by Treas Manning

I don't know about you but I like what is happening in skiwear fashion and design. Now don't freak on me... for many of you the words skiwear and fashion linked together send you running for the cover of your Subaru. I'm not talking in the boot ski pants and furry moon boots. I'm talking about functional skiwear with a Lake Tahoe local flair that catches the lens of a camera when you're blasting through pow or hucking yourself off a cliff. I'm talking about a Chamois, kind of anti-fashion manifesto.

Even the most anti-fashion skier is making a fashion statement of some sort. Ski pants with ragged cuffs and parkas seam sealed with duct tape made a statement, most likely a statement you've grown out of. California skiers have always professed an understated yet technical sense of "fashion". I just happen to like where we are in our need to express our reluctance to the razzle-dazzle skiwear of some of our neighboring ski states.

Our skiwear color pallet is vibrant but we tend to bring it around by pairing colors that match but aren't matchie. A red jacket with dark grey color clocking wouldn't be worn with red pants but would be worn with grey pants, maybe not even the same shade of grey. A pink jacket might be paired with a moss colored pant and layered with a sage green second skin zip neck. It is about working multiple colors, most often a pop color worn with a more subtle color and it doesn't really matter if the pop is worn top or bottom, and pop doesn't necessarily mean super bright, just the brightest on your selected pallet.


Not to seem sexist, but I know you guys are scratching your head thinking the only color pallet I know of is pale, gold, or amber, and that works; pair an amber pant with a pale ale jacket and a gold second skin. Gold is your pop color, amber supports the pop and pale ale works between the two. You can mix and match them anyway you like.

The cool thin happening in skiwear is mixing textures, this is a bit tricky. It is usually best not to mix two dynamic textures. It works better using a smooth fabric with a more intricate textured fabric.


Of course the most important things are staying consistent with technical pairing. You wouldn't want to wear a 20k waterproof jacket with a 5k pair of pants. Just like you wouldn't wear a wool next to skin with a cotton turtle neck.

Below are a couple examples of typical Tahoe skiwear match ups.