The kindness of strangers: it was the jacket of my dreams then he offered it to me at a price I could afford

"He looked up the exchange rate on his phone and raised his eyebrows. Then he offered to sell me the jacket for the same figure in Australian dollars. That jacket was meant for you, he said simply."

"But it was the lining that transformed what was a special item of clothing into a masterpiece: navy silk dotted with an occasional navy, red and gold motif borrowed from the collar and cuffs."

Read at www.theguardian.com