Every Southern Chilean town, no matter how small, has at least one shop that sells "Ropa Americana." These second-hand clothes come by boat from the United States and Canada and are bought up by enterprising merchants throughout Chilean Patagonia. By the looks of the merchandise, an enterprising exporter in the U.S. or Canadaa buys up a quantity of clothing and then lets it "age" before releasing it to Chilean importers. Right now, the 1985-1988 vintage is hot.
Chile is home to several super ski resorts, but few of them are in Patagonia. When it comes to being warm, however, style matters little in this part of the world. Consequently, what would only pass for ski clothing in the U.S. is everyday wear during frigid Chilean winters.
I am primarily talking ski bibs. At some point 10-15 years ago, savvy American skiiers decided that a bib with suspender straps was no longer either necessary or acceptable. Discovery of the magic of elastic, and the modernization of ski jackets to include advanced features such as powder skirts, ushered in an era of fancy ski "pants" with all sorts of nooks and crannies built-in. A sea change also took place in terms of colors. Bibs had been available in a veritable neon rainbow of colors, but the era of pants has been dark hued.
The World's carpet littered with bibs, Chile stepped in to vacuum. If you can handle the color, there are deals to be had. Having sifted through bins and racks and more bins and racks of neon green and fuschia, I am convinced that we made a mistake. The only thing that has stopped me from buying 13 neon ski bibs (most with polyster inlaid somewhere) is the size of my bag. These bibs are national treasures, and I plan to start a business exporting the imports back to the U.S. Note the superman suit below, one of my personal favorites.
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