A woman believes her mother-in-law may have taken one of her most treasured vintage items — a sentimental suede coat — but she isn’t sure how to handle the situation.
Sharing her story on Reddit, the woman explained that her mother-in-law stayed overnight at her home in June. Before the visit, she had moved her “beautiful vintage suede coat,” a gift from her own mother, to another spot in her closet to conceal some decorations she knew her mother-in-law disliked.
“Fast forward to when the weather got colder and I went to grab the coat — it wasn’t in my closet, it wasn’t on the floor, and it wasn’t anywhere else in the house,” she wrote. “I wouldn’t have packed it away, and I remember adjusting it and thinking, ‘I can’t wait to wear it.’”
When she told her husband that she couldn’t find it, she mentioned that his mother had been the only person in their room during that visit. He later brought it up to his mom, telling her his wife was “very upset” after searching the entire house.
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His mother’s reaction didn’t inspire much confidence. “She said, ‘Well, what does it look like? Coats don’t just walk away — she probably put it in a drawer somewhere,’ and then got off the phone quickly,” the woman recalled.
Now, the poster says she’s “almost 100% sure” her mother-in-law took the coat. She’s angry, hurt, and doesn’t want her in the house ever again — even admitting she “dreams at night about confronting her.”
“I don’t know what to do. The coat is very sentimental to me,” she added, asking Reddit for advice and wondering if she was overreacting.
Commenters overwhelmingly supported her feelings and urged her to stand her ground.
“Go visit her and check her closet. Bring your husband and have him ask directly if she took it. Make sure you’re both on the same page — he should address his mother, not you,” one person advised.
Another wrote, “Assuming she did take it, what a terrible thing to do. You’re absolutely right not to let her back into your home — you’d never be able to relax again after that.”
