1930s ski and winter wear: images

[Mrs. Merl]

Nice suit. What is it made of? I love the poles, living here it is hard to acquire antique ski gear that isn't way over priced. So I am still hounding all of my elderly family members for any old ski gear they still have. Our lodge will need it one day!

 

[Creeping Past]

Great suit, Ben. What are the armpit arrangemets?

 

[Feraud]

Kindest Regards

Ben

Now that is one of the coolest (no pun) outfits I've seen in a while! :eusa_clap

 

[benstephens]

Hi,

thanks for the comments. It is made from a gaberdine, and lined in a flannel type material in white. I will have a look at the construction when I get home.

As I said earlier, it is rare being British, and quite a find. The picture is not great as the material is dark, so it needs to be taken outside. We are off to Switzerland over New Year, so I will get some pictures of it there.

Kindest Regards

Ben

 

[Feraud]

Great suit, Ben. What are the armpit arrangemets?

One on each side.



I will assume the jacket has an excellent shoulder/arm range of movement due to it's being a vintage sporting garment.

 

[benstephens]

Oh yes, in that respect the Arms holes are cut high, alowing full movement for the ski-ing.

 

[Creeping Past]

One on each side.

I will assume the jacket has an excellent shoulder/arm range of movement due to it's being a vintage sporting garment.

Very good. I expect the sleeves are hollow right the way down, too.

I'm interested in light of the work done recreating George Mallory's Everest kit a few years ago. I'd particularly like to know whether there's an armpit gusset to facilitate greater arm movement. Or just cut high.

Edit: Answered before I posted...

 

[Feraud]

I am surprised we have not seen more of these sporting outfits.
You would think people did not ski enough to wear them out. Or maybe they did.. [huh]

 

[benstephens]

I have seen a fair number of foreign ones. Miss Sis has an American one as do many of my friends, and a the Swiss and German ones turn up a fair bit at Vintage clothing fairs in Europe.

I suppose the jackets may get worn out as they are fairly practical sports jackets!

 

[BellyTank]

Very good. I expect the sleeves are hollow right the way down, too.

I'm interested in light of the work done recreating George Mallory's Everest kit a few years ago. I'd particularly like to know whether there's an armpit gusset to facilitate greater arm movement. Or just cut high.

Edit: Answered before I posted...

Sounds like you're looking for the answer;.. "pivot sleeve".


B
T

 

[Creeping Past]

Sounds like you're looking for the answer;.. "pivot sleeve".


B
T

Yup, that's exactly what I wanted to hear.

 

[BellyTank]

Not sure if it's necessary on a ski jacket- more for climbing and high arm
movement activities.
Useful when cutting "ice-steps" on the side of Everest, apparently.

The Gebirgsjäger anoraks have a deep, shaped gusset in the armpit
but not a self-folding accordion type bellows arrangement.
A clever and elegant arrangement, allowing a right-angle, or higher arm lift,
without lifting the garment and the extra "gusset" cloth, due to the engineered/sewn-in fold, hiding itself, when closed.
A deep gusset, in two parts.


Matron.

 

[Creeping Past]

I get your drift. I'm interested to see whether the 'pivot sleeve' was considered a must for snowy conditions. I've seen a picture, I think it might be from you, of such an arrangement in a golfing jacket. Maybe you're right that it was more likely to be used where above-the-head movement was a prospect.

 

[H.Johnson]

Sorry to interject here. The sleeves on the reconstruction of the 'Everest' jacket are the same as the sleeves of an ordinary Burberry shooting jacket from the same period. There is nothing 'mountaineering' about this type of articulation. The same pivot sleeve arrangement exists on my Belstaff Moorlander.

 

[Creeping Past]

The sleeves on the reconstruction of the 'Everest' jacket are the same as the sleeves of an ordinary Burberry shooting jacket from the same period. There is nothing 'mountaineering' about this type of articulation. The same pivot sleeve arrangement exists on my Belstaff Moorlander.

But shooting requires arms to be raised significantly above the shoulders at times. Unless you gun the game down from the hip.

I was responding to BT's sensible suggestions about function.

 

[H.Johnson]

I am not contradicting - BTs suggestions are always sensible. The Burberry advertisements of the time show the same jacket being used for fly fishing, too. What I'm trying to say is that fly fishing, shooting and mountaineering were all seen as 'field sports' at the time (late '10s, early '20s). This was general purpose sports clothing at the time.

BTW, the upper sleeve area of the jacket that was recovered from Mr. Mallory's body (see 'Ghosts of Everest' for some stunning photographs) was lacking in the upper sleeve and shoulder areas. The lady who did the reconstruction at the University of Derby used period illustrations and clothing from Burberry to work out what the jacket was like.

But shooting requires arms to be raised significantly above the shoulders at times. Unless you gun the game down from the hip.

I was responding to BT's sensible suggestions about function.

 

[Creeping Past]

I am not contradicting...This was general purpose sports clothing at the time.

I see what you're saying. The 'general' sports you mention all involve a greater degree of arm movement than, say, hillwalking or coarse angling and such, which are sporting but not sporty. My largely unspoken query was whether the armpit gusset was a feature of sports clothing on a wide scale or whether it was reserved for those requiring coat-wearers to wave their arms about vigorously at all angles.

 

[Miss Sis]

Skiwear pictures and article from Le Jardin des Modes, a French magazine from 15 December 1935.

I bought this particular magazine because I thought it was quite an unusal cover and I liked the European angle on skiwear, plus I love fashions from 1935. I'm not a keen skier myself but will be donning a ski suit over New Year in the Swiss Alps just for romping in the snow!

Front Cover

Back Cover

I love the middle outfit on the last page. Hey, you're skiing lady - why not wear a long skirt? How practical, I don't think!

 

[Mrs. Merl]

I have long been thinking of skiing in a skirt - just for a fun day. Though originally I was thinking of making a much earlier era outfit. I don't think a skirt would be much of a bother to me - as long as one had good pants on underneath.

 

[Mysterious Mose]

Carl Denig, Amsterdam outdoors outfitter, 1939 catalog

Moved from Historical Hillwalking thread: