Has anyone seen this in person? BR raincoat with liner

On the theory that you can never have too many rain garments in my climate, I am wondering if anyone has seen this in real life? If so, what are your thoughts? Reviews are largely positive except some hate the fabric. 

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18 Comments

  • Runcarla replied 2 years ago

    LOL!  Haven’t seen much at all IRL, but I will be throwing my heart over the fence and checking out what is in the stores of the Eaton Centre (is it still called that?) in TO later next week.  I will do a general report, and do hope to check out BR.  

  • Jenni NZ replied 2 years ago

    Wasn’t it Eaton? I remember hearing of it on my 1989 and 2009 visits to Canada! My only 2 visits- not that I went to Toronto, only BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

  • Irina replied 2 years ago

    RunCarla, Eaton Centre is still there, well yesterday it was there when I was picking up my Nordstrom order :) That’s my mall :)

  • Runcarla replied 2 years ago

    @ Jenni NZ - evil spell check changed thing up.  Now corrected.

    @ Irina - my mall too, when I worked on Front St.!

    @ Suz - sorry for hijack :-(

  • Suz replied 2 years ago

    Thanks, Carla. But to continue the thread in this vein, it is the Eaton Centre but Eaton's, the department store for which it was named, is no more! There is, however, I think, still a bronze statue of Timothy Eaton himself. :) 

  • Jenni NZ replied 2 years ago

    Oh how sad Suz. I am wondering if in fact it was my MIL who talked about it and the department store on HER first trip to Canada which was more like mid
    80s- she had a fascination with Canada and it was co-incidence that her third son married a Canadian a few years later in 1989 and has lived there since, in Saskatchewan. It’s such a shame when iconic department stores disappear. We still have one left in Auckland, I took BJ1111 there on our meet-up in Oct 2019. But the one in our capital city Wellington has gone and been re-invented as a branch of the Australian department store David Jones. I went there while on a Conference 3 weeks ago just before Delta hit our country and it wasn’t nearly as good :(
    Sorry I can’t help on the raincoat since I have never seen a BR store in my life!

  • Debbie replied 2 years ago

    I could run by there tomorrow and take a look. I was in there today but didn't see it. I wasn't looking for it either.

  • Suz replied 2 years ago

    Debbie, thank you! I'm betting they won't have it on the floor since it might be a cooler-weather item. But if you happen to be there, please take a look! 

    Jenni, yes -- Eaton's still existed in the 80s and was the flagship store of the mall -- well, one of them. It used to be Eaton's and Simpson's -- one at each end. I worked at Simpson's in the late 80s. Eaton's closed in 1999. Simpson's closed in 1991. It was a sad day, truly. It was a great example of a real old-style department store and I miss it and Eaton's. The Bay took over Simpson's spot and Nordstrom's is in Eaton's, I guess -- but I miss those good old Canadian institutions. (Not even The Bay is really Canadian anymore.) 

  • Stagiaire Fash replied 2 years ago

    Following, because I’m now following all raincoat posts.

    Lazarus was the big department store near us. It was gobbled up by a chain of increasingly powerful stores (duh—what other direction would it be?). These days, the anchor store in the little mall that opened in my home town when I was in 9th grade is about to fold.

  • Debbie replied 2 years ago

    Suz I called before I went over it’s not in the store. I’m sorry.

  • Angie replied 2 years ago

    Haven't seen it or heard about it from clients yet. It's cute! You know it has a belt, right?

  • Suz replied 2 years ago

    Debbie, that was so sweet of you! Thank you! I suspected it would not be there. C'est la vie. 

    Angie, yes, I knew about the belt. That's A-OK for me -- I like a trench style. Apparently the belt has a nice button on feature so it doesn't fall off. 

    I think it is risky to order. It seems like people either love or hate it. The fabric comes in for raves and roars, and some find it bulky. These are the times when in -person shopping would really help! I love that it is white! (Or at least cream). I could really use a light toned coat of this kind. Mood lifter! 

  • Cee replied 2 years ago

    I don't mind that a raincoat has a drinking habit, Angie.

    ...What ?

  • Runcarla replied 2 years ago

    Here you go, Suz!  I visited the BR in the Toronto Eaton Centre and didn’t see the raincoat in the store.  When I was approached by an SA I asked about it, and she said she thought they might have one ‘in back’. She brought out an XL - which was admittedly too big for me.  It was the only one - marked down to $100.00 and subject to further sale, I could have walked out of the store with it for around $60!!  I might have done so if there was a medium! :-)


    It’s a lot of coat for that price, considering it has a very nice liner that is removable (reminds me of the Uniqlo long compact ultra light puffer.).  The coat is a very fluid rubber material.  Think old school yellow raincoat texture, but much more fluid - almost, but not quite like a high end faux leather.  It would be waterproof, but not breathable.  Hood is removable.

    I suspect there is a lot of volume to be cinched in, and it is probably something you would want to try in a size down from your regular size.  I wasn’t sure that the belt would hold it’s knot very well, due to the nature of the fabric, but once I tied a snug knot it held.  

    Hope this helps!

  • Suz replied 2 years ago

    Carla, thank you SO much!! What a great review! And yes, this one is obviously really large on you, LOL. I think the reviews said it fits large as well.  Did you like it at all? What were your feelings towards it? 

    Could you wear the liner on its own? 

    Was it optic white or ivory or cream? 

  • Runcarla replied 2 years ago

    @ Suz - the colour is a very light shade of cream or off white.  Very close, but not quite as white as the optic white jeans I was wearing.  I love the colour! I believe you can wear the lining on its own, but it doesn’t have a collar.  I kind of like it, but it has a more dressy vibe than my day to day reality.  Plus, it is a real raincoat which I don’t really need in PoHo!  And, I love my lilac coat but the wear season is short.  So, I wouldn’t get the BR coat for myself.  

    My biggest concern or worry that holds back a full-on endorsement, is about the volume, and how it would be distributed around the middle by the cinched in belt.  

  • Suz replied 2 years ago

    Thank you, Carla. That's super helpful. I'm still on the fence, of course! I would love a lighter coloured coat and we do get a lot of rain here. The liner might make it wearable all winter. 

  • Jenni NZ replied 2 years ago

    Wow how nice of Carla to do that!
    Such a kind person.

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