A Patagonia Education, Continued

The second part in a series on my Patagonia Education.

Lesson Number Two
In this instance, the store had more sizes available during a sale than the website did. On the website a lot of the stuff I was interested in was not available in my size, small. The store had smalls in many things including the Men's Rubicon Rider Jacket in black (more about that in the next lesson) which seems sold out in size small across the world wide web. The only item I couldn't find in small--and the sales woman checked the computer and said there isn't one to be found anywhere in the system--was the Patagonia Down Jacket in black, no doubt a popular item.

The rest of my education came in the fit of the garments. These items I had seen in the catalogs were now on my body and I was able to get a better sense of their fit and feel. I have to preface this by saying that I am basically a "perfect" size small (if there is such a thing--every guy under 5'10" probably views his height as pretty "imperfect", but you get what I mean) in Patagonia gear, and in pretty much every other brand for that matter. I've had the Patagonia Dimension Jacket, the Down Vest, a Shelled Synchilla, a Marsupial, etc. So that's the premise I'm working from--a small should fit me just fine.

Lesson Number Three
The Rubicon Rider Jacket has really long arms. First of all, I felt like I had scored a coup by finding this in black, size small. As I said, I haven't seen that anywhere on the internet, so I was quite eager to try this one on and possibly make a purchase. Immediately after putting it on, I found that it was very warm and the fabric has a great feel to it. The reinforcements on the shoulders feel tough, like they would stand up so some scrapes. I liked the removable hood too. But what was up with the arms? They were a solid two inches too long. Take a look at this picture I found on the internet that demonstrates my point perfectly:

(Photo from kakaku.com)

The sleeves are almost down to his fingernails and they're STILL bunched up at his wrists. Folks at Patagonia design: this is a great jacket, but please fix the sleeve length! I get that the jacket is supposed to have a relaxed fit and it does. But it shouldn't have a relaxed fit designed for a gorilla. Back to the rack you go, you rarest of finds. May some primate find you useful.

Lesson Number Four
The Patagonia Quilt Again Jacket is really tight. No, not slang "tight" as in "cool" but "tight" as in "restricting"! Again, size small ought to fit me fine. And again, I felt like I had scored because this is a very popular jacket and the website didn't have this blue one in small. Ah, but the fit--I had a hard time even getting my arms through the sleeves. Though I'd like to think it's because my arm muscles are so ripped, the facts tell me that the sleeves are just cut too slim. Mind you, I was only wearing a t-shirt and a thin cotton shirt over that--nothing excessive. Here's the kicker, I later checked out the Patagonia website and they label the jacket "Regular Fit." Just not true.

More Patagonia lessons to come this weekend.

A Patagonia Education, Part One

Last Friday the 16th, I sat down to write a new entry for the Patagonia Community. Here's how it started (thanks to the hard-working people at Blogger who make sure that drafts are auto-saved):

I've noticed that when I walk into a Patagonia retail store, I'll rarely ever find anything on sale. I know they have their sales a couple of times a year, but outside of those times, the Patagonia retail stores are havens for full-priced items. I'm going to be heading to one of the Patagonia stores this weekend and am looking for evidence to dissuade me. I'm guessing I won't find much. Nevertheless, I enjoy the Patagonia stores because I get a chance to get up-close and personal with their newer gear and I've always found the sales people to be quite helpful.

So the part about their sales people being helpful remains true, but I was so wrong about the first part. Shortly after I typed the paragraph above, I visited Patagonia.com and to my amazement, found that they had begun a 30% Off Sale. I then went to their store locations page and checked in on the Palo Alto store which was where I was headed last Sunday. I was pleased and surprised to read that the store was also participating. Therefore, lesson number one in my Patagonia education was that sometimes they do have sales out of the blue (though the downturn in the economy no doubt spurred the creation of this sale on; wouldn't expect this in "normal" years).

Usually the Patagonia Winterfest Sale is only a few weeks from this time of year, so to have a 30% Off Sale in mid-January seemed strange, but was welcome. I browsed through the website and found some pretty good deals though I didn't make any purchases. On Sunday I was off to Patagonia Palo Alto where I've visited a couple of times before. Here's a shot I took from Alma Street:
The rest of my Patagonia education last weekend took place within this store. My first clue was the print on the window:
The "30% Off" sign applied to everything in the store (with the exception of books and things like that). The website had some things on sale, and some for full price. Not so at the store. To verify, I asked one of those helpful sales people who reassured me that I wasn't going crazy.

When it actually came time to try on some items, the real education started. I've been a fan of Patagonia clothing and gear for the last 10 years or so, yet much of my admiration has come from reading about their company or perusing their well-produced catalogs. On this day I would be able to try some items on with the intention of purchasing. I grabbed several items and headed to the fitting room and that's where the real education in Patagonia began.

I'm going to post the second part of my Patagonia education this Wednesday. Stay tuned.

Patagonia Winterfest Sale Still on for '09

I have it on good word from "Free" at the Patagonia blog that the Patagonia Winterfest Sale will still be taking place this February. I also talked to an employee at the Santa Monica store who assured me of the same. So if the 30% Sale at Patagonia didn't do it for you, stay tuned for the Winterfest. I'll post it here THE MOMENT I get word of it.

Patagonia Sale at Real Cheap Sports in Ventura

Looking for Patagonia sales? Aren't we all. The Real Cheap Sports outlet has just gotten its shipment of Patagonia stuff in. Check this out:

Wanted you to know that we just received a shipment of Patagonia closeouts.

Discount Patagonia items (25% off retail prices) are available in our store at 36 W. Santa Clara Street, Ventura, Ca. They are not sold in our online store at this time, so if you are out of the area, a phone/mail order is required. Please feel free to give us a call to inquire about size and color availability and to place an order. 805-648-3803.

POSTED BY PATAGONIA COMMUNITY AT 4:27 PM PST