Several months ago I had an epiphany: it’s possible to have clothing that keeps you warm and dry in the rain.
This was latent knowledge, but nothing I thought to apply to myself – until my epiphany. Let’s rewind: friends from the east coast were in town and unfortunately it was raining during a good part of their stay. It was chilly too; not like a warm-ish spring rain. For meeting up with them to explore Chinatown, I wore a jacket to keep me warm and carried an umbrella to keep me dry. And then the rain came sideways, keeping me neither warm nor dry. That’s when I noticed what my friends wore: real jackets! Water-repellent and warm. It was then that I decided I needed one of those in my life.
Fast forward to now: after a previous unsuccessful attempt at a Columbia jacket, I finally resolved to get something soon. You know what inspired me? Not the weather predictions of rain… It was Anthropologie’s outerwear sale. I was like – ‘oh yeah, I wanted a jacket’. But I quickly realized that while Anthropologie’s selection is quite cute, none of the affordable stuff is practical. (Note: cotton parkas are very NOT water-repellent.) Then Bloomingdale’s had a Friends & Family sale, so that’s the next place I checked. After trying on several options here’s what I found:
Left: The North Face puffer. Right: RLX Ralph Lauren trench.
Choosing the right jacket proved to be a tough choice. On one hand, the North Face is an established and trustworthy high-performance outdoor brand, and the puffer came with lots of information about its various high-performance features. On the other hand, it was just… so… casual. And shapeless. The trench, however, was so chic and pretty; and the belt provided wonderful definition at the waist. Yet while the Ralph Lauren brand can be trusted for everyday clothes, the high-performance RLX line is much newer; and instead of talking about the jacket’s performance features, available information highlighted the placements of zippers and pockets (note to the Ralph Lauren crew: I can see the pockets and zippers, you don’t need to tell me about it).
I couldn’t decide. I went back and forth from the fitting room, texted photos to a friend, and still vacillated between the two. I was so uninspired by how shapeless and casual the puffer looked, especially when compared to the trench. But when buying something for the express purpose of keeping me warm and dry, shouldn’t I buy what I know will do the job? Though it’s not that the trench wouldn’t keep me warm and dry, per se; it just wasn’t as technically advanced as the hardcore puffer. On top of it all, the Ralph Lauren jacket was about $100 more than the North Face one. Pay more for less performance? That seemed silly. I made my decision.
So which one did I choose?
I brought the North Face jacket to the register, then at the very last minute discovered that the Ralph Lauren trench was on sale. With the added Friends & Family discount it was nearly the same price as the F&F discounted North Face jacket. Ergo, my Moment of Truth: all else being equal, I chose fashion over function. And I’m happy to report that I tested it out today and it performed beautifully.
When you search for performance clothing what’s more important to you – looking good, or getting the highest possible performance?
*
This post is the first in a three-part series titled “Behind the Buying”, discussing the reasons why we buy. The next installment will be published next Tuesday.
*
Today is the birthday of one of the friends that inspired this post. Happy birthday Laura! I hope your water-repellent jacket is still serving you well.
What's your opinion?