As the the last frosty vestiges of Winter edge into Spring, we face a whole new set of sartorial challenges. Namely, what the fuck do we wear in the rain? After experimenting over the course of many years with several combination of raincoats, trenchcoats, baseball caps, and umbrellas, I feel like I've finally found the ultimate solution, a solid year or two after every style blogger ever got on it. I ran into a friend in the midst of a particularly torrential downpour the other night, and after a soggy embrace she told me she hadn't recognized me but had been staring at me for a full block. "When I saw that raincoat," she said, "I just thought, whoever is wearing that has their life figured out." Well, it's Muji's Free-Cut Welder Raincoat; it's light and customizable, and for $15 you can feign a mastery of life from a distance, too.
I originally picked the coat up at the handy Muji store in JFK's American Airlines terminal, bleary eyed and coffee deficient before a devastatingly early SXSW flight. I stuffed it in my suitcase and then promptly forgot about it. When I spotted the milky envelope it comes in a few days later, I was stoked. The hem of the coat originally hit my knees and the sleeves grazed my fingertips, but a couple of snips along a set of dotted lines already imprinted on the fabric, and it fit perfectly. It's light enough to stuff in a backpack, and its translucence pleasingly mutes colors and patterns without fucking up your outfit completely. It's a years old Muji staple but you won't see it all over the place, and it's boxy enough to layer a sweater under until the sun starts shining. Its crisp collar and white buttons look polished, and it makes me want to listen to Huey Lewis and the News. Get it and the matching pants here.
Lead Image via Lionsgate