Mackage Coats

On my last trip to Vancouver, my BFF Tina showed off her new gorgeous fall coats by Mackage. She had been lusting after a Burberry trench for the Fall and Winter but was hesitating over the price. But being the lucky girl that she is, she got not one, but two Mackage coats for her birthday! I must admit that I was rather envious since they're so stylish and practical.

Mackage ISA jacket - $495 CAD. Mackage is a Canadian brand that I only recently heard about. You can find it at Aritizia and Holt Renfrew stores.

Mackage Lorena coat - $550 CAD.

Burberry London Double Breasted Cashmere Blend Trench - $995. This is a classic but if it were up to me, I'd probably opt for 2 coats instead of 1 as well!

Outlet Shopping Spree

Last weekend I went up to Vancouver, Canada to visit my friends and family. On the way back, we hit the outlets at Burlington and Tulalip. I hadn't been to the Burlington outlet for a while ever since the Seattle Premium Outlets opened right next to the Tulalip casino. But this time we stopped there because we noticed that there's a new Lululemon outlet. They're getting rid of their end of season stuff: bra tops for $29, cropped pants for $44, jackets and pants for up to 50% off. I got a bra top and cropped pants. Their clothes is still not cheap but it's much better than the retail prices. Then at the Seattle premium outlets, BCBG was having an end of season blow out sale, with dresses for as cheap as $29! I think I tried on about 8 dresses and finally settled on a black cotton halter dress with pockets for $50 (original price $200). I also got the Sloan Street Maria brown leather wallet at the new Kate Spade outlet to match my new Kate Spade work bag. The wallet was $75 (retail price $195). It was hard to not also buy some new pumps at the Cole Haan outlet but I stayed strong and resisted. I also only browsed the Juicy outlet. Before leaving, I told my hubby that he should come here for Christmas shopping for me!

Shopping in Canada Just Got Less Fun

I visit my family in Vancouver, Canada often and in the past, it's always been a fun shopping trip. My favourite stores in Vancouver are Jacob, Club Monaco, Zara and Artzia. Times were especially good when the we used to get $1.5 Canadian dollars to $1 USD. It was like a sale everyday! Sales tax in Vancouver is higher than Washington, it's a 7% provincial tax plus a 7% federal tax (GST). The federal government used to have a GST rebate program for visitors. If you spent more than $250 on your trip, you can get your GST back, i.e. 7% of that total. Well, on my most recent trip just a couple of weeks ago, I found out that they did away with the GST rebate program way back in April 2007. Now with the US dollar at par with the Canadian dollar, shopping in Canada just got a lot less fun.