A Shacket, Anyone?

The Cohen siblings – there are 8 of us (4 plus spouses) – have a tradition of giving each other gifts for our birthdays. The process for each person usually starts with this question: “Anything specific you want for your birthday?” The answer could be a particular item, a gift card, or a “surprise me!” response that falls within our budget.  

One of my brothers has a birthday coming up in November, so I asked him the annual question and he said he’d like a “shacket.” He asked if I know what that is, to which I replied that I think I do but please explain. I was a bit confused because I had only heard that term once before, in a women’s clothing store, last year. He said the one he wants looks like a shirt but it’s heavier, it’s button down, he’d wear it as a second layer over a lighter shirt, it has pockets with flaps on the chest, and he wants it in navy blue.

As he described it, I started to picture myself as a teen wearing this exact item – my beloved “CPO.” I wore it every day and don’t recall when or why I retired it. Perhaps I wanted to disassociate with a wartime item given my overall anti-war stance – even though I was proud that my dad served in WWII – and this jacket debuted then as part of the uniform given to U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officers (CPOs) in the early 1940s.

Or maybe it was simpler than that: the jacket was always kind of itchy (it was at least part wool), so maybe I became more finicky as time went on. I also think that in my later teenage years, I probably developed the desire to wear more fashionable clothing.

A few years ago, when the downtown Philly I. Goldberg Amy & Navy store – where I had purchased my CPO – was set to close, I began to feel desperate to find another one. I wasn’t sure why this sudden need for nostalgia became so pressing, especially when I’d never want to relive some of those turbulent teenage years. That’s the funny thing about yesteryear – it isn’t always positive; it’s often negative – yet I often find myself longing for items that take me back there anyway.

I guess that CPO I adored back then was what we’d call a shacket today, and I will get a kick out of it when I see my brother wearing today’s version.  

I might even decide to get one myself.