When the kid wore her new red Warmplus Favorite fleece jacket on the train the other day--a lovely gift from my stepmother [the jacket, not the train, I mean]--a mother nudged her tween daughter and said, "look, honey, she has a coat just like you had." From this I deduced several things:
1) Warmplus Favorites aren't new, just new to me. They've apparently been around and popular for at least 11 years [turns out the company was started in the mid-80's].
2) If the girl still remembers the coat she had when she was two, they're not kidding around with the "Favorite" thing. OR
3) They just came across it while they were transforming her Disney Princess room a Smallville shrine.
Anyway, the Widgeon coat is very cleanly designed, with just a bit of structure, and not encrusted with cutesy junk. The ribbon drawstring's kind of an unusual, homemade-y touch, but I guess it works.
Dork that I am, though, my first thought [No, second. OK, fine. First.] on seeing the asymmetrical velcro closure was the uniforms from the early Star Trek movies, [think "Khaaaann!!"] which, also happened to come out in the 80's. The uniforms are modelled below by William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and [hell-o] Kim Cattrall.
American Widgeon Warmplus Favorite fleece jackets are available online, but they're also in lots of small specialty retailers in your neighborhood. Try there first. They also make fleece bunting/jumpsuit things for babies. [americanwidgeon.com]
Star Trek 3 - The Undiscovered Country snaps [strekonline.com]
My 12-year-old had a fantastic American Widgeon snowsuit in size 18mo-3years. It lasted two winters, was warm enough for a long stroller walk to daycare in NYC, and the drawstring for the hood -- cleverly tying at the top, not under the neck -- was essential for keeping out the wind. My 13-month-old is now wearing it, and it's *still* better than any of the snowsuits I've seen in stores. Glad this company is still doing well!