Tales of a Leather Coat

Many many moons ago when we lived in Texas — 1994 to be exact — I bought a leather coat.

Now this was a big deal, because it was pretty pricy, and I hardly ever spent that kind of money on myself.  Even 18 years ago.  But I fell in love with this leather coat.  It smelled incredible.  Just remembering wearing the coat makes me smell it – that rich leather scent.  Mmmmm.  I loved that coat and I wore it nonstop (yes even in Texas where we hardly needed a coat at all).

Until it no longer fit.

Long-time blog readers know I’ve been doing Weight Watchers for almost two years now.  I’ve stalled out a little, but I’ve lost 80 pounds.  I still have a chunk to go, but I got to thinking about that leather coat.  I’m down to about what I weighed back then, or pretty close, but I couldn’t find the coat.

I knew I hadn’t gotten rid of it.  Even though I couldn’t wear it any longer, I loved it too much to sell or donate it.  But we’ve moved a hundred times (okay not literally but we moved from Texas to Nebraska to Minnesota to Missouri since then) and I had no idea where I would have put it.

It wasn’t downstairs in the spare closet.  It wasn’t in the unfinished storage area in the garage.  I went through several storage containers, wracking my brain to remember what kind of container I’d put it in.  Surely I wouldn’t have trusted any old plastic tub with my beloved leather coat.  No, I surely put it into one of those airbag things that suck all the air out and promise to keep out bugs and moisture.

Finally today I found one of those old airbags in storage.  Giddy, I ripped it open.  And there, my beloved suede leather coat.

But now, I hesitated.  Would it fit?  Would I be able to zip it?  It’s a fairly long coat, and it was always hard to start it (I’m bottom heavy).  After looking for it for months, I’d be so devastated if it didn’t fit…

But I’m pleased to say it DID fit.  Perfectly.  It doesn’t smell as good as I remember, but I’m sure once it airs out from being stored for nearly twenty years, it’ll warm back up to that rich leather smell.

It’s gorgeous.  I can’t wait to wear it this winter and remember how many years it took me to fit back into it.  And know that I’ll NEVER go back to not being able to wear it.  Until I lose too much and it’s too big this time.

Then I’ll find a new gorgeous leather coat.  This one black with lots of buckles and zippers!!!