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You know you're officially middle aged when you find yourself in pursuit of the perfect waterproof.
When you're young you think waterproofs are for dads and trainspotters and insist on wearing your leather jacket/faux fur whatever the conditions.
You get a bit older and now you own a waterproof but only wear it reluctantly (you still think you look a trainspotter).
And then, before you know it, you're into your fifties and you find yourself booking a comprehensive First Aid Course and dreaming of a quality rain-repelling mac that you will really want to wear.
We may be more realistic these days, but we're just as determined not to succumb to unglamorous outerwear. (To be fair others may have sorted out this particular issue years ago, but for years, I've been stuck in a waterproof resistant limbo).
It's easy enough to find an elegant rain-proof coat for winter (and for that I recommend Ilse Jacobsen at John Lewis), it's the light one you can wear all year round that's liable to do you no favours.
You know you're officially middle aged when you find yourself in pursuit of the perfect waterproof, writes Shane Watson
Up until now I've taken the view that you can wing it: wear your winter waterproof coat when it looks like rain and all will be fine.
But at this time of year, you don't want the warmth or insulation and you look wintery and overdressed; all you need in autumn and spring is a super lightweight rain repeller to do just that.
The other great advantage of a lightweight waterproof is you can roll them up, tuck them away, and they'll take up no more room in your bag than a swimming costume. I did warn you this had become something of an obsession.
Suddenly this summer I realised I want the right clothes for the job and that flailing around in the wrong clothes is ageing, like brandishing a giant golf umbrella.
A modern technically flawless waterproof is a smart move in more ways than one. It helps that roughly 50 per cent of the women I most admire for their style own one of the macs in this range. It also helps that - although these are not the cheapest macs on the market - they're the ones that, anecdotally, perform best.
The one that gets my girlfriends' vote and the one that's changed my whole attitude to rainwear is the Rains long jacket (£100, uk.rains.com). It's a three-quarter length mac that has a hood with an inbuilt peak. This might seem strange at first - a bit Ice Station Zebra (that Rock Hudson Cold War classic) - but bear in mind it's the unadorned hood, drawstring pulled tight around your face, that really ratchets up the negative glamour points and when did a hood like that ever keep the rain off?.
The peak is a Rains signature and, once tried, it's hard to believe it took so long to make a properly rainproof hood. Other features that make this mac stand out from the crowd include the super light waterproof fabric - which looks expensive and feels like rice paper; the colour range - mine is khaki ('marsh') but others swear by navy or cream; the V cut in the back hem to stop it looking too straight and solid; the welded seams to guarantee no leaks and the repelling efficient length.
You can buy this style in a shorter and cheaper version (£65, johnlewis.com) or indeed an even longer one. It all rolls away to nothing and the unisex poppers and sleek lines give it a kind of Scandi chic.
I'm sold, of course, but you may want to shop around and there are plenty of decent waterproofs out there that cost a lot less. Marks & Spencer does a 'clean long-line hooded rubber parka' in hunter green or light beige (£79, marksandspencer.com) that's similar to mine albeit a bit heavier and minus the magic peak.
M&S also does a funnel neck, hooded rubber parka (£59) that looks neat although it’s a shame it only comes in black.
Ichi has a mac in the same sort of mould (£69.99, johnlewis.com), with popper fastenings, in khaki or beige colour, but it doesn’t have quite the smooth streamlined cut that keeps these waterproofs from looking dowdy and crumpled.
If you want something a little more feminine then Orla Kiely does a mac in a pretty shade of olive green (£98, regatta.com) that would certainly add to what you were wearing. And that’s the idea now. Hard working, look enhancing and ripe for style-spotting not trainspotting.