This month’s handy for Dandies guide to being dashing on the slopes.
As we’re gearing up for the ski season: planning the family holiday, the work trip, the gap year, or even the honeymoon – I want you to ask yourself what this ski season means to you. Do you picture yourself bombing down the steepest runs on the resort? Or blasting through untouched powder paradises off piste? Maybe it’s teaching your child to ski for the first time or simply enjoying a few glasses of champagne on the mountainside. Now picture yourself doing any of these…feels good doesn’t it; but this blog isn’t about how you feel… I want to know how you LOOK!
This year’s ski season is all about style, pizazz and seeing how outrageous we can get away with looking out there on the slopes. This blog is an active guide for you to find ways of pushing the boundaries for this year’s winter wardrobe, looking at quality and sustainability whilst staying absolutely dashing, darling!
First stop is depop. As we know, buying second hand clothing is on the rise and for many young people it’s a preferable way to find fun and unique clothes whilst keeping half an eye on the environment. Fashion in skiing has been more than experimental since it became mainstream in the media from the 60s to present day. This gives us six solid decades of wild second-hand raiment to get through, imagine the possibilities! I recommend starting with depop as it’s easy to use and you can type into the search engine exactly what you’re looking for; there’s bound to be something that matches your vision. If the internet’s not your thing then head to Rokit - https://www.rokit.co.uk, the UK’s largest collection of vintage and pre-worn clothing. Selling head to toe sustainable clothing from any of your favourite era’s. If you really want to look wacky on the mountain then get into Rokit, and blast off!
For some of you wearing second hand ski gear may not be so attractive, and I don’t blame you! My mind would be racing too, sitting on the ski lift ascending to the top of the resort thinking “where on earth have these salopettes been? What have they seen? Who wore them first and did they have stable bowels?”
For you I have come up with three top ski apparel brands that will fit your season’s needs, whatever they may be.
Mons Royale
This brand has a taste for true style and class, with an attention to detail that is unmatched and a feel for real quality. Not to mention their concern for animal welfare and environmental management. They pull this off with their signature ZQ Merino that not only guarantees the world's highest standard in fibre quality, but protects the source of where the wool came from in the first place. Being a ZQ sheep is the highest possible society a sheep could dream of being in. Just know that when you’re sauntering around the resort in your brand-new Mons
Royale ZQ merino fleece, there’s a ZQ sheep swaggering around in a field living its best life and looking just as cool as you. Talk about a win-win.
Open Wear
Welcome to Open Wear. These are the guys paving the way for innovation in the ski apparel industry, with modern designs that are highly sustainable and fresh – their motto being,
“We believe that the way we ride powder today determines if we can still ride powder tomorrow.” Open Wear prides themselves on their transparency and openness in their vision and designs - how the clothes are made and where the materials are sourced from. They want us, the buyers, to know the journey of the clothing from the idea, to the factory, to being worn by us on the slopes. This ethos makes them a reliable brand to buy from and gives a sense of something a little bigger than just another jacket.
Patagonia
https://eu.patagonia.com/gb/en/home/
Now take a deep breath in with me. In for five, hold for five and out for 10. This is where the mindful hang. Patagonia has been creating upscale outdoor clothing for “the silent sports” since 1973, always asking their consumers to think twice before buying. Patagonia isn’t only for your average shredder of mountain and sea but for the true nature enthusiast, where being entirely at one with the slopes is their desire for the season. Where no one but the birds and trees are going to be. Where the mountain meets the sky, tis Patagonia you will wear when you finally fly. Thanks to Patagonia the air up there will be clean and fresh, as they’ve pledged 1% of sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment since 1985. They’ve awarded over $89 million in cash and in-kind donations to domestic and international grassroots environmental groups. When you’re wearing your new Patagonia gear you’ll instantly achieve the chilled-out vintage vibe. A lot of the clothes carry this vintage feeling as an inseparable part of their style and ethos to designing clothes that will last.