My latest ebay find is a Moncler Swiss Ski School Jacket! Moving to Colorado has been a great excuse to buy a new snow jacket. In college I wore Patagonia but I’ve been meaning to step it up for a while. I think I could fit in with my Harvard classmates wearing a Canada Goose but trying them on I wasn’t too impressed. Canada Goose kinda strikes me like LV does today. It’s a luxury brand but a really mainstream one at the moment. The top of this luxury winterwear food chain though is probably Moncler, a designer brand much more focused on designer fashion today rather than their expeditions of old. In the featured picture is Moncler CEO Remo Ruffini with ski instructors wearing the jacket. Ruffini is credited with transforming Moncler from a practical brand to a designer brand.
I didn’t give much thought to Moncler since they were out of my price range but shopping on Rodeo I wandered into their boutique. The quality, warmth, and lightness of their jackets immediately impressed my friends and I. It was a clear step up from Canada Goose, the fill was thicker but the jacket still felt lighter. I was truly close to purchasing a $1700 Kander ski jacket that day. Finding a perfect fit in a boutique is rare and usually I have to hunt down luxury items I want by traveling to multiple stores. The Moncler on Rodeo only had one Kander in my size. I didn’t buy it, but I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
So after a month in downtown Denver I’ve seen snow twice, bought my lift pass for the season, and bought new bindings for my snowboard. Shoutout to Arbor and Stoked Ride Shop for the pro discount! Last up is a new outfit for the season. 
I found this listing on ebay, it’s a jacket that used to be worn by ski instructors at the swiss ski school, probably about 7 years ago? The featured image is from a 2013 article and looking at their YouTube it doesn’t seem like the swiss ski school uniforms look like this anymore. I’ve got myself another vintage item.
I love the idea of taking a ski vacation to the alps, though I haven’t had the chance to do it myself. The jacket embodies the trans-Atlantic mood I’m going for. Now I’ll fit right in at Vail, the most expensive ski resort in the nation from what I’ve heard.