<p>@interesteddad: Thank you! i am inclined towards the short as well.
I am sending her the links and she will do the buying I feel compelled to explain - definitely not one of the parachute parents. This is just hard because we do not have the luxury of Thanksgiving/Xmas breaks to catch up on missed shopping and now I am kicking myself for the missed BCF trip in August. </p>
<p>@eastcoascrazy: have already passed on your advice about the layers. DD says she has been doing that. </p>
<p>@Classof2015: thanks for summarizing the replies. as we packed for school, i tried to interest her in my cuddle dudds from times past (!!) but she would not spare a glance. I will broach the under layer once again.</p>
<p>@BCEagle91: The four piece concept is interesting. thanks. </p>
<p>@fishymom: will try the sites you have mentioned.</p>
<p>more replies after I have read the rest
thanks, a</p>
<p>LLBEAN should be next day delivery to Boston. They ship out of Maine, just a couple hours up the road. One day UPS.</p>
<p>LLBEAN is pretty âold fuddy duddyâ for college kids, however, they make some very good basic staple items. I have bought two of their jackets (an insulated nylon warmup jacket and their basic midweight down jacket). I have been very impressed with the quality of both items. I did not buy their 3-in-1 parka because I could do better on a Columbia closeout, either at Marshalls or Sierra Trading Post mail order. On most things, Beanâs pricing will be comparable to department store pricing.</p>
<p>@interesteddad: i was reading your post from this morning - thank you for succinctly explaining. I will just send this to her as ârequired readingâ!</p>
<p>About LLBean- yes, fuddy duddy sounds about right. felt that way when i read the reviews. cant beat the staples though.</p>
<p>In my smaller city, Hunters are available at a few select retailers. They are very nice, hopefully long lasting as well. One D got cheaper boots, the other has Hunters. Cheap rubber boots donât last long, and I think the Hunters have lasted for a few years of Puget Sound area college.</p>
<p>Sometimes the tack stores sell Wellies (rain boots) cheaper than the fashion stores. You may not have all the color choices but youâll save some money. Check out Dover Saddlery for example. My D grew up wearing Muck Boots because we had horses. They are almost indestructible and, with the right socks, are very warm. Not stylish, unless you live or go to school in horse country.</p>
<p>Hunter boots are sold at Nordstrom, Saks, Bloomies, etc. in stores and online. I recommend checking Nordstrom Rack for last yearâs colors (I saw a ton of Hunter boots at our local NR). Your D needs to try them on because sizing can be tricky depending on the style and whether she wants to wear them with a thick sock or not. They cost a lot, but they do last much longer that $20-$30 pairs of rubber boots that fall apart after one season.</p>
<p>On LLBean being fuddy duddy and Northface and Columbia being coolâŠ</p>
<p>Is there a real difference between these for things like a winter jacketâor is it just brand consciousness? Without the labels, could you really tell the difference?</p>
<p>Depends on the item. LLBean has a lot of products that are geared towards us geezers, not so much for college kids. Other things, like their ski parkas arenât fuddy duddy. They just tend more towards solid colors, not as flashy, and of course without the label prestige. </p>
<p>It also depends on how much of a shopper you are. You can get more coat for the buck from Columbia if you are willing to shop closeouts. But, I didnât find anything better than Beanâs basic down coat on sale last week for $63. And, Bean makes some basic items, like their menâs warm-up jacket, this is just hard to find anywhere else these days. So, it all just depends what you are looking for.</p>
<p>The Bean fleece is very high quality, but pretty expensive these days, although cheaper than North Face.</p>
<p>TJMaxx has a ton of winter outerwearâbrand names at very reasonable prices. I bought a Columbia brand womenâs down jacket last week for just under $50.00.</p>
<p>My kids donât find LL Bean fuddy-duddy at all. Nor do their home (preppy) or college (granola) friends. Geezers? I think anyone can have any opinion. What matters on this thread is what OPâs daughter and her friends think.</p>
<p>Snowing now in western CT and w. MA. Not yet along the coast.</p>
<p>We have several LL Bean coats. We bought them in the summertime off the clearance racks at the LL Bean Factory Outlet in our town (Southern NH). Iâd say that they are more geezerish than North Face.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info about the Hunter boots BB. I have seen them around, but I read some reviews that said they werenât worth the money ( but that could even have been about a different brand).
I donât have dedicated rain boots- except for ones that I bought at the tack shop- but I have a feeling this is going to be a wet winter.</p>
<p>The dead giveway is that none of the models in the catalog are between the ages of 14 and 40! Beanâs target is adults and adults buying for kids. Which is not to say that they donât have a lot of stuff that prepsters and granola outdoorsy types of all ages would love. I gave my daugther one of their lightweight fitness fleeces and, judging from her Facebook pix, she wears it all the time. It just depends on the item.</p>
<p>In womenâs outerwear, they have some stuff that would be fine for a college kid and some stuff that is decidedly fuddy-duddy. Being a geezer myself, I tend to favor some of their fuddy-duddy styles.</p>
<p>I tend towards the LL Bean is fuddy duddy side. My mom loves LL Bean and she gets free shipping with her LL Bean credit card so I find myself every year looking through the catalog for something I would wear. I have lots of LL Bean turtle necks. I got a pair a shoes from there one year that I love. They are suede with shearling lining and around the top. I practically wore them out and couldnât wait to get a new pair. They discontinued them - must have been too stylish.</p>
<p>In menâs coats, Marshallâs and TJ MAXX currently have some of last yearâs colors in the Columbia Bugaboo 3-in-1 parka for $99. This is a waterproof/breathable shell with Columbiaâs version of Goretex with a zip out heavy fleece liner. Itâs $175 at REI or department stores and is more jacket than the $99 LLBean version. But, you might not have a choice of color/sizes.</p>
<p>If you sign up for Sierra Trading Postâs newsletter, you get a coupon for 20% or 25% off.</p>
<p>I just got this one, a step-up model from the Columbia Titanium line, for $93 with the discount. This one has a polyester fill type liner because I didnât need another fleece and the smooth nylon fabric of this liner is easier to take on and off. I took the liner out when the jacket arrived and will only put it back in when it gets seriously cold (in the teens) or if I were going to be out all day. Otherwise, Iâll just wear it as a waterproof winter shell over whatever fleece or sweater Iâm already wearing.:</p>
<p>just spoke with D - She want a âlong wool coatâ!
i dont know anything anymore.
I talked to her about the lengths: jacket (waist), Parka (top of leg or bit longer), knee length and below knee. She says she is looking for a quilted long coat upto the knee. </p>
<p>perhaps back to the drawing board. but i will try to consolidate everything from this board into one email. </p>
I feel compelled to explain - definitely not one of the parachute parents. This is just hard because we do not have the luxury of Thanksgiving/Xmas breaks to catch up on missed shopping and now I am kicking myself for the missed BCF trip in August. </p>