The Case for the Coat Wallet

Or, accessories and practicality.

I humbly request that my readers do not dox me.

A new addition to my seasonal rituals this year was the transference from card wallet to coat wallet. I’ve long been coat wallet-curious, but finally joined the fold last April, when I was gifted a bridle leather model during a visit to the Ettinger showroom in London.

Now, the first thing to say about a coat wallet is that it’s slightly impractical in an age where tailored outerwear is no longer the daily norm. As the name implies, it requires a sufficiently deep pocket to hold, the sort that’s usually found inside of a man’s overcoat.

Living in Boston, and being a certified big coat-advocate, I do own outerwear with pockets deep enough to stash it. But while it slips effortlessly into the interior pocket of my polo coat or balmacaan, it goes down less smoothly within the inside zip pocket of my Barbour , and fits just halfway into the admittedly snug space my shearling bomber allows.

And yet, using it is has been a delight. It’s tall—about seven inches in height—with a full eight vertical slots for credit cards, and three horizontal for bills. Each time it comes out, I almost feel as if I’m perusing one of those magnificent, leather-bound menus they use for wine lists in the best restaurants, only I’m looking for a ten to tip my barber.

Which gets to the heart of its appeal. For being a touch anachronistic in an age where overcoats are rare, it’s still a supremely functional object, and is in some ways easier to use than the simple, four-slot card wallet I carry from April to September. This separates it from those other male accessories—tie bars, collar pins, dare I even say pocket squares—that enjoy the occasional resurgence but ultimately slip into the back of the drawer, their initial novelty expended and with no utilitarian purpose to prolong their use.

Gerry Ettinger’s umbrella (and bowler).

I recall a story that Robert Ettinger told me during my visit. He pointed out a beautifully made umbrella that had belonged to his father Gerry, with his London address engraved on a little metal plate. He explained that his father, who’d founded the business in 1934, always dressed like a proper British gentleman complete with a bowler hat, a briefcase, and of course, the umbrella. Wearing this attire in Tokyo in the 1980s, he received plenty of looks from pedestrians taken with this visage of an old-world Englishman in their midst.

Now, I imagine that the senior Ettinger’s appearance impressed because those accessories were authentic to his own life. Whereas as if I took the streets with such a get-up, I’d instantly be sniffed out as a vintage cosplayer.

Which comes back to why I’ve enjoyed the coat wallet life so much. It gives me a little bit of the past in my pocket, but remains useful enough to the present day that I never have to explain what I’m doing with it in the first place. And yes, I will look forward to pulling it out of my pocket once I conclude a dinner with friends tonight.

Cut, Make & Trim

• Have had a fun, and quite busy, last week-and-change at Robb Report. I wrote up the Pedder Arcade, Mark Cho’s new “Secret Neighborhood” of retail in Hong Kong; Beggars Run, a London MTM tailor with a penchant for corduroy that’s just set up shop in NYC; chatted with Blackstock & Weber founder Chris Echevarria about his new prep school-inspired label Academy; and lastly, got into the gift guide game. You’ll also find me in print in RR’s December/January issue, where I hold forth on the topic of robes and how you might wear them out of the home.

• Another thing I love about the Andover Shop’s Scottish knitwear selection are its obscure color names. I swung by last week to drop off some jackets to be altered, and left with a cashmere cable crewneck in a wonderful moss-and-sea-blue melange called “Greens Burn.” Why Greens Burn? I have no idea. But I like it.