I Bought the Disco Elysium Jacket

Published on Dec 24, 2022

I suppose there's no point beating around the bush with this post, seeing as the title and header image give it all away. I did it, folks. This saga ended exactly where we all thought it would. I bought the fancy Disco Elysium jacket. And I love it.

I went with a small, based on the size chart on the ZA/UM Atelier website, and it fits perfectly. It's so comfy. It's like getting a hug from Kim Kitsuragi himself every time I put it on.

It's also the absolute warmest thing I own by far. When I'm wearing it, no matter the conditions, and no matter what else I'm wearing, my torso and arms are cozy and warm.

About a week and a half ago, I wore it with long underwear under my jeans, a heavy sweater, a scarf, mittens, and a knit hat, and I didn't even need to zip it up to stay warm on a cold NYC evening.

It is also, of course, the nicest, most well-made piece of clothing I now own. It's so thick and sturdy and solid. And yet, it's also extremely soft and inviting. The interior pockets came sewn shut, which I was not accustomed to, having never bought or owned something this nice before.

But alright, how did we get here? How did I overcome all of my doubts and questions about buying this jacket, which I originally shared on this blog about a year before I would receive mine in the mail?

Let's go back through and address each of them one by one:

"I still have not played Disco Elysium."

Well now I have. Easy.

"It costs $500."

It actually came out closer to $400. Checkmate.

"I am unemployed and living in Brooklyn, NY."

I'm still living in Brooklyn, NY, but I've spent the last year gainfully employed as a freelance video editor. The fact that I had such a good year (especially compared to last year, financially) was probably the biggest factor in my finally buying this jacket.

"How could I ever walk out of my house wearing that jacket and not either feel like or become the world’s biggest asshole?"

By feeling extremely cool instead.

"What would I do if it got dirty?"

Tag says "spot clean only."

"What if the second I stroll out of my apartment building with my brand new $500 video game jacket, a pigeon shits itself to death right on top of me, right there on the sidewalk? What then?"

Uh. It didn't. This is a ridiculous question.

"Worse than any of that, I can’t try the thing on, what if I got the wrong size? What if it didn’t fit quite right? What if I just didn’t like it? What if I never wore it, and it forever hung in my closet, doing nothing but having cost $500?"

I already said I got the exact right size. It fits like a glove. And I love the thing. I wear it all the time. I wore it to travel back to Chicago for the holidays. When I first got it, I sat wearing it at my desk while I was working. I don't want to take this thing off.

"What if I finally play the game and I don’t like it? Or worse, what if I think it’s just fine?"

I literally fell in love with DE within an hour of starting it.

"What if I specifically hate the character who wears this jacket (doesn’t seem likely, a lot of people online seem to love him)?"

Kim? Kim Kitsuragi? Lt. Kim Kitsuragi? That's who I was worried I wouldn't like? The most kind, understanding, patient, and effortlessly cool character in all of Disco Elysium? I would take a bullet for this man. I would jump in front of a speeding train for this man. I would fight Godzilla in single combat if he looked at Kim sideways. No, sorry, Kim's a gem, and I'm proud to wear his jacket.

"What if I got the jacket having never played the game, and then someone on the street recognized what I was wearing and started talking to me about how great this game I have never played is?"

I started the game shortly before ordering the jacket. I've put in around 45 hours now, and this has yet to happen. I think I'm good.

So there you go. Anxieties be damned, the fashions were just too strong. And of course, crucially, I had the money. I don't drink, smoke, or partake of any recreational drugs. I can treat myself every once in a while. Especially to an extremely well made jacket that I'll probably have for the rest of my life.

Literally me.

I'm glad I gave myself permission to buy this thing. Sometimes you just know when you're going to love something, and you just need to let yourself grab it because life is short.

Anyway, I just wrote this so I could make a "how it started, how it's going" meme of myself.