Jeff Scott: The Countryside View – Canada Goose and the new fashion victims
The late 70s was definitely a difficult time for this gangly and pimply teenager, who had no fashion sense and was living in the bush north of Lake Superior. Disco was all the rage in the far-off southern cities, and the fashions and clothes reflected this. I can vividly remember waiting for the school bus on bitterly cold mornings, with arctic winds howling down off of Lake Nipigon. Was I dressed to deal with these horrible conditions? Not a chance! I was dressed to hit the clubs or stroll down Sunset Boulevard! What an outfit: platform shoes, straight-leg jeans and polyester floral print shirts with open collars. No long johns, no t-shirt, no scarf, no hat!
By the time that I was in my 20s, I had pretty much turned my back on fashion trends. I was far more comfortable, and far warmer, wearing my woolen bush socks with the red stripe. Those socks had actually been referred to in the 20s as Nipigon Nylons, which is where I grew up. I wore jeans and plaid shirts and an Irish wool cap while sporting a beard. Thirty years later, I am still wearing the same style of clothes and beard, but it is my wonderfully warm Canada Goose parka that I am writing about here.
I got my Canada Goose parka 10 years ago and I loved it. It was rugged and warm and Canadian. For the first time in my life, I could go outside in the coldest part of winter and still feel comfortable. I had never even heard of the brand before then, and I didn’t for many years after buying my parka. But now it has become impossible to not know about them. It seems that Canada Goose has become all the rage around the planet, and is the newest luxury fashion item.
Recently, three very strange stories have come up about this parka. A high school in the U.K. has banned the wearing of this coat. They want to shield the low-income students from feeling bad about not having one of these coats that wealthier students are forking out hundreds of dollars for. Really? Who in England needs a Canada Goose parka, where the weather barely goes below freezing, let alone minus 30? Another incident occurred during a recent polar vortex that hit Chicago with frigid temperatures. Two men in a Mercedes drove up to a pedestrian and robbed the man of his Canada Goose parka! I guess that someone with an expensive car just had to have an expensive coat to go with it. And now there is a Canada Goose store in the wealthiest part of Hong Kong. This city, which is located in the tropics, has gone nuts for Canada Goose parkas. It may be 35 degrees with 90 per cent humidity, but they just have to have a down-filled parka to show off to their friends. It amazes me that fashions have shifted around so much in my life time. I am now a fashionista with my Carhartt pants, L.L. Bean shirts, and of course my Canada Goose parka. The rest of the people are now just the new victims of fashion!
Jeff Scott is a former councillor for the City of Kingston (Countryside District), and has contributed editorial content local publications for a number of years. He continues to live, work and write in the Countryside district of Kingston, and runs his own blog, The Countryside View. Visit his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/jeffscottthecountrysideview to read more of Jeff’s content.