A Tale of Two Coats

It looks like Glory may be heading up to Churchill for least part of her gap year before entering university - this made finding a winter coat for her a bit of a priority.

After a day of shopping at WEM, she and Audrey found a nice little number by London Fog at The Bay. The saleslady they had was excellent and encouraged her to take it home, leave the tags on and try it on in the cold, which was considerable that weekend (-30 C).

Unfortunately, it only took about 7 minutes in the cold to determine that this jacket was simply no match for our Canadian climate. Back to the Bay they went, and tried another parka in the same colour (red).

This one, by Noize (ugh) is actually pretty neat; it's rated to -30, and held up very well on a similarly cold day, in spite of or possibly because of a lining made of recycled pop bottles. Because the filling has no feathers, the trim has no fur and the jacket was assembled without cruelty, the coat is also technically vegan.

My fear of this, however, is that it may create an irresistible irony cascade that results in my youngest being eaten by a polar bear while wearing a vegan garment, but we will just have to hope for the best. And it is a good looking coat, I have to admit.

On the other end of the spectrum, however, is a coat that entered our household by way of my mother. It doesn't belong to any one person, but as it is a mink coat, everyone agreed that having it stay in Alberta instead of travelling with Tara to Texas made an inordinate amount of sense. (My understanding is that she has first dibs on it on any occasion when she is in town.)

Audrey has worn it the most, taking it to school on a couple of occasions during the aforementioned cold snap, and also to church and choir. Glory also wore it to service on Christmas Eve, but it's a bit big on Fenya. It even has a hood, making it more practical than one might think.

As the story goes, Mum always wanted a fur coat (something much more common in my childhood than it is now) but even then worried about running afoul of people who find fur disagreeable. It is for this reason that she decided her mink coat should be purple. And besides, it was the '80s.

I think it is a sensational looking garment, and many of Audrey's coworkers commented on how glamourous she looked in it, and I have to agree.

With temperatures poised to rise above -20 for the first time in over a week tomorrow, there won't be as much need for -30 jackets or purple minks, but it is nice to have them on hand nonetheless.