<p>Lands End and LL Bean = old folks clothes.</p>
<p>I bought my daughter an LL Bean winter coat and she wore it because she didn’t have anything else. Once I got her the North Face (which I had to convince her of), that’s all she wears.</p>
<p>I’ve been searching for a nice winter coat for my older son. He’s in Syracuse and they all ready have 45 inches of snow. He has a very fashionable wool coat, but could really use something more practical for the cold, wet, snowy Syracuse weather.</p>
<p>I checked out Lands End stuff. Unfortunately, this season I’ve had really bad luck with their merchandise. The sizes are weird and when I purchase two of the same item in the same size but different colors, they’re imported from different parts of the world and they’re cut differently. I’ve had to return most of the stuff that I’ve ordered from them. Our Kmart sells Lands Ends products. I went and checked out their winter coats.
The quality of the Lands End coats wasn’t very good. They really looked and felt cheap.
It’s a shame because Lands End used to sell well made merchandise.</p>
<p>I considered LLBean. However, son is slim and LL Bean tends to run wide. </p>
<p>I went to TJMaxx and they seemed to have plenty of Large items, but not a good selection of Small and Medium. </p>
<p>Today, I went to Sports Authority and checked out the Columbia and North Face jackets.
After comparing the styles, I think I found the perfect winter coat for him----The North Face Triclimate Headwall jacket. Unfortunately, they only had a Medium in Red and I wasn’t sure if he would wear a red jacket (I loved the Red color). It was expensive and I didn’t want to take the chance.</p>
<p>Anyway, I came home and did a little searching online for this item. I found it in a really nice blue color. It was available on a number of websites. However, on the Backcountry site-----free shipping AND no tax. I just ordered it. </p>
<p>The quality of the jacket is awesome. He can use the shell for the rainy spring weather. He can use the liner as a jacket for the cool fall weather. He can zip the liner into the shell and use the combo as an extremely warm and waterproof winter jacket for the snowy winter. Trust me–this is a big splurge and a lot more than I’ve ever spent on a jacket but the quality and design seemed perfect. He’s going to be very surprised.</p>
<p>And he will be very happy. :)</p>
<p>nysmile,
did your son like the NF jacket? Now my son, in Cambridge, agrees he’d like a heavier jacket.</p>
<p>Resurrecting this to ask - any impressions of Eddie Bauer and Patagonia for this type of winter weather outdoor coat, relative to Columbia and Northface?</p>
<p>PG, my suggestion would be to go to a Dick’s Sporting Goods (soon) and have your kids try ON the jackets there. I found that my kids really had to try on the jackets…it didn’t matter what I thought was “good” or “warm”…if they didn’t try it before purchase, the seldom wore it. Places like Dicks have a good selection of a lot of popular brands.</p>
<p>Just an FYI…my college grad kids would not be caught DEAD in an LLBean or Eddie Bauer garment of any kind…those brands are for the “old folks”…they tell me.</p>
<p>We have had the best luck with REI and EMS…and Dicks.</p>
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<p>My daughter has said the same thing until I found this last month. It is not bulky at all, yet very warm. She got it in the Deep Wisteria.
[Snowbell</a> Jacket: Winter Jackets at L.L.Bean](<a href=“L.L.Bean: Page Not Available”>L.L.Bean: Page Not Available)</p>
<p>Thumper - S actually has an Eddie Bauer down coat; it’s in excellent condition, I had gotten it with a gift card to Eddie Bauer that was otherwise going to expire. On the rare occasions where he even deigns to wear a winter coat, he’s fine with it. </p>
<p>My concerns are two-fold –
- even though HE doesn’t appear to care, is it going to be a “dork brand” on campus?
- he says it’s warm enough now, but he’s not walking around outside anywhere near as much as he will when he’s on campus.</p>
<p>PG, my son went to college in Boston. His warmest coat was a wool pea coat…worn with a fleece or hoodie under it when it was really cold. He always wore a scarf, hat and gloves. The only time he wore a down ANYTHING was for skiing. On his campus…down jackets were viewed as “dorky” unless you were on the slopes.</p>
<p>The other thing is that some students prefer to wait until the get to their colleges to purchase some of their clothing, particularly things like winter garb and boots. We made the mistake of purchasing things in advance and some were never used because the kids on the campus just didn’t wear that sort of “stuff”. In fact, even in high school…our “back to school” shopping took place in October or November so the kids could see what was “in” at their schools. I know that seems silly, but everyone wants to “fit in”.</p>
<p>Trend shopping varies from kid to kid so you just have to know your kid. My D is more likely to stop wearing something because it’s “in” than to choose it for that reason. You can either wait to see what’s “in” or be the person who influences what’s “in.”</p>
<p>Just to add my 2 cents - My sons & I love the Mountain Hardware & Arcteryx ski jackets - we have soft shells that we have owned & worn continuously for years. The boys tend to just wear the jackets all day long, inside & outside - they’re that comfortable & lightweight. And we have all skied in them in very cold & windy conditions as well (with a fleece layer & long underwear on). Backcountry.com wins my vote for best site to order online from - They have an incredible return policy & I have never had a problem with them! They also have frequent sales.</p>
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<p>Thumper - We are in the Chicago area and S will be going to Northwestern so we definitely know the weather. My question was more about Eddie Bauer brand specifically. He also has a LL Bean backpack in great condition; hope that won’t be dorky either! He is oblivious to these things, but I’m not, and if I can prevent social embarrassment, fine with me, lol.</p>
<p>Younger S wears his North Face fleece even on the coldest days; he has a down coat but I don’t think it ever comes out of his closet. He’s still using his LL Bean backpack from high school - it’s pretty beat up looking, but when I asked this week (as we packed up his car for the return trip to Evanston) if it needed to be replaced, he said it was still fine. My older S who attended Colgate spent the winters there in Mountain Gear fleece and didn’t use his down jacket for anything other than for skiing.</p>
<p>In New England we can have 40 degree swings on any given day…it can start of snowing and end up warm and sunny - so we just layer our clothing.</p>
<p>My suggestion is to purchase a winter jacket “system”…it ususally comes with three layers, vest, down/fleece (or similar) quilted interior jacket and a shell. You can layer and mix and match depending on the weather and use the shell throughout the year as a rain jacket. My entire family has jacket systems - Eddie Bauer, Northface, LLBean and Columbia…they all work well.</p>
<p>I have read on these boards some disdain for the Northface/uug crowd but in a variable climate like New England, you really need layers and warm boots (from Nov-April) that provide lots of flexibility - and both Northface jacket systems (fleece and waterproof shell) and Uugs provide just that. Until recently, Columbia and LLBean have been strictly function with no style but with Northface taking a bite out of their market, that is begining to change.</p>
<p>In terms of boots, hardcore winter waterproof boots are mostly worn on snowy, slushy, muddy days but are overkill for just the cold, windy day…regulars shoes and fashion heeled boots are tough to walk in when it is icy…so, uggs tend to be the boot of choice for most days becasue if its practicality.</p>
<p>PG - in terms of your son wearing a “dork brand”, I don’t think that either Bean, Bauer or Lands’ End has a visible logo on the outside (at least, not a very prominent one), so others wouldn’t know WHAT brand it was.
NF, on the other hand, has big ol’ logos on both the front AND back. For these, people pay an extra one or two hundred bucks (for a heavy jacket. Fifty bucks or so extra for the lighter weight items.)</p>
<p>Remember 35 years or so ago, when virtually NOTHING had visible logos? About the only recognizable brand we knew of back in my working-to-middle-class, not-at-all-ritzy high school was Levis. At college the rich sorority girls had their favorite brands of expensive boots and sweaters. But the typical high school and college kid had no concept of what brands of clothes were “in”. Everything looked pretty much the same, sans logos.</p>
<p>I was under the impression that most guys really couldn’t care less about brand names (except perhaps the very wealthiest?).</p>
<p>Anyone want to add information about their/their kids’ new coats? This seems to be the time of year to find a good buy.</p>
<p>I’m still very fond of my new jacket. I have not yet worn it much in cold weather (because our coldest temp so far has been 60s in HI but did wear it in SF & Vancouver when it was so warm I had it partly unzipped). It’s a black Columbia sportswear jacket that has a lining that reflects my body heat, so it keeps me warmer with less bulk. I think it may be called Bugaboo (but I may have the name wrong).</p>
<p>Got D several coats & jackets, which she opted to return because they weren’t quite what she had in mind for herself. I have given up & told her she’s on her own in getting a jacket.</p>
<p>I couldn’t care less what jacket my daughter wears. I bought this thing for me last fall:</p>
<p>[Warm-Up</a> Jacket: Casual Jackets at L.L.Bean](<a href=“Men's Warm-Up Jacket, Fleece-Lined | Casual Jackets at L.L.Bean”>http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/32937?feat=593-GN1)</p>
<p>It’s been my go-to jacket all winter. Yes, I have the Everest expediation Columbia ski parka and I wear that when I’m running the snow blower for two hours in a driving snow storm with temps in the teens. But, it’s just too much coat for a more typical hop in the car, drive somewhere, walk from the car to indoors, and back to the car. This LLBean warmup jacket has been perfect. It’s plenty warm in the car even in the teens and plenty warm enough to walk a minute from the car. With the ski parka I always find myself taking off the fleece or sweater I’m wearing indoors because the jacket is so hot. That’s just silly. Now, I throw this jacket on over the sweater and I’m good to go.</p>
<p>I know that college kids wouldn’t be caught dead in a plain jacket like this, but the concept of a mid-weight jacket still applies for a typical five or ten minute walk, even on a cold day. The heavy weight ski parkas are just too much coat for every day use.</p>
<p>The coat bargains are gone by now, I suspect they all have been scooped up by the frozen to death NE and Midwest dwellers. This winter has been relentless… It is the end of February, and we are supposed to plant trees and prune roses here in the PNW, but instead we are bracing for 2-6 inches of snow (which does not sound like a lot, but people in Seattle freak out at the sight of the first snowflake). My commute home was rather interesting, but my new shearling jacket kept me warm.</p>
<p>Don’t know if it’s been mentioned- look at backcountry.com- discounts on name brands incl Northface- not always every size or color available, but we got steep discounts on NFace for my kids at school in a very cold area. I gather they consolidate overstocks. Never had an issue with service.</p>