caveat emptor

or some other latin phrase

I have wanted a '58 pattern Cavalry greatcoat for years. I finally got one, at a decent price, off eBay. Problem is, when I got it, the damn thing was too small. It is supposed to be a large or extra-large, which for a normal jacket would be too small, but since the greatcoat was meant to be worn over a uniform coat they're cut a little big.

Not this one. I'd say it's actually a medium (or maybe even a small), around a 42 regular or thereabouts, I can wear it, but if I flex my shoulders I believe it'd split all the way up the back. So I either need to put it back on eBay or find another sucker buyer.

My bride wonders why I want one. The first thing she said when I pulled it out of the box was "You're not going to wear that in public are you?" The answer is yes... because the dadblamed things are warm. I had an infantry pattern greatcoat that I wore for years and years, until it became expendable along with almost everything else I owned during my college days.

Granted, it's not something I'd wear to dinner at a nice restaurant, but I'd durn sure wear it to some of these cold weather equipment auctions I go to.

The moral of this tale? Don't buy if you can't try it on first.