Technology never looked so good

While ski wear has been fairly baggy for the past few seasons, it's all about being tight to the body these days, writes Emma Cullinan

SKI GEAR is getting increasingly sophisticated in both technology and styling as people get more daring on the slopes and also want clothes that will take them from the pistes to après ski (and home to Irish hills) without looking ridiculous.

Waterproof, windproof, lightweight, breathable and good-looking are what people are after nowadays (and we’re not talking about the ski instructors). Now ski wear comes with all sorts of things as standard which were unheard of just a few years ago. These include: powder skirts inside jackets to stop snow creeping up your torso; stretchy inner sleeves with thumb loopholes to keep hands and arms warm, and wind-flaps.

Other innovations include hoods that can be adjusted to fit over helmets; hoods with plastic side windows; built-in avalanche bleepers (look for the Recco logo); reinforced shoulders and backs; and holders inside jackets for all sorts of things including iPods, earphones and keys.

Columbia is making a name for itself in yearly innovations and this year its invention is Omni-heat, a sort of space-blanket material that reflects heat back into the body but which is, crucially, breathable. Keeping the body temperature regulated is a key aim. Many other companies also have versions of heat reflective materials, right from gloves and boot insoles to jackets.

“Technology with each brand differs – there are a lot of technologies,” says Rossa Butler of 53 Degrees North, which has stores in Blanchardstown and Carrickmines.

Many ski jackets are also required to work as winter wear back home, says Charlie Ratcliff of Great Outdoors, in Chatham Street, Dublin, meaning that while people can be quite conservative in their choice of jacket colour, they get daring with the ski pants. “Lots of people buy a jacket they can use over here but go mad with the ski pants. Because anything goes on the slopes,” says Ratcliff.

“People love things that will set them apart on the slopes,” agrees Butler, which is where multicoloured goggles, gloves and helmet covers come in. That’s if you have goggles at all. Ratcliff has got into the habit of reminding people that they need them and, at least, sunglasses: “So many people don’t think of them and go away without them.”

While ski wear has been fairly baggy these past few seasons, following the snowboard trend, it has now become more “body con” (body conscious) with women’s jackets, especially, being cut to shape into the waist. Base layers – comprising long-sleeved tops and leggings – are also often skin-tight.

As all skiers and snowboarders know, you are meant to layer your clothes, wearing a base layer, mid-layer and jacket. You can buy all of these in ski shops, with base layers being sold on their ability to wick away moisture from the skin: that all-important breathability.

And there are gorgeous products, such as Ice Breaker’s merino wool tops and Helly Hansen’s fashionable pieces: “When you’re in the bar you want to look good in the base layer,” says Ratcliff. But you can, of course, compile your own from the clothes you have at home.

There are plenty of looks going on this season – a lot of them following the catwalks – from stripes to checks, denim-look to leopard print and retro styles from the 1970s and 1980s, including a Degree 7 orange and black outfit working an old-school ski racer look.

To smooth the path from piste to après ski, many of the more technical aspects of ski wear can be ripped off. The powder skirts that hug your hips to stop snow getting in when deep-snow skiing, can be taken out as can hoods.

Also, while fur is in fashion this season, on both catwalks and pistes, when they become so-last-year many fur trims can be detached (also handy when temperatures plummet and icicles begin to form in the shearling around your hood and, ergo, face).

Yet some styles will never go out of date, such as sober coloured wool base layers, which will also, apparently, last in other ways. “They are not sweaty so you can get away without washing them for a whole ski break,” says Butler. What a whole week? “Two months is the longest I’ve heard of.”