Improvised Chic

Why is it that every time it rains in California it’s difficult to distinguish between haute couture shoppers and the not-so-haute? Probably because rain always seems to catch Southern Californians off-guard.

“I bought this last night at a surplus store in Hollywood,” Kevin Jeffries said of his standard-issue hooded yellow slicker. “I didn’t own a coat and wasn’t prepared for rain at all.”

Michael Cassidy protected his Giorgio Armani suit from the downpour with a Hefty trash bag. Marty Lopez and Salvadore Munoz donned homemade rubber ponchos, made from tarps, over warm-up suits.

They weren’t the most stylish people on the rain-swept streets. But then, who was? It’s hard to look fashionable soaking wet.

Sylvia Middleton’s fake-fur coat had absorbed so much water that a passerby asked if she were building a dam.

The rains forced many to piece together looks they wouldn’t be caught dead in otherwise.

“I’m only wearing this because it’s wet outside,” USC student Jessica Collins said of the torn polka-dot slicker she put over daisy-printed leggings.

Tonier types--for whom torn slickers just won’t do--will find a dearth of smart wet-weather around town. Some stores report such little call for rainwear that they simply don’t stock an ample supply. Others offer a limited range of items.

“Our supply is not abundant, but we do have a good selection,” noted Mary Mumolo, senior manager of consumer relations at the Broadway. “We carry the fashion items, not the typical yellow slicker and galoshes.”

Mumolo said her store will make the effort to fill customer requests. “If it’s something we carry and our supply is temporarily depleted, the store associate will locate it at another store and have it mailed to the consumer.”

I. Magnin has a similar policy. But high-fashion items, including a Michael Kors slicker and an Issey Miyake wind coat, sold out in a couple of days. New orders could take weeks.

Finding the right raincoat at the Gap can be equally frustrating. A company spokesman said merchandise changes every four to six weeks and after that the consumer is “out of luck.”

What’s the solution? Well, as many people have already discovered, be creative.