Hot on the Inside, Cool on the Outside

12:38 PM, February 08 2010 By: SiberiaGolden

You’ve heard them referred to as anoraks. You’ve seen them on tough guys and artschool prancers alike. They’re drab in hue, rich in Native American/ military history and long on drawstrings. Still wondering what’s so hot about parkas?

The jacket featured here is an Urban Outfitters creation and has curried my favor through recent winter months. Being Canadian, I am no stranger to parka mania… it may even be why I resisted its cozy siren call for so many years, opting for a more ‘ladylike’ silhouette and freezing my ladybuns off in the process. But if there’s one thing New York and Nunavut have in common, it’s glacial winds to take your breath away.

As seen above, this particular parka boasts a softened take on the ‘snorkel’ feature, which allows you to zip it up til you’ve got nothing but a small, faux fur trimmed tunnel to see and breathe out of. Don’t be fooled; navigating a crowded outdoor subway platform through this puppy is no picnic. Your peripheral vision is lost and people are more likely to body check you when they cannot see your face (and subsequently be forced to acknowledge your humanity).

But it’s worth it. And you’ll look like a badass.

Instead of huddling in a streamlined coat on the salted sidewalks and and cramming my hands into svelte pockets suited to a toasty vitrine rather than the subarctic avenues, I spent January in an aura of heat-radiant synthetic padding and credibility in both indie, mod and hiphop communities. As a member of the ‘civilian market,’ I did mull over the prospect of sending the wrong message about my political sentiments, but a quarter hour of online research helped to assuage my fears and I promptly buttoned up. In spite of its role in the military, a parka will not pigeonhole you as the warmongerer who never catches cold. It’s only a combative statement against frostbite, and that same-old-business-casual-coat you’ve been quietly growing to resent!