Book Recommendation: Mountain Style
Mountain Style – British Outdoor Clothing 1953-2000 by Henry Iddon & Max Leonard (Isola, 2024) celebrates the history, style and heritage of British outdoor clothes.
I bought it on the strength of Well-Dressed Dad’s podcast interview with the authors.
It’s a fabulous book, SO interesting. I could hardly put it down and read the whole thing in two days! And it’s a hefty tome.
The book chronicles the dramatic changes in clothes worn for the outdoors over five decades. It’s richly illustrated with photos of garments from collections, people wearing them, adverts from clothing brands, and other archival photos.
1953 sounds like an odd year to start (why not 1950?), but it’s the year Hillary and Norgay summited Mt Everest, marking “an explosion in the popular love of the outdoors”.
However, the book actually takes a few steps backwards and describes what people wore before that: regular tweeds, woollens, knitted things and corduroy, along with army surplus gear from the war.
We move onto the 1960s, where synthetics began to be worn more…accompanied by the difficulty of making gear that kept you dry in the rain yet didn’t get drenched with sweat on the inside. This problem pops up again and again, in the quest for “lightweight, weatherproof and breathable”.
A constant theme running through is fabric innovation, which drove garment design and vice versa, which influenced what people could do and opened up new possibilities. Lighter, more packable & versatile clothing meant you could take more food or just have a lighter pack – meaning you could go further, faster, and climb on more technical ground.
The book tells the story of Ventile (a woven 100% cotton), polyurethane (PU) coatings, fleece, Gore Tex, the use of velcro, lycra and other performance fabrics.
There are many photos of ciggies and pipes with highly inflammable fabrics!
The beginnings of the outdoors industry, which is now huge, in many cases started with climbers and innovators making stuff, often with no money and just a sewing machine in a spare room. Sprayway, Rohan, Berghaus, Peter Storm, Mountain Equipment, Rab, North Cape, Karrimor and others. Some of these are still strong today.
Remember Jamiroquai’s Virtual Insanity music video? He wore a Berghaus fleece jacket.
Stone Roses on the right, 1989.
The narrative is occasionally tinged with sadness, as some climbers died on the mountain face and the photos are the last ones taken of them. I was living in Britain when Alison Hargreaves died in 1995 while descending K2, and remember it on the news. A few months earlier, she became the first woman to reach summit of Everest without the aid of Sherpas or bottled oxygen.
If you’re over 50 and were involved in the hiking/climbing/bicycle touring scene, you’ll find this book deeply nostalgic. I sure did:) I remembered with fondness my first Gore-Tex jacket, and even when out to the shed and dug out photos from the 1990s to show my children how cool I used to be before they were born. They weren’t interested.
Mountain Style is (justifiably) an expensive book, but is so well researched and a joy to read.
To look at more photos from this book (and some that aren’t), take a look at the Instagram page.
Cheers!
This is going on my reading list; your description makes so many nostalgic links with my own experiences. (Although I was a reluctant hiker, mostly due to having the shortest legs in the family!)
I remember getting my first Peter Storm cagoule, with taped seams, (in Keswick; the Lake District being a Good Place to find rain gear). It was blue. My next three coats were hand me downs from my brother or Mum (previous ref to shortest legs extended to height too) but Goretex, therefore amazing performance and too expensive not to hand down.
My current raincoat is Danish (Tenson) and my mum bought it in the Lake District as when her fell walking group got soaked, the only person who remained dry was wearing one of these coats. I inherited it 17 years ago and it still keeps me dry.
You will love this book, Wendy. Peter Storm cagoules are featured and you would remember many of the other things too.
Fascinating!
I recently, and reluctantly, traded my 5 layers of woolen garments for a down parka for my winter walks. I sooo love wool, but dressing for walks is so much easier (and quicker) now. Thank you to all the explorers!
It’s a fabulously interesting book.
Just curious, would you say 5 layers of woollen clothes is equal in warmth to the down parka?
Well, this is going to sound strange because my answer is based on degrees Fahrenheit! My “rule” is one layer for every 10 degrees. So if it’s 30 degrees outside I add 4 layers (to get to 70 degrees – comfy.) The 5th layer is for the gale force winds over the lake when I emerge from the forest. It’s a lovely walk that I don’t force myself to take when it’s below 30! Otherwise it’s 2 miles a day of beauty, peace, and solitude…
I sincerely wish we (US, so sorry) had changed to Celsius years ago. I taught science, so both Fahrenheit and Celsius. To be perfectly honest, when I hear that it’s horribly hot in Australia I Google the C to F translation! (Thank you Google.)
Here in up up-state New York we generally don’t have long periods of colder weather, and we usually have a glorious January Thaw, which we didn’t have this year. No reprieve. L.O.N.G. winter…
It sounds very logical for a science teacher! Sounds like a gorgeous walk. Below 30 (-1C) bbrrr….
Oh my, I’m off to find this book as I went climbing Nepal in 1989 and remember buying my outfit in New York from Patagonia. Thank you for such a thoughtful review.
You’ll love this book, Sue. I hope you can get a copy (unfortunately the SA public library system didn’t have it, so I was forced to buy one, but it was so worth it!).
Fascinating stuff! I am adding this book to my reading list. As a family of scouting/outdoors people and my own interest in textiles and fashion I was delighted to discover in my parents’ stash a half finished jacket and pattern for cotton japara raincoats! The scouts in the early 80s were sewing their own and waterproofing them! Not sure how far they got given the half finished project I found but props for having a go!
What a find! And a cool Scouts project. Cotton japara…are you by any chance in Australia too?
You’ll enjoy this book. Oilskins don’t really feature in this book but anoraks and other ideas taken from the sailing/fishing world do.
Yes, in Victoria. Looking forward to reading about the innovations in outdoor clothing and pondering whether new technologies will ever make more sustainable fabrics such as wool once again the bees knees of outdoor clothing. Love the blog and the patterns!
There’s a guy in Victoria doing natural fibre outdoor gear, using waxed canvas, wool, hemp, etc. Very Aussie looking gear. https://www.peakoilcompany.com/ I think he makes locally, too.
The other place I’ve heard of is Mover plastic-free sportwear in Switzerland https://mover.eu/
I wish more wool was used in outdoor gear too!
I didn’t ask you before: are you going to finish the Scouts japara jacket?
Maybe… it’s on the big list of stash projects! Yes, I’ve been following Peak Oil with interest and I will definitely check out Mover. Thanks for the recommendation.
Great book review, you really brought it to life, thanks!
Thanks Victoria!
Peak Oil looks interesting! I made myself a skjoldehamm cowl from a charity shop scarf (thrift shop, OP shop?- not sure). 30 cm wide, needed 30cm x 6 = 180cm of scarf to make it. I left on the scarf fringe on each shoulder. Looks terrible on me but is toasty warm with hood up or down. I don’t quite have the courage to wear it in public.
I’ve heard skjoldehamn cowls are really warm and great against cold wind. It’s a good example of an historic zero waste pattern. I understand about courage to wear one in public – sort of feel it needs to be accessorized with a bow and arrow. But maybe worn under a coat???