This coat evolved from a basic shrug design using a lightweight, nicely nobbley- textured throw that I came across in Zellers; I'd been looking for such fabric at my usual fibre archeology 'digs' (church sales etc.) with no luck. Once I had turned the throw into a shrug and decided I wanted it as a coat I needed a second throw for the sleeves and that was an adventure – tracking it down…in a large store …. selling brand new merchandise …. with many shelves with many throws (not to mention bins in aisles)…. and two young clerks intrigued by (or maybe suspicious of) my determined quest …. one who finally responded to my thoughtful stare at throws stacked on a high shelf, sighed, went and got a ladder and checked that stack and – yipppeee! – found the sleeves, I mean, throw that would turn into sleeves.
Anyway, where was I … Oh, yes, wanting to talk about the versatility of the closure provided by the heavy duty hair elastic attached to right front.
With the tip of left front caught in the elastic you get the scarf-and-coat feature which is very convenient; the shawl collar can also become ear muffs..
With the left front caught further down its length the collar becomes more relaxed and the structure of the coat changes as the left front raises.
Left open the coat takes on more a vest with sleeves aspect.
I don't know why more clothing does not offer versatility.
There is also something satisfying about the fact that this coat is made from 'blankets': I find it cosy, comforting, and conducive to a 'picnic mentality' inviting perches on a park bench or patch of sand or grass. There is a psychology to clothing!