About three months ago I went down a rabbit hole. I learned a couple of things along the way - about clothes and about myself. So here it is, some sort of cautionary tale.
It all started when I was looking to add another Barbour wax jacket to my rotation, something I have been thinking about for quite some time. Sounds quite simple, yeah? Well…
After browsing through different online stores for some Barbour options, I went on Ebay. I have used Ebay in the past, but that was some years ago, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Before I knew it, I found myself in some sort of used-beaten-up-Barbour-galore-rabbit hole.
Now, some people would probably stay away from purchasing beaten up wax jackets, and I can understand why: When you spend your hard earned money on something, you want it to work right away. That is not necessarily the case with a torn or dry Barbour jacket.
However, that didn’t scare me of. I don’t mind that a Barbour jacket is a bit beaten up, and as long as it’s not ripped to pieces, I can re-wax it myself and have holes and rips repaired by my tailor.
Of the more specific knowledge I gained down the rabbit hole, defining the age of an old Barbour is perhaps the most interesting: Apparantly at least two methods can be applied: Method One is simply looking at the number of royal crests on the label.
According to Barbours own website the first Royal Warrant was received in 1974, the second in 1982 and the third in 1987. Currently, as far as I understand it, Barbour holds one Royal Warrent (HM The King).
Method Two to define the jacket’s age is looking at barcode numbers on older jackets’ labels, where the two first digits should be the year of production.
I also learned that there apparently is a difference in the composition of the fabric depending on colour, with the rustic (brown) holding a little less cotton in the mix.
All nice (in the real world quite useless) knowledge. However, I also learned another thing. I learned something about myself. Something that I’m not particularly proud of.
Down the rabbit hole, learning more and more about Barbour jackets and finding a lot of nice options at a quite low price point, I started shopping. Not just one jacket, and not just Barbours. It expanded and suddenly I was the owner of three Barbour wax jackets, a Gloverall duffelcoat, a Burberry raglan coat and - probably the most niche thing I have ever bought - a pair of one-crested (mid 70’s to start 80’s) Barbour nylon rain pants with the original price tag intact.
I had shopped with what could be called a fast fashion mindset. I looked more at the seemingly low price point than at what I really was after.
Honestly, I thought I was better than that. Indeed, I thought that my love of anything classic and hardwearing menswear to some extent guarded me from behaving that way. Turns out it didn’t.
None of the garments I bought are wasted, though. As you probably know by now, if you have followed The Soft Armour a while, I wear my Barbour Beaufort waxed jacket a lot, so adding more jackets to that rotation is not entirely stupid. However, one would have sufficed.
To cleanse myself I have sold one of the Barbours and the Burberry raglan coat is up for grabs too (the color turned out a bit different from the pictures and description on Ebay). Still, much of this could have been avoided if I had followed my own principle of only buying something when I have thought it through.
Jumping down the rabbit hole and learning a whole lot of unnecessary details about a garment will definitely happen again. Perhaps this is one of the traits of having menswear as some kind of hobby. However, I hope I will remember this cautionary tale and avoid going in with the fast fashion mindset. It’s not much good for anything or anyone.
