Before the Internet

[annabell-cagoule]

Attwools on the A38 outside Gloucester is worth a visit, vast long rail full of regatta storm breaks! Mac in a sacs, well worth an hour trying everything on!

[Ilovecagoules]

Attwools on the A38 outside Gloucester is worth a visit, vast long rail full of regatta storm breaks! Mac in a sacs, well worth an hour trying everything on!

Noted. Long way for a visit but gotta be worth it one day.

[rainfash]

I grew up in the 70s and when it was raining, on a rainy day, I always visited the larger department stores, to watch ladies trying on raincoats. I strolled around and watched mothers with her daughters when they tried on raincoats and finally bought them.
I also watched out for the lots of catalogs that people ordered as they could be inspected in book stores, too. I regularly checked new editions of spring / summer catalogues, especially the rainwear sections.
I liked to visit Woolworth and C&A and many other stores when the presented their spring and summer collection of shiny vinyl unlined raincoats. As I was about 14 to 16 then, I even took shiny raincoats in bigger kids sizes (16-18) to the fitting rooms and fitting cabins and tried them on. One department store had a selection of larger and longer shiny vinyl raincoats that even fitted teenagers like 16 to 18 year old girls. They weren’t typically girly, and the design was - we would call nowadays „unisex“, but be shiny and squeaky, in white, blue, yellow, and red. Each coat had a hood and no belt, side pockets, so not typical children’s fashion, and I always liked to disappear in the fitting room to try on a coat. One day I was asked by a shop assistant, if I want to try on a raincoat, as I told her, I am looking for a new raincoat for my sister, and she presented me the red and white ones, and I should try on a blue raincoat to check if the size is ok. What a great moment ! I then bought the red one but on the next day I returned it and said, it does not fit her. I exchanged it to a bigger size, but they just had a shiny blue raincoat left in a bigger size, and I took the blue one with me and nobody cared at that time, as at the end of the 70s a shiny blue coat was normal not only for girls.

[Taffmac]

Growing up in the 1950's was a great time for plastic macs and I found myself attracted to women's see-through plastic macs in various pastel shades which every woman seemed to own at that time and also into the early 1960's. When the internet came along it was wonderful to be able to google "plastic macs" and see some wonderful sights/sites such as Vinyl Rain with many women in plastic macs. But by the time the internet came along I was probably about 50 years old.
Back in the 1950's I had to rely on the odd Pakamac advert in the newspapers and the mail order catalogues to get my thrills. The first catalogue I can remember was the Oxendales catalogue and there was usually a picture, in black and white, of a lady modelling a see-through plastic mac. At that time you would also find other plastic items such as plastic aprons, plastic shower curtains and even plastic curtains for the bathroom or kitchen windows.
Later catalogues were Freemans, Kays and John England. It was probably around 1966 (when plastic macs had almost disappeared in favour of the nylon mac) that I had a girlfriend who was thumbing through one of those catalogues when she came to the rainwear section and there was a lady modelling a translucent plastic mac; I mentioned that I liked that type of mac and that I thought they were sexy; she said that she thought there was a plastic mac somewhere in the house but when she looked she couldn't find one; what a disappointment. That girlfriend, by the way, was the first girl to put her hand down my trousers and bring to an orgasm.
Later, like so many others have said, I would scour girlie magazines such as Men Only in the hope of seeing a plastic mac which was very rare. Then, must have been early 1990's, I spotted a Shiny magazine on the top shelf of a newsagent's shop and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a nude lady wearing nothing but a see-through plastic mac. I just had to buy it and continued to buy every edition of Shiny and Dressing For Pleasure which appeared in the shop. Around the same time I would send off for PVC-U-Like brochures and Cocoon catalogues which gave me much pleasure.

[Shinyladylvr]

My memories of life before the modern internet go back to the 50’s and 60’s. As Taffmac and others have mentioned there were papers and catalogs with the occasional image, and of course black and white TV where there might be a surprise view of a lady wearing a shiny raincoat. All of those images were brief as papers were used to light the fire and catalogs were shared with friends and TV depended on your own memory - which was quite good for repeating the vision of the lady in the shiny black raincoat, shame it wasn’t as good at physics and history during school hours. The only shop in the town where I lived with plastic macs was Woolies. By my late teens, still in the 60’s I would go up to London and shiny PVC was definitely a fashion trend and I was amazed at the number of shops that had PVC macs and even more excited to see young ladies in their mini skirts with their short PVC macs in green and red and black. My first girlfriend, unprompted by me, bought a green one. I was so amazed at the added benefits that could not be gained with the newspaper or TV. This coat felt smooth, it was shiny under any lighting condition and it made a noise at the slightest of movement. I know we went to the cinema to watch movies but I have no idea what they were, I could only keep glancing at her legs in her miniskirt, hidden by the shiny PVC that made more noise than the dialog from the movie. Once the fashion trend changed, those coats became rarer, at least for me. And it wasn’t until the late 70’s and early 80’s did I start to see more. There was still magazines and papers which showed occasional pictures, but never as exciting for me as seeing the real thing being worn by a lady. I think for me the chances of seeing ladies wearing these macs increased in the 80’s in particular, and I had several girlfriends who were happy to buy and wear them. The web opened up new doors however as the Rainwear Forum discussed questions about macs in so many details and all of those sites showing moving videos made those images come to life. But there’s still nothing like the real thing.

[TStorm56]

As someone in their late 20s it was very interesting reading how our more senior members got their fix of rainwear before the internet! I do have to ask how one acquired rainwear back then. I have a good collection of Helly Hansen and Grundens rain gear. How would someone of gone about getting that sort of gear? A trip to the coast? Hoping the local sporting goods store had a catalogue? For our UK members, what can you tell me about those lovely shiny and squeaky oilskins made by Yarmouth? Were they in specific stores??

[Deleted User 5375]

As someone in their late 20s it was very interesting reading how our more senior members got their fix of rainwear before the internet! I do have to ask how one acquired rainwear back then. I have a good collection of Helly Hansen and Grundens rain gear. How would someone of gone about getting that sort of gear? A trip to the coast? Hoping the local sporting goods store had a catalogue? For our UK members, what can you tell me about those lovely shiny and squeaky oilskins made by Yarmouth? Were they in specific stores??

Paper played a big part of it! There were magazines and papers, like Exchange & Mart that sold everything - a sort of eBay of its day. Some of the more interesting adverts were towards he back and that is where I spotted a small advert for “Weather Vain” that had a picture of a woman in a black mac and where I made my first ever mail order purchase. First you sent off for the catalogue, then you filled in the order form that came with it, wrote a cheque for the total, put it in the post and waited. Cheques had to clear, which could take days, and there was no “next day delivery” from any company, so you waited in anticipation. Instant gratification only came in the form of going to a shop or seeing someone out in a mac. Department stores always had some rainwear. Not being into heavy gear I never had to travel to the coast to find oilskin sellers, but that was not something I ever saw inland, other than fishing gear sold in sports shops.

JM

[rubberbootsmud]

My younger brother used to do fishing (angling) as a hobby, and I often took a look in the fishing gear catalog he had. The sections with wellies, (chest) waders and other rain wear in particular was a favourite of mine But I got some proper internet at university when I was 18 or 19. For getting gear there was the army dump store and regular shops. For me it was mostly ordinary wellies and rain wear that I liked back then, so no need for spelling out classified ads and such.

[Shinypvc100]

For me , discovered pvc plastic black bags first ever sensation of pleasure of plastic against my skin , yellow rain cape when cycling to school with heavy back shiny chap leggings, did love wearing, so as I had a Saturday job at 14 , discovered pvc jacks in C&A bought one wow I was hooked ; Shiny , Dressing for Pleasure expensive had many a copy ,

[Nylon macs]

For me , discovered pvc plastic black bags first ever sensation of pleasure of plastic against my skin , yellow rain cape when cycling to school with heavy back shiny chap leggings, did love wearing, so as I had a Saturday job at 14 , discovered pvc jacks in C&A bought one wow I was hooked ; Shiny , Dressing for Pleasure expensive had many a copy ,

Clear plastic bags was my first turn on and was attracted to always have to pull one over my head.
Its probably because we was always told not to lol.
But my love for plastic never stopped there.
Plastic macs and all different kinds of macs rainwear was a turn on and would always wear my sister's and mums when I was left home alone. The felling was wonderful and still is .always dressing up and go out in my rainwear when ever It rains or not .