Women's outdoor clothing rant

[MunroMadMen]

Ha ha I bet your glad you got that off your chest, Now have a glass of wine OR BEER and relax

[Arthurs Eat]

I have to say, I regularly find mens clothing too big/small or in the wrong colour. But i'm not going to get ANGRY or upset. I continue to search until I find something suitable or on an odd occasion, I get things tailored. I do wear the odd dodgy coloured item but I reconcile myself in that I won't have paid the full price. the more I think of it, there are very items I have bought that actually fit perfectly.

[Lightfoot2017]

I have to say, I regularly find mens clothing too big/small or in the wrong colour. But i'm not going to get ANGRY or upset. I continue to search until I find something suitable ...... the more I think of it, there are very items I have bought that actually fit perfectly.

What he said.

[Quixoticgeek]

I find it interesting that the last 3 replies basically saying "pfft, lighten up" all come from men.

Does make me wonder how men would react if all the mens outdoor kit was only available in pink?

My extension to the rant about all outdoor kit being pink is why is it that the manufactures seem to think that the only women who partake in outdoor activities are pixie like creatures with very little mass on their upper chest?

I bought a women's backpack from Osprey recently (Osprey Tempest 30), and had to modify the straps as they seemed to be incompatible with mammarys. This from a non pink product aimed only at women.

I know that to men it seems that this isn't something to get so angry about, and we should all just lighten up. But the reality is it's far from that simple. It would be nice if our male companions could be just a little bit more understanding.

Julia

[cmarcol]

I actually have to agree with the men to be honest. I bought a hot pink jacket last year and a purple one last week. Both were available in other less 'girly' colours but I think that these 'girly' colours are fun. I find that as long as you're in a real outdoor shop like Tiso or Cotswolds the colour choices are a lot more varied for women than men. If you're shopping in Blacks then you're going to get what is seen as fashionable by the high street hikers but everything I own in pink or purple was available in some boring colour, like navy, too. Stuff which ends up in sales is usually all the bright and 'girly' colours but if you want a bargain you've got to compromise somewhere. I personally can't get sale items because I'm the most common everything so my size is never there.

As for the chest issue I am definitely not a pixie type woman. I have problems in that department with day to day clothing and button up blouses are a total no go but I've never had an issue with outdoor stuff fitting any differently. The clothing usually fits surprisingly well (Berghaus stuff being the roomiest in my experience). The ladies rucksack I have is an orange (not pink) Deuter thing with straps which adjust to the extent that Jordan would be comfortable so I think, Julia, you've been quite unlucky there.

I like that things are available in an array of colours for us and I don't think anyone other than women actually judge women for picking the in your face sugary colours, which I love. I'm clearly not alone because they wouldn't manufacture these colours if they didn't sell. There's always the option to buy men's. I tried on the waterproof I bought last week in men's and women's and the fit was pretty similar - men's didn't come in majestic purple though! My brother uses my old one to walk his dog and you'd never know it wasn't a men's jacket (he doesn't even know - he thinks it's unisex! )

[RocksRock]

The "buy men's" doesn't work. Men's gear big enough on the - ahem - "frontal upper body" is WAY too big across the shoulders, anything that fits the shoulders is WAY to small on the chest.................. while ladies "active fit" base-layer tops are positively indecent on better endowed ladies, and outer jackets vary depending on brand.

I once heard a consumer affairs type at a respected brand saying their kit was designed for climbers and female climbers weren't busty.................. Was he (inevitably he) correct?

[RiverSong]

I must admit all my outdoor clothes are pink/purple/red or orange, except my trousers which are black as that goes with everything else. Who wants to look like a man? Certainly not me, I love girly things.

Manufacturers and shopkeepers aren't stupid, they only stock stuff they know will sell and the reason they stock clothes in bright colours is because thats what most women want. Nearly everyone I see out running or cycling is wearing a brightly coloured top of some sort along with black yoga pants. I must admit most female hill walkers seem to wear dark clothing but there are a few of us still trying to look our best on the hillside!

[bootsandpaddles]

I must admit all my outdoor clothes are pink/purple/red or orange, except my trousers which are black as that goes with everything else. Who wants to look like a man? Certainly not me, I love girly things.

Manufacturers and shopkeepers aren't stupid, they only stock stuff they know will sell and the reason they stock clothes in bright colours is because thats what most women want. Nearly everyone I see out running or cycling is wearing a brightly coloured top of some sort along with black yoga pants. I must admit most female hill walkers seem to wear dark clothing but there are a few of us still trying to look our best on the hillside!

The converse is also likely to be true - we have to buy the stuff we don't want because that is all there is. Wearing bright colours may not be the only way to look good - ever heard of the little black dress?
Runners and cyclists wear bright clothing - hi-viz yellow is a popular option - because it enables motorists to see us.
What we want is a choice - not an assumption that we all want to look the same or conform to somebody else's idea of what looks good.

[Unconstituted]

The girlfriend always moans about this. She says the men's gear is always nicer and most of her gear is in colours she doesn't really like, but had to go for something.

All those light blues, greens and purples. Really quite lamentable. Often I think they've chosen the absolute ugliest shade of a colour they could find just to see if it would sell as some sort of a joke. And when they go bright, they pick really simply primary school shades.

British brands are the worst. There seems to be a 20 colour palette shared between all the big outdoor brands here (RAB, ME..)

I think it's a perception that Brits are scared to wear interesting colours so best to go safe and use colours your grandmother would have liked. Probably some truth to that. Maybe we get the colours we deserve

I've started looking at some of the euro brands, they seem to have lovely rich, burnt, and deep sort of shades. Noticed that after a trip to Norway recently and was eyeing up a bunch of Germans, Swedes etc. Some really nice 'lived in' looking gear.

[ptc*]

I'd like to add a few things to all the points above.

First off, in any clothing reviews I have on here 90% will have a direct female equivalent, it's something I always ask about, something the brands are keen to tell me about and something I've forgotten to mention. That'll change with my winter waterproof grouptest coming up soon.
I'll have women's gear reviews coming up too.

Colours. Ah, the joy of colour, I'm a grizzly bearded bloke and I'd happily wear purple or orange every time I climbed a hill,
But, sales figures talk louder than wanting to look cheerful.
I get to see the full range of a brands new season a year or so in advance of when it hits the shops. There's every item in every colour for men and women and so much variety and choice it would make your head spin.
The shops come in and often order the safest looking models in black, grey and maybe some blue and red. The exotic, the interesting and the colourful might never make it into production.

What you get to chose from is driven by the sales from the previous season which is a vicious circle if you don't get an imaginative store buyer who wants to kit the shop out with the interesting stuff. Which does happen by the way, the independents are enthusiast driven but the chains do have gear freaks amongst the bean counters too.

There's a few brands I can think of whose clothing designers are women and that's for both men's and women's clothing ranges, it's not a male-centric industry by any means.
Looking at the trade workbooks the ranges are often split nearly 50/50 between men's and women's models but many of the sales figures I hear about are 10-20% of brands clothing sales are women's models.

It's like there's something broken in the middle there.

[Caberfeidh]

I find that the suspenders really chafe, the hairs on my legs stick out in clumps through the fishnet stockings and look stupid, and the basque lets water in through my cleavage and down my back, so I tend to wear oilskins over the whole lot, which kinda defeats the purpose....

[Lightfoot2017]

I find that the suspenders really chafe, the hairs on my legs stick out in clumps through the fishnet stockings and look stupid, and the basque lets water in through my cleavage and down my back, so I tend to wear oilskins over the whole lot, which kinda defeats the purpose....

A post about cross-dressing whilst hill-walking / deep sea fishing at 2.41 a.m??? TWO FORTY ONE A.M.???!!!

Seriously?

Are you really a taxi driver, Caberfeidh?

[CharlesT]

A post about cross-dressing whilst hill-walking / deep sea fishing at 2.41 a.m??? TWO FORTY ONE A.M.???!

Always thought there wss "Something of the Night" about him.

[bootsandpaddles]

Women who are concerned about looking their best when out in the hills might like to consult the following for some useful tips.

http://nornsmercy.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Look-Feminine-While-Camping-or-Hiking-Outdoors

[mrssanta]

oh that was priceless, I'm so glad I read it!