Dear Harby,
I noticed that everyone is wearing a Canadian Goose jacket at HBS but me. Did I miss the section in the pre-matriculation packet on school uniforms? What should I do?
Sincerely,
Bundled in Boston
Dear Bundled,
It’s cute that you think the brand is ‘Canadian’ Goose and not Canada Goose – we have no way of knowing if the geese are actually Canadian, but the fact that you got the name of the brand wrong speaks volumes to your winter fashion IQ. Just like Yacht Week, Holidazzle, Newport Ball, or any of the treks, there’s no checklist for being fabulous. Maybe the flush of shame from your faux pas has kept you warm, because now that it’s spring you may as well try to snag a deal during an end-of-season sale and be in form for next winter. I say try, because Canada Goose doesn’t go on sale.
If you’re desperate to be part of the conversation but don’t want to spend $900 on a jacket, Canada Goose just IPO’d at a 39x P/E ratio, so you can own some potentially lucrative stock instead. It doesn’t solve your clothing issues, but you can at least try to profit from your classmates with higher disposable incomes. If I were you, I would go out of my way to flaunt my section fleece for the rest of the semester.
Keep warm,
Harby
Harby is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated MBA advice columnist and the author of such bestsellers as Teaching Your Dog How to DCF and The Seven People You Meet at the Boston Doubletree. Want some advice from Harby? Email your question to Harby@Harbus.org
