Worn Wear: The Hand-Me-Down

Dear Patagonia,

I don’t actually know the original owner of this little red and purple fleece jacket. I do not know several names scrawled on the tag, but I know some of them… We found this jacket in a large ragged cardboard box of hand-me-downs from a family with three kids. The jacket came to them from a co-worker with two boys.

Next, with our two girls, this jacket saw hundreds of miles of trail, many nights in tents, from back roads to back yards, and every other day in between.

We passed on the jacket a few years ago, and saw it used by two more kids before they handed it down again, in a ragged old cardboard box.

Kids, as is their job, grow fast. And it seems items made for kids these days reflect a similar characteristic – wear fast. But this little fleece jacket is still going strong after 12 kids (maybe more). Thanks Patagonia, for keeping the hand-me-down tradition going strong.

–Shari Williamson, Bozeman, Montana

This story first appeared on the Patagonia Worn Wear™ blog. We’re always looking for good stories (and a photo) about people and their Patagonia gear. Submit yours today. If it gets published, we’ll send you a Worn Wear patch.