Canada Goose - Chalking it up to experience and one happy ending, blah, blah, blah...

So in my impatience, frustration, desperation, *naivete*, downright stupidity, (and need for instant-gratification!) I ended up ordering a Canada Goose online, through some random site after not being able to find any in my size anywhere in the city! I figured for 252.00 USD I was getting a really awesome deal for the real McCoy. Of course, they processed my card upfront, but because I've never had any previous bad experiences buying stuff over the Internet, I didn't think of it as a cause for too much concern when after two weeks after placing my order, it was still "pending." And right away, after logging a follow up ticket, I heard back from them with a tracking number "profusely" apologetic for the delay and "pleased" to inform me that the parka had been shipped out. So again, my excitement began to build!!!

So, it arrived last Thursday at the office where I had it sent to since no one's home to receive the package during the day anyways, and without wasting another minute after claiming it from Bessie, tore it open in front of a puzzled and curious Sema & Sheryl only to find out that I had ordered a men's parka by mistake!!! And to top it off, the thing was sooo fake with the funny looking fur ruff around the hood and its obviously inferior overall craftsmanship, having been shipped out fresh from probably some underground black market operation in China! I stuffed it back into the bag it came in and didn't look at it again. Yesterday, I decided to take the parka home in case Kumar might be interested but of course, he turned up his nose to it (although it did fit him like a glove!) having both a real bomber and a vest which he got through a special *package* exclusive to Harry Rosen (which is an authorized retailer of CG) employees only, of course, and excluding greedy wives, too!!!

I ended up checking out Canada Goose's *official* website, which I really should have done from the get go before I even toyed with the idea of getting one online, and read up on a whole section the site devoted to the subject of counterfeiting - a "scourge" as the company called it that they've had to contend with lately (and sadly something that all "iconic" brands must deal with) brought on by the recent exponential rise
in popularity that the brand (that has been around for half a century now) has been enjoying. I felt rotten for having inadvertently purchased a knock off! I promise, it was unintentional! I never wanted a fake jacket, for first of all, who knows what it's been stuffed with, yuck! I just couldn't find the exact color, size, and style I wanted this late into the season when only odd colors like canary yellow and sizes are left available and after finally having made up my mind that the jackets are the gold standard in outerwear, when it comes to functionality, the real purpose of the jackets (before they took the streets of all major temperate cities by storm) being intended for use under extreme Arctic weather and that, I, of course, *must* have one! Hey, if they're good enough for them Arctic expeditioneers, they're good enough for me! That's why I had resorted to purchasing online where they seemed to be readily available. I should have known better! Anyways, I'm returning the fake at my own expense, and will be getting a refund from the rogue site, if they give me a hard time I'll just threaten to blog and expose their cheating rears, whose activities adversely impact us. I am very
intimidating, you know, all five feet of me!

Feeling bad for me, Kumar asked me why I looked so dejected last night as I walked out the door to go and workout downstairs to run off my frustration. No, I wasn't sulking over the silly parka, heck, no, well, ok, maybe partly because of that, among the other far more important matters weighing on my mind, these days. But this morning I got a call from Kumar, asking me whether I liked the "Resolute" model of parka, because that one they had at Stylexchange in my size! The Resolute is a bit more industrial looking with reflectors to ensure that you're visible, perfect for when you're negotiating icy sidewalks in the middle of the night and find yourself in the path of those crazy snowplows and
with loops you could either hang, I don't know, things like jack knives, CB radios, compasses (??) or lipgloss. It honestly looks like something you could probably wear to put out fires with (but still very nice!) without singeing a single (body) hair! Did I want it, he asked. I hesitated, knowing it didn't come cheap, but as their official site also made clear, CG isn't offering any promotions or discounts at this time and that too-good-to-be-true deals such as the one I found, are simply that, too-good-to-be-true! They insist that their jackets are investment items, the quality of which they stand by and guarantee complete satisfaction of. They already have a core market of Arctic experimenters, so they really don't need to lower the price. And so I said "Sure, but wait, isn't it early? Are you on break? I asked "No, I came here straight, 'doing this first thing, for you." Kumar replied and got me my parka, putting an end to the sad and freezing, CG-less existence, I've been leading (lol). My husband's thoughtful gesture brought me to tears! But I also know that, I'm going to have to wear blinders whenever we hit the mall from now on because I won't be getting another coat from him in a good while, and that's totally fine by me! My Canada Goose makes its grand debut tomorrow - man, I've never looked forward to subzero weather like this before!

Here's some more Canada Goose obsession coming from someone who has yet to receive her online order, the status of which is still "pending" :( (at the rate things are going, I'll probably be receiving my Parka next July during another one of those brutal heatwaves!!!):

It's amazing how a Canada Goose jacket can spark up coversations between people who don't know each other from Adam. That's how popular they are! Showing up last Sunday at one of our family's favorite mid-scale restaurants, L'Academie in Centropolis, Laval, without a reservation, in a lame attempt to be *spontaneous* (lol), we found ourselves behind a long queue of people waiting to be seated as well. Figuring that "this is going to be long," I led Maya to the washroom to wash our hands already to save time. We rejoined Kumee to find him chatting with a another couple. "This is my wife, Aimee," Kumar began introducing us, (Oh, hi! Pleased to meet you, yah-di-yah-di-yah....") "and my daughter, Maya..." (lady crouches down to Maya's level) "You have one stylish, Daddy"!!! She gushed. Then standing back up again and smoothening out (imaginary) creases on her trench with both hands, she blushingly explained to me that they had been admiring Kumee's *Goose*... "Oh, that..." I replied, and never knowing how to graciously accept a compliment (which really just requires a simple "Thank You" in acknowledgement which I have yet to master) I, of course, felt obligated to reciprocate in kind (it's a cultural *thing*, what am I supposed to do anyway? Smugly concur that I'm, uh, hot???) and looking over to her husband, told them how I *liked* his Burberry vest, it's brand being given away by the recognizable tartan lining, made visible with it's collar folded down the way he was wearing it. I heaved a great sigh and related to the lady, the particulars of my recent experience at Stylexchange looking for a Canada Goose for myself and she moaned at how expensive they are. "But they're totally worth it," I maintained, "Yeah" she agreed, "For you and I they're worth it but not for fourteen year old kids, they are! I have two teenagers who've been nagging me since, like, forever"!!! She lamented. I smiled at her sympathetically and then shot a worried glance at Maya, who was fidgeting with the crowd-control rope as I realized that *this* was in our future. The couple got seated and soon after, we were being led to our own cozy booth and upon arrival thereat, I spotted a common coat-tree for our section of the floor. "Huns," I warned Kumar as he was about to hang up his jacket, "I wouldn't hang your coat there if I were you...."

Canada Goose

Right in the middle of the epic heatwave last summer, which, as I said, was "leaving my naturally wavy hair with waaay too much to be desired," I wrote a post on Uggs boots and Canada Goose Jackets. It might have seemed early to be talking about "winterizing" at the time, but as I had emphasized, the post was totally in step with the ridiculously fast moving pace of the fashion industry that "keeps churning out new styles outdating the last trend every milli-second, it seems!" And sure enough, it's only November, which has seen (so far!) all but a light dusting of the evil evil white stuff and already, Canada Goose jackets are sold out, well maybe not completely: I went to Stylexchange yesterday, just "out of curiousity" to see for how much exactly they actually retail: $575 CAD (steep but worth it!) for the long "Chilliwack" coat that was secured with an elaborate and very serious-looking anti-theft device and just short of being literally bolted down to the rack. I've had my heart set though, on getting the "Montebello" parka in black for about two years now, but of course they no longer had any available in my size or color of choice...all they had left were ones in, of all colors, uh, *canary* yellow. "Would you like to try it on?" the canary, I mean, sales associate on the floor chirped, interrupting my pensive interlude and relaxing my furrowed brow: "That's ok," I replied, "I'll wait until you get more black ones in my size" but she warned me that, "It could be a veeery long wait, even Canada Goose, (the company) can't keep up with the demand." "I'll wait," I repeated nicely - was she kidding me? I wasn't about to be coaxed into doling out $500+ for a banana yellow jacket (by a salesperson working on commission, even if I have a soft-spot for their kind, especially for one in particuler:))

Now, quoting my silly self again: "It's a shame that with the advent of every trend, comes the proliferation of imitations - some by rival manufacturers that blatantly copy the styling of the original or by those who run more clandestine operations and try to pass their goods off as the real thing." Yes, even the jackets are being imitated. In fact, I stumbled across a few sites selling some for significantly cheaper - yes, *my* black Montebello parka in XS!!! (God, please save me from myself!!!!) Now, of course, I wouldn't mind saving myself a few hundred bucks, I mean who doesn't even if you're loaded - with money coming out of the, uh, wazoo? But are they real, though??? That's what I would like to know!!!

On Uggs and Canada Goose Jackets

So, when I first returned to Canada from living in the Philippines for x number of years, one of the top items on my to-do-list was to get me some sexy leather boots (in an unconscious attempt to fulfill some repressed girly superheroic fantasies). You see that's one wardrobe item that one doesn't get to wear back home obviously due to the make-up melting tropical heat unless you live, I guess, in the mountain resort city of Baguio where it is considerably colder due to it's higher elevation or if you street-walk for a living (for money for old rope!) along the red-light district of Ermita - neither case applied to me, the latter, thankfully not so! Thus, I had absolutely zilch excuse or occasion to wear boots back in the old country! So, at the first chance I got after arriving here in the fall of '99 admidst the Y2K hype and fears of an impending armageddon, I headed to Rockland's and made a beeline to Aldo's and bought my first pair of black, leather, high-heeled winter boots. They were pretty nice, maybe not the most efficient in keeping my feet warm, nor the most practical for trudging through knee-deep snow or negotiating frozen iced over sidewalks, but dang! They looked good!!! I'm glad however, to see how these past few winters, women have smartened up in this regard owing especially to the scrumptious offerings of snow-worthy bootmakers that now combine both comfort and practicality and not to mention warmth and safety with to-die-for style, style, style. One no longer has to sacrifice on aesthetic value, just to avoid the risk of the resulting need for a toe (or two!) amputation from frostbite. Viva toasty toes!!! Oooh, I'm getting a warm fuzzy feeling just thinking about it and Uggs....

Now, I didn't always like the look of Uggs after the ever effervescent Sarah Jessica Parker set the trend. But they eventually grew on me. I'm sure many will agree with me that they are an acquired taste. I just didn't jump into the bandwagon jampacked with happy, shreiking, stylish, comfy-footed girls between 15 and 45 right off the bat. I waited it out to see whether it would be just a passing fad that would soon die off, plus they didn't come cheap. It's a bit annoying because UGG's lucked out and was flying high with SJP's virtually free plugging that sparked such a craze for the original, fuzzy-lined-interior with a beige and suedy outer, boots (which now come, mind you, in an array of different colors, styles and heights) and with such a high demand for them, they could get away with whatever MSRP they didn't just "suggest" but impose. That's exactly what happened to Canada Goose. The popularity of their jackets rose to astronomical proportions after my babe Matt Damon was spotted wearing one somewhere, where exactly, I forget but that's besides the point. Those down-filled poofy jackets don't come cheap either. But if you ask my humble opionion, like Ugg's, I believe they are well worth the price. I am hardly surprised that these styles have endured a few winters now. These are pieces that you'll really enjoy for years and years. I know Kumar likes his Canada Goose bomber, and personally, I have my mind set on getting the more fitted and longer parka (in black) in the near future.

It's a shame, though, how with the advent of every trend, comes the proliferation of imitations. Some by rival manufacturers that blatantly copy the styling of the original, and others that run more clandestine operations and who try to pass off their products as the real thing. Even Canada Goose jackets are being imitated! I guess the Chinese needed to find a way to put to good use the perfectly good Peking duck down feathers that are usually discarded by their rotisseries and in a flash of genius, one dude came up with the idea of using them as stuffing material for their imitation jackets. Eureka!!! When it comes to certain things, I let go of my bargain-hunting, H&M-frequenting self's philosophy (also held by every other penny-pinching style puss): "A real Timex is better than a fake Rolex." Ugg boots and Canada Goose Jackets, being some of those things. Like I said, these items are worth the price and are defintely good investments, think of them as gifts to yourself that keep giving back, you just can't go wrong!!!

But why am I talking about Ugg boots and Canada Goose Jackets in the middle of a brutal heatwave which is leaving my naturally wavy hair with waaaay too much to be desired??? Sandals that come in a plethora of shapes, styles and colors and made out of every imaginable material - canvas, plastic, leather - even pleather would've been a more apt subject to blog about, one might argue. But hey, I'm actually keeping up with the ridiculously fast moving pace of the fashion industry which keeps churning out new styles outdating the last trend every millisecond, it seems!! Trust me, give it about a week more and you'll see storefront displays awash with mannequins decked out to the nines in the "transition" collection replete with the matching blingy accessories, bags and/or hats, even the latest hairstyles and footwear to boot (no pun intended)! And then you'll find the remaining summer stuff reduced to a sad rack at the back of the store under a sign that not too discreetly screams LIQUIDATION!!! Personally, I have no prob rummaging through sales but I know of some weirdos who do - they simply don't realize how exorbitantly high the clothes have been marked up to, to begin with, duh!!! But going back to the transition collection, all this is really, is a big fancy term for what is a smaller sampling of the next major season's (e.g. between spring, summer, winter and fall) must-have's which help fashionistas to gently ease into the new weather, and more importantly, the new styles. The next transition collection will be featuring some pre-fall goodies with heavier fabrics and deeper colors of, hmmmm, I don't even know! Hang on, let me consult my fashion plate hubby first, will get back to you on that one! But to tell you the truth, I'm not even remotely close to ready to give up my daisy dukes, cotton baby T's and flip-flops which I've been living in the past few days. Those cutesy blazers, cashmere turtlenecks, tweedy skirts, opaque tights and knee-high leather boots and not to forget, the Canada Goose jackets and Ugg's can totally wait - indefinitely - if only I had my way!!!