Happy New Year everyone! 2011!
As society annually demands and I happily oblige, I had a wonderful midnight kiss and a resolution followed soon thereafter. Unfortunately my resolution of no more zits is not possible, as I found out with a lovely huge one on the first day of the year. Bullocks. I'll instead resort to the second, more reasonable resolution. Update my blog on a regular basis.
This resolution is thanks to all the guff I've been getting from my friends lately. You actually read/like it? I LOVE YOU. Seriously though, I am happier when I am productive. It’s very therapeutic for me. Knowing that people actually appreciate it is just the icing on my life's cake. Now that the holidays are over I can pay more attention to.....yeah, you're right, it's no excuse...
Okay...getting to the point.
Being unpleasantly outside the few times that I have been lately has gotten me thinking about heated clothing. It is genius. It is expensive!!! It is worth it. You could splurge on one of these items and just wear it around your house to save on your energy bill!
After some online research of heated products I concluded for the most part that it’s all soooo uglyyyy. I know...I know...function over fashion, blah blah blah. NO. I want to look cute, damn it.
After browsing through tons of photos of "puffer parkas" (make me gag) and gloves that make me look like I have Uma Thurman's oversized hands I found a few things that I could warm up to. For starters, there are insoles and liner gloves. These enable you to upgrade your hot winter-ish boots or gloves/mittens that you already own. Most of these products have several different temperature settings to chose from and last up to eight hours! You just replace the batteries or use an AC adapter to charge it from a wall outlet.
These thin heated liners would fit into gloves or mittens. $100-$200.
Heated insole technology. $100-$200
I spent quite a bit of time on the Columbia Sportswear website. They won in the hottness catagory, twice. They have a great ad campaign for their heated outerwear line with an interactive website showing videos and information about their Omni-Heat technology. I was all-around impressed by their selection and presentation. (
http://www.columbia.com/)
Columbia offers a wide range of what they have trademarked "Omni-Heat" outerwear. They have more than one type of this amazing technology. One type has thermal reflective lining that has tiny magical silver dots that reflect and regulate your body heat to keep you cozy and dry. The other type has non-wired thermal technology that heats up when you push a button. Non-wired seems to be optimal because the heat is distributed more evenly and comfortably. I'm not going to try to understand how it works. I'm just going to love and want it.
I have to say until recently I wouldn't be caught dead in anything Columbia designed.
Mid-late ‘90s style that every girl in my school had. BLECHH.
Their designs have gotten muuuuuch better...
Trench $148 Raincoat $95 Fleece ¾ zip $36
These aren’t heated...they are just cute...from Columbia.
I got a little carried away...=)
Prizm Ice Omni-Heat Jacket $270
Heather Canyon Omni-Heat Boots $140
Men’s too....not bad, not bad... Whirlibird Omni-Heat Parka $200
There are quite a few other brands that offer heated clothing including The North Face, Brookstone, Harley Davidson and Gerbing’s.
I want one of those jackets so bad right now. I am wrapped in a blanket with my stocking feet tucked under me.... coveting the omni-heat...covetcovetcovet...
I also found some heated pet clothes for those who want to give their pup some extra warmth on winter walks. I’m still on the fence about animal clothing...leaning towards garbage. When I see a dog out walking in the bitter, horrible cold of some MN days, I wouldn’t think putting a jacket on it – heated or not – would be lame at all. I bet they’d like it. Even if it looked like this:
I'm pretty sure that's a remote pocket for heat controls.
Hoping it's just a cell phone pocket.
I think someone the likes of Gwen Stefani should incorporate this heat technology into their designs. You know every girl would kill to be able to put on one of her long coats over their LBD and be warm while out galavanting on nights like these. Oh daydreams...
I guess I will just continue to master the art of layering like every other sad, cold, miserable fuck in this state. I’ve gotten pretty good at it.
Cheers!
