Crossing the Bridge in Rain Gear

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CLOTHES THAT WORK

The leopard has his spots; we have clothes.

by Jan Adkins

Even in Feudal Japan, the art of keeping dry in a cold, chill rain called for a variety of materials.

When the elements question our right to prowl outside our caves, -when even the leopard is crouched in a burrow to keep dry, then our outer skins must become more than finery. Clothes must work.

I am looking at a color print by the 18th-century Japanese master Ando Hiroshige, The Great Ohashi Bridge Under the Pouring Rain . In a driving, cold rain a half dozen citizens hurry across the exposed arch of the bridge. Two women ward off the rain with broad traveling hats, though I can see that their bright silk kimonos will be soaked, and they may be furious enough to beat their servants when they get home. One man stumps along under an old tatami mat, a good idea, but he will have to be fairly athletic if the wind (which is calm) picks up. A trio of workmen have taken off their trousers and are walking in bare feet under a large ribbed umbrella; they will have a chilly but convivial walk and nothing will be ruined. One barelegged man seems to be struggling with the thick cotton of his smock, wet beyond the brim of his conical straw hat. Coming downstream and soon to pass under the bridge is a waterman poling a narrow lumber raft. He is also wearing a conical straw hat and a woven-grass ram stole that makes him look like a long-legged hedgehog.

These men and women from feudal Japan illustrate several of the difficulties of keeping dry when the air around you isn't.

The highborn ladies are discovering that the fabrics that drape well and comfortably in a garment are, by their nature, absorbent. As the moisture wets them to their highborn skin, they will also find that water efficiently conducts heat away from the body and chills them. There were only a few materials available in 18th-century Japan or Europe that were waterproof and flexible enough to wear. Linen was sometimes impregnated with beeswax to make a waterproof cloak, and coats like these are made today by Barbour in the United Kingdom. They have the expensive appeal and clunky lines of a Range Rover, but they are not terribly durable or versatile, and I wouldn't hang one next to your white silk kimono in the closet.

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