Saturday, December 5, 2009

Building an Olympic Worthy Wardrobe

The rental condo is booked, the flights are paid for and I have more tickets to Olympic events than I ever imagined possible. There is the unfortunate task of having to pay for everything but that is being dealt with. Now that all those things have been taken care of, I can focus on the really important things like what the heck am I going to wear? It’s the Olympic Games! Having never been to an Olympics before I’m not really sure what the apparel etiquette is going to be. It’s like I’m going in completely blind! It’s an important job, cheering on my country; I want to make sure I do them proud.

After much research, I decided to start with a red zip hoody from the Roots Canada Collection. This decision caused massive panic a few months ago when I discovered this item was on sale and in short supply at Roots stores. This Notashopaholic would not be deterred. I raced out that day to claim my red hoody, my first acquisition of Canada paraphernalia. It is now sitting comfortably in my closet just waiting for its debut at the Vancouver 2010 Games. Since then Roots has debuted their new Canada Collection from which I picked up the Canada toque and a T shirt.



Also accompanying me on my journey will be my Lug Eco Shopper bag. With Vancouver being the eco conscious city that it is, this bag, in Crimson of course, will be a fashionable and environmentally friendly accessory. It’s convenient because it rolls into a small pouch for easier carrying when not being used. Besides you never know when I’ll need a bag for all the Olympic/Vancouver souvenirs I’m sure to acquire.

In September, I made my way to my local Bay store to check out the official Vancouver 2010 gear. I have to admit that I didn’t really have high hopes for their collection. I wasn’t too crazy about the stuff I saw for the 2008 Olympics. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the Vancouver 2010 items the HBC crew came up with. The collection includes a good variety of t-shirts, hoodys, accessories and outer wear in various colours and prints. There are separate collections for Men, Women and Children as well as unisex items.


I added the HBC Canada zip hoody in White to my growing Olympic wardrobe and seriously debated about getting Black. Think I’ll hold off on that one for a bit. Some accessories may be in store for me in the near future. I had my mom pick up a pair of the red mittens. At first I said I didn’t want them and then in true Christina fashion, I changed my mind. I am the proud owner of a pair of these hard to find accessories and I will take them everywhere with me while in Vancouver. The HBC collection is sold at Bay and Zellers stores across Canada and as well as online.

Now that my Canada apparel is taken care of, I still need to figure out footwear, do fashionable waterproof shoes/boots exist? I want to be ready for the Vancouver climate. Outerwear is a big puzzle as well. Will it be cold, will it be mild? Does is actually rain as much as people say? How warm do I need to dress? This is a lot of work people. See the stress an Olympics causes? Anyone else would cave to the pressure, but not me. I`ll be there decked out in full Canada red and white.

Christina Wallaert

A version of this post also appears on Inside Vancouver, official blog of Tourism Vancouver.
 




5 comments:

  1. Here via Twitter :)

    I've been putting my 2010 Canadawear™ portfolio together for months. I scored a couple of the previous Hockey Canada jerseys on clearance, one of the new official red ones, several toques hats and gloves.

    What I've not found is a sensible jacket for my Cypress tickets (all my other ones are indoors). The Bay stuff is nice, but not having a proper maple leaf red winter jacket is an oversight. So now I'm thinking a red waterproof anorak over my regular snowboarding jacket.

    Vancouver is getting dressed up now: banners are appearing, signage at the airport, and we're nearly ready to welcome the world!

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  2. Hi Jawnbc
    Thanks for stopping in via Twitter. Outerwear has been the hardest thing for me because I don't know what the weather will be like in Vancouver in February.
    HBC does not have anything like your describing but you may want to try Roots and their Canada Collection. Look at the Yukon Jacket, it may be perfect for what you need. I included in a post on my other blog, www.notashopaholic.blogspot.com. You'll find it in the post titled "Roots Never Goes Out of Style" from November.
    Good luck and let me know what you end up with.
    Can you send me some images of the banners you are talking about? I would love to see it!
    Christina

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  3. Great blog! All my events are indoors so I'm not too worried about outerwear. I will probably be alternating between my "vintage" Lindros jersey and one of the new ones. I also have my mittens & scarf to help round out the look. As well as lots of pins on my bag.

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  4. Thank you so much for stopping in and reading. I have pins as well and am not sure how I am going to wear them.
    My events are indoor too. But I need a light jacket for travelling to and from the events. Just bought my waterproof boots so that is taken care of.
    Have a great time at Vancouver 2010. Hopefully we run into each other.
    Christina

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  5. Hi... I really missed the roots canada hoodie in red medium (canada collection by roots). I was going to get them but they're all sold out. Everywhere.

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