Lightweight Raincoats: Plastic Macs and Anoraks


Figure 1.--.

The plastic mac and the anorak are similar garments. Both are light-weight rain garments. They are not, however, the same. One reader refers to plastic macs. They were all grey when he was in primary scgool during the 1960s. An anorak ws not a garment commonly worn in America. It was a common garment in Britain. We notice boys wearing brightly colored anoraks in the 1970s and they were more commonly called anoraks. We are unsure as to the precise time line when the the colored ones appeared. The anorak was not a cold-weather garment, but useful on a cool or especially rainy day. It was an extremely light-weight garment and could be rolled up and taken by Cubs and Scouts on trips so they would have something to slip on if it started to rain. (The weather in England and even more so Scotland is highly variable.) A Scotish reader writes, "The word 'anorak' became a term of abuse in this country recently - surely unique for an item of clothing?. This is not new though - I remember boys wearing anoraks in the 70s and 80s being put down even though they were practical for the rain. Like I said boys we wanted bomber jackets or parkas like shown in the Scottish film "Ratcatcher". Wearing an anorak in the rain was almost as bad as wearing sandals in the Summer (which is why I was surprised James wore them in the film). That's how it was in Glasgow anyway."

Plastic Macs

I am not sure when plastic macs first appeared. They were not commonly worn by children in America. I know my dad had one in the 1950s. It was a some-what clear garment that gave a greyish brown appearance. We children had much heavier raincoats. A British reader tells us that children did wear them in Britain. The plastic mac and the anorak are similar garments. Both are light-weight rain garments. They are not, however, the same. One reader refers to plastic macs. They were all grey when he was in primary scgool during the 1960s. Plastic macs were worn way before anoraks. They came i n much later, I think in the late 1960s. The plastic macs had buttons, just like the gaberdine overcoats. Anoraks did not have buttons. They were just simple pull over garments. They also had hoods--plastic macs didn't.

Anoraks

An anorak ws not a garment commonly worn in America. It was a common garment in Britain. We notice boys wearing brightly colored anoraks in the 1970s and they were more commonly called anoraks. We are unsure as to the precise time line when the the colored ones appeared, it appears to have been the 1970s. This seems part of a wider shift to more colorful clothes for children. The anorak was not a cold-weather garment, but useful on a cool or especially rainy day. It was an extremely light-weight garment and could be rolled up and taken by Cubas and Scouts on trips so they would have something to slip on if it started to rain. (The weather in England and even more so Scotland is highly variable.) A Scotish rreader writes, "The word 'anorak' became a term of abuse in this country recently - surely unique for an item of clothing?. This is not new though - I remember boys wearing anoraks in the 70s and 80s being put down even though they were practical for the rain. Like I said boys we wanted bomber jackets or parkas like shown in the Scottish film "Ratcatcher". Wearing an anorak in the rain was almost as bad as wearing sandals in the Summer (which is why I was surprised James wore them in the film). That's how it was in Glasgow anyway." A British reader writes, "Anoraks were definately not around when I was a boy - and the word was unknown. I think it's Scandanavian. The plastic macs were,as I said,grey. I only remember the coloured anoraks in the late 80s - and that for adults. Maybe "anoraks" came to Scotland first via Scandanavia? That would be interesting as London usually led the fashion in most things as far as I know (influence from Continental Europe - shorter shorts etc.)."







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Created: 11:05 PM 5/20/2005
Last updated: 11:05 PM 5/20/2005