tory

All right, I ordered this jacket off Bro because I figured it was a good price for a feature rich jacket. And now that I have it, well... I think it's a little TOO rich. First the good: The gray denim shell is sick, feels like good cotton denim (because it is) but the laminate makes it super waterproof. The 3M thinsulate is definitely WARM without adding a ton of bulk. The soft liner has gold-foil accents that peek out a bit at the collar and hood, but you have to be careful they don't make you look like you're trying too hard. The hood is super plush and adjustable. Don't know why it's removable because the high collar makes you look like count dracula without it. Lots of interior pockets, but nothing to write home about. The bad: this jacket is COVERED with metal snap buttons, which look cool but are a pain to use, each requires two hands so you don't yank your jacket around when you open a pocket or undo the zipper flap. The pockets are all zippered anyway, so the buttons are strictly fashion. But if you don't fasten them, you sound like the ice cream man clinking down the street. The wrists are snap button closure too, which is pretty awful in terms of adjustability. Plus the buttons make you look kind of snooty, like you really meant to buy a new england pea coat or something. There are two vents on each side, one under your tricep and one on the side of your ribcage... cool but kinda tricky to open and close smoothly.

Overall: good construction, WARM jacket with GREAT shell material and comfy liner with fleece accents. But some of the functionality was lost to fashion, the worst of which are the wrist adjusters. Plus I can't help but feel like there's TOO MUCH going on with this jacket, it's weighed down with features I'll probably never use. Finally, the jacket tries to look subtle with the material but ends up being a little flashy due to the 8 million brass buttons and shiny liner. So if you're going to wear this around town, you gotta be able to pull it off with ballin style, something I probably can't do.

Managed to scoop these from an end-of-season sale at the local DC outlet, for 87% off! Twenty-two bucks! That has nothing to do with the function, just figured I'd brag a little. Ok first off these pants have an 8K waterproof with a 5K breathability rating, not the other way around. Pretty much nothing in the way of insulation, they have a mesh boxer-area liner that thickens it up but nothing down in the legs. So you gotta layer up on cold days. The ankle gaiters work well, they have some rubber hem lining and a lace hook to give a little more anchor to your boots. The side cargo pockets have drawstrings so you can hike up the bottoms just in case you're walking around the parking lot in socks or regular shoes and you don't want to scuff em up. The waist gaiter is a bit weird because it looks like you can pick different buttons to snap into for variable tightness, but... the top row has two settings, but the bottom button can only snap in one place. Lastly, the suspenders are pretty useless because they don't adjust. You can cross them ( like an X ) to take in a bit more slack but unless you're a sasquatch you're not gonna be tall enough for them to do much good. I think I'll sow on some more velcro to tighten them a bit. They velcro off if you don't like em.

Total fit and finish is good, attention to detail checks out ( no missing stitches or fraying etc, you can feel quality). Not a perfect pair of pants, but if you can get them on sale go for it!