I've got two coats.
One is a brown corduroy jacket that smells of damp trunk. I left it in there one evening before going away for the weekend, and came back after a rained-out cottage excursion to find it clammy and odd-scented. No matter how many times I wash it, Fabreeze it, Downy it or dry-clean it, the scent is just there.
And what does damp trunk smell like anyway?
It's that faint odor of motor oil, followed up by a woody smell. All tinged with spring-fresh softness, of course. I still wear the damned thing, because, oddly, it reminds me of my childhood. It reminds me of my own father who always smelled like gasoline, paint and fuel line injection fluid, tinged with a heavy-duty soap scent, designed for autobody shop workers but was never really successful at removing grease stains from his hands.
After my dad quit doing the actual bodywork at the shop and started having to focus solely on books, bookings, and dealing with appraisers, it struck me funny whenever I caught a glimpse of his tanned, broad hands. Gone were the blackened fingernails and the extra-vivid lifelines on his palms. That familiar scent was gone, and I missed it without really knowing why.
My other coat is a big, bulky thing.
It's a weird green/gray jacket that is only good for sub-zero temperatures. One degree over and it's a broiler: I cook in the fucking thing. The zipper is busted, and has been for over 3 years now. It's got goofy gold snaps on the front, but it gets the job done. I hated wearing it for the longest time, and still do, especially when I have to wear it in the car. There, I look like the Michelin Man, all bulked up and Hulked out. I feel powerful in it, though.
I haven't tossed it yet, simply because it is the warmest thing in the world. When everyone else is frozen to the core, I'm toasty warm. It's a Canadian coat, and while I don't have much pride for the politics of this country, I am rather proud of our ability to deal with the weather. This coat has seen me through 2 Tunder-Bay winters, and a multitude of Peterborough ones. Why replace it when it so obviously gets the job done when it has to?
Both coats should really go. But scent and bulk be damned. I don't think I'm getting rid of either of them this year.