in Wales!
But, for the moment, I must give yet another plug to those wonderful Stay-Dry nylon macs, which give me so much pleasure. Light and lovely, comfortable and relaxing, beautifully breathable, swishy and sexy, they are my favourite outdoor macs at the moment(although December is not the ideal Pakamac weather!!) I hope some of you will peruse the Stay-Dry rainwear on-line shop and give them a try. Susan Mackintosh and I were very close at one time, and she really excited me by saying they would look great on a man!
Would you believe it, I have 40 of these macs already, and may be buying more. I just love them.
I find the navy macs particularly appealing, but the black ones are very good too.
I love wearing these when haunting the leafy environs of my "ex" Isobel, who completely refused to be macked up. Part of me does still want her, despite my many waterproof contacts, both on this site and in Flickr. No doubt some of you will add your own opinions on this! Must go for now, happy macking to all of you.

Hi Agness hope you come to terms with your loss soon I am a bit early but I would like to wish the people who write comments and the ones who read them a very Merry Christmas and a big thank you to Brian of Wigan world who runs this site day in day out all year well done.

Hello Gareth thank you for your welcome and advice it is only been a year since I lost my husband thats why i just would just like to chat to other women I do enjoy reading all the comments great shame my husband did not find this site thanks again Gareth.

Hi Constance you have tared all men with the same brush judge and jury you are wrong If you had been my wife I would have loved you to wear a plastic mac for breakfast why did you marry him knowing he was not into them then complain I think the real reason you are angry and upset is because he cheated on you but did you say you had a torrid affair with your tutor was he married or does that not count when a woman cheats why did you not tell your husband about it I get the message I will forget about a date but would love to hear from you about macs or may be to talk in more detail about your breakup talking does help.

Hi Constance
If your up here in Scotland, would you consider joining me for some lunch or a coffee, my treat. Mind you would need to check the weather forecast for rain so that we could bring our macs just in case. What do you think?

Hi Keith
I managed to catch up with that episode and you were spot on. The woman was wearing a nice pleated off white rain hat. I don't have one like that as I think they came originally with a mac, of course I may be wrong. I remember PVC-U-Like making something similar, however I don't think they manufacture anymore...

No Gareth, I haven't. I had some Mandy Marsh things in the seventies but where I shop, I haven't seen the label for ages. I am more a Precis label, which doesn't suit Doc Martens.
Frank is right (not about the boots), I blame all men for my husband's behaviour towards me and nothing will ever change my mind. I can enjoy my life, the way I live it and what I like to wear (i.e. the pakamacs) without fear of criticism from any male.

Frank you should get out a bit more maybe life has given you a bashing like it does to us all but the old saying smile and the world smiles with you may be a women wearing a plastic mac will smile back try it.

Gareth you will never get a date with her women who blame men for all things start wearing doc Martens with there plastic macs

Hi Agness welcome to the site I will respect your wish just to speak to men only one lady ever left a email address Shona before she left to get married she told me she got some disturbing emails so I would not advise you to do that and Constance do you have any Mandy Marsh or Jan Roberts macs?

Hi Elizabeth Anne thanks for all the info I did not think the men in your country would wear a nylon or plastic mac not many do here I think its associated with flashers and fiends I have worn mine in America in the rain they are called slickers there and nobody bats a eyelid I am not keen on belts on a mac and that hanging look is a wow factor for me hope you will email me a photo of you wearing your new mac

Hi Gareth and BJ, thanks for asking how my nylon mac is measuring up. I haven't found a rain hat yet so I still haven't worn it in the rain without an umbrella, but so far so good - it's light and comfortable, even after walking in it for a few kilometres, and it looks good. I've heard there's ways you can freshen up the color (it's bright royal blue), and stiffen the nylon so it doesn't just 'hang' off you, and it has a belt so that also gives it more shape. I have a brolly that exactly matches it.

Gareth, about raincoats in Australia: You're pretty much spot on, we aren't a great raincoat wearing country, even down here in Victoria where the weather is so often wet. As I said earlier, before the last couple of weeks I hadn't worn a raincoat like this one since I my schooldays, relying on an umbrella to keep me dry in just about all circumstances ever since. Any coat I've worn has been for warmth rather than waterproof-ability. In that respect I think I'm just about typical of women of my generation. My daughter's generation are just about the same although they don't seem to care that much even for using an umbrella. No great surprise when you see the brollies on offer today.

For men, well my late father and my ex (but unfortunately not yet late, as afr as I know) husband both firmly believed that a man in a raincoat was definitely suspect and only toffs and Poms carried umbrellas. I can't remember many times seeing a man carrying an umbrella - he might be standing under one, but it was like if it wasn't actually raining when he left his house or got out of his car he'd leave it behind. At least the advent of fold-down umbrellas meant he could stick it in his briefcase 'just in case' without having to look like John Cleese doing the silly walk.

Sometimes you might see a bloke in a proper trench coat, and you'd straight away think he's a private detective, or he's trying to be Humphrey Bogart. But plastic or nylon? Not in a million years.

Hi Constance do you know any good restaurants in your area for our lunch date and long talk about macks .

Hi my late husband was a plastic mac lover he would have been in his element with this site I would love to chat with other ladies but not men

i love mackintoshes of all kinds love to be pen pal of meet any lady that wears and enjoys her mackintoshes. I am mature free man with no ties.
I am not looking for sex or anything improper just chat about rainwear. Wear mackintoshes together. Bev

Hi Scotty,
Did you see the first episode of "strange-days-cold-war-Britain".
particularly the piece about queuing for tickets for The Bolshoi ballet, There was a rather posh speaking lady sitting in a collapsible chair dressed in what looked like a nylon or gabardine mac you could see the rain had soaked in on her shoulders, over her knees it looked to me that had she draped a plastic mac.
But best of all on her head was a thick white opaque soft plastic pleated rain bonnet with matching ties that seemed to becoming undone.
Have you any like this in your collection as I have not seen this style of pleated rain bonnet before, all the ones I have seen are transparent or semi-transparent.