Modern anoraks convey can-do practicality, common sense and usefulness. Most modern anoraks are commonly made from nylon, polyester, or blended cottons, synthetic fabrics which are lightweight and easily waterproofed or treated for insulation.
The rise of anoraks as a fashion item is tightly linked to the increasing popularity of sports, and the sportsman-hero as a cultural icon. Spectators and athletes keep themselves warm while still looking fashionable with variants of the anorak. Finally, what is good for the Jock has become good for Jane, and the anorak became adopted into the female wardrobe. And that’s how an essential piece of sportswear became this genderless, stylish, yet undeniably practical garment.
FROM STRUGGLE TO STYLE
Of course, women wearing menswear is nothing new. The history of women wearing men’s clothes is far more complex and profound, and deeply intertwined with themes of survival, rebellion, and self-expression. Across history and literature, women have adopted male fashion to gain access to experiences and freedoms otherwise denied to them.
One of the most famous examples comes from The Ballad of Mulan, a Qin Dynasty folktale (and not the Disney cartoon) about a filial young woman who disguises herself as a man to take her father’s place in the army. A similar theme appears in The Butterfly Lovers, where Zhu Yingtai dresses as a man to pursue a Ming Dynasty education. These stories reflect social restrictions on women and their attempts to circumvent them through… cross-dressing. Shakespeare played with gender through disguise with Viola in Twelfth Night and Rosalind As You Like It, both wear male clothes to move freely in a patriarchal world, often finding unexpected agency, and a beautiful prince, in the process. Centuries later, Yentl, a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, echoed these themes. Imagine Barbra Streisand wearing a porkpie cap, and belting out hysterical ballads in the title role in her movie version of Yentl to see how crossdressing crossed into campy fun. In the 19th century, women writers like George Sand (born Amantine Dupin) and George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) adopted male pseudonyms — and men’s clothing — to navigate the literary world. Later literary crossdressers would be Virginia Woolf, Vita Sackville-West, and in our times, Fran Lebovitz.
