OK, one more comment re: class analysis. I hated winter as a kid. It was miserable. Now that I can afford Patagucci coats, and nice boots, and actually be COMFORTABLE and warm being outside in the snow, my whole perspective has changed! (not to mention being able to afford to do fun winter things like ski)
Oh my gosh I was just about to comment about this on your other post! I have a HUGE complex about skiing. A ski resort got built near my house when I was a kid and we couldn't go. All my friends got season passes just so they could ski a few times. I had to write an essay to get a skiing scholarship in middle school! I was never a confident skier, though, but like 90% of my close friends are and I am so scared to go skiing with them. I love apres ski food and fashion, though!! My way of coping is to now let myself enjoy resort wear.
Yes, yes, yes!...growing up poor in Salt Lake but paling around with rich kids who had all the best gear...man how I longed for a Mountain Smith pack to use as my bookbag in high school! And the newspaper print Campmor catalog was my fave. Bought my own generic sleeping bag from there when I interned with the NPS before going to college.
Thanks! The irony is that I now appreciate Patagonia, Gucci, and Prada. I especially like Prada because Mrs. Prada is iconic, I should start shopping for some vintage Miumiu tbh
OMG gurl, I have so many thoughts, feelings, and reactions to this. I've been thinking a lot lately about how outdoor wear is like armor if you're moving through the outdoors and don't look like everyone else (hayy dissertation topic). You made me remember how gorpcore was a way to fit in and aspire to be when I was an awkward immigrant kid that really didn't understand small town white America in rural WA state but wanted to adventure around, while not having parents who did that kind of thing. And it continues to be a passport in an industry and community often rejects people of visible difference - so, a way to demonstrate white proximity and class status. So people stop staring as much. DAMN GURL! Let's write a book! :D
It's a defense mechanism. Having roof racks on my car was like, literal armor?? The more legit you are the less people will fuck with you (in theory, actually people are super aggressive in outdoor spaces)
I looooove this piece. I don't know if there are sub cultures of gorpcore but I'm gonna go ahead and argue that there are. In Toronto, its a very delicate balance of this in the wintertime. I had a hard time with that growing up because I wanted to be cool over wearing functional things (see: Converse lows in the middle of December snow storms) but I appreciate that it's now fashionable to dress for the weather. It makes things so much easier on my cool-obsessed brain.
I also don't know where I truly stand on gorpcore because on one hand function and sustainability and lasting pieces and on the other hand I find that some people who wear those brands are the most postulating condescending dillweeds around.
OK, one more comment re: class analysis. I hated winter as a kid. It was miserable. Now that I can afford Patagucci coats, and nice boots, and actually be COMFORTABLE and warm being outside in the snow, my whole perspective has changed! (not to mention being able to afford to do fun winter things like ski)
Oh my gosh I was just about to comment about this on your other post! I have a HUGE complex about skiing. A ski resort got built near my house when I was a kid and we couldn't go. All my friends got season passes just so they could ski a few times. I had to write an essay to get a skiing scholarship in middle school! I was never a confident skier, though, but like 90% of my close friends are and I am so scared to go skiing with them. I love apres ski food and fashion, though!! My way of coping is to now let myself enjoy resort wear.
Yes, yes, yes!...growing up poor in Salt Lake but paling around with rich kids who had all the best gear...man how I longed for a Mountain Smith pack to use as my bookbag in high school! And the newspaper print Campmor catalog was my fave. Bought my own generic sleeping bag from there when I interned with the NPS before going to college.
Campmor and Sierra Trading Post are both absolute GOATs of outdoor retail
Your best post yet! If one simply must use the term Patagucci, why not try Pradagonia instead?
Thanks! The irony is that I now appreciate Patagonia, Gucci, and Prada. I especially like Prada because Mrs. Prada is iconic, I should start shopping for some vintage Miumiu tbh
OMG gurl, I have so many thoughts, feelings, and reactions to this. I've been thinking a lot lately about how outdoor wear is like armor if you're moving through the outdoors and don't look like everyone else (hayy dissertation topic). You made me remember how gorpcore was a way to fit in and aspire to be when I was an awkward immigrant kid that really didn't understand small town white America in rural WA state but wanted to adventure around, while not having parents who did that kind of thing. And it continues to be a passport in an industry and community often rejects people of visible difference - so, a way to demonstrate white proximity and class status. So people stop staring as much. DAMN GURL! Let's write a book! :D
YES let's do it!!!! It's such a type of armour. Let's connect soon on the phone, I'd love to hear all your thoughts.
*stop staring as much - or worse. it could be, and has been, much worse than that.
It's a defense mechanism. Having roof racks on my car was like, literal armor?? The more legit you are the less people will fuck with you (in theory, actually people are super aggressive in outdoor spaces)
I looooove this piece. I don't know if there are sub cultures of gorpcore but I'm gonna go ahead and argue that there are. In Toronto, its a very delicate balance of this in the wintertime. I had a hard time with that growing up because I wanted to be cool over wearing functional things (see: Converse lows in the middle of December snow storms) but I appreciate that it's now fashionable to dress for the weather. It makes things so much easier on my cool-obsessed brain.
I also don't know where I truly stand on gorpcore because on one hand function and sustainability and lasting pieces and on the other hand I find that some people who wear those brands are the most postulating condescending dillweeds around.