Playwear
Extreme outdoor sportswear
emerges into trendy wardrobes
By Kindra Moiin
Staff Reporter
The University of Nebraska-Lin
coln has a diverse and enlightened
student population. This diversity
spans a large range of interests and
activities upon which the students arc
involved.
Styles differ from conservative
yuppie-wear to vintage consignment
clothing to grunge-band, cult-follow
ingattire to the technical outdoor cloth
ingworn by athletes who participate in
extreme sports.
Extreme means only to exceed the
ordinary, usual or expected, to take a
sport to the highest degree—its maxi
mum. These sports that seem to push
the limits of saneness and sound mind
include hiking, snow boarding, bik
ing, mountain/ice climbing and rock
repelling.
While the popularity ofthosc sports
has risen tremendously in the past three
years, the clothing and accessories
seem to have drilled beyond the inter
ests of the athletes and into the ward
robes of fashion-conscious students.
Hiking boots, heavy ski parkas and
insulated gloves arc all pieces ofcloth
ing that arc justifiable. It seems as if
the chill of winter keeps holding on
and specially developed clothing helps
to combat the threat of that freeze.
According to Jeff White at The
Moose’s Tooth, companies such as
Marmot, The North Face and Eddie
Bauer arc dcvelopingclothingthat will
stand uptonaturc’schallenge by keep
ing the elements out and the heal in.
The North Face recently hatfeonv
mitted itself to producing a special
type of synthetic fabric called Ny-Cot
c Twill that is a completely non-cotton,
synthetic fabric. It has the feel and
comfort of cotton, but it is hydropho
bic or “water-hating.” This synthetic
fabric is designed to pull perspiration
and water away from the body, making
heat loss because of evaporation im
possible.
The practicalities of this type of
fabric are evident for the athletes who
will be exposed to extreme tempera
tures for extended amounts of time.
According to White, however, “not
many people in Nebraska are ice climb
ing.” For students, the clothing keeps
them warm and dry while they trek
from building to building, rather than
glacier to glacier, looking polar-pro
tcctcd and very stylish.
Hiking boots are another practical
crossover from rigorous sporting to
mainstream fashion. Their durability,
warmth and gripping tread arc all good
reasons for students to invest in a pair.
Durability is easy on a college budget
because the shoes don’t have to be
replaced as often. Warmth is always a
factor in the strange, but apparent,
sub-zero Nebraska weather. The grip
ping helps students stay on their feet,
defying the slick ice’s ability to take
them down at a moment’s notice.
Another crossover piece of cloth
ing is the shooting glove. Shooting
gloves are fingerless gloves, usually
lined with Thinsulate, an insulated ther
mal lining. Often, the gloves have pull
over mitten flaps that fasten with a
patch of Velcro.
|
The gloves arc specialized for hunt
ers and ice fishermen who need warmth
for their hands in cold weather, but
also need the use of their fingers. It
doesn’t seem as though students arc
doing a lot of shooting on campus, but
the gloves arc useful for freeing up
fingers for tasks such as zipping up
zippers, tying shoes, etc ...
Cold weather clothing isn’t the only
type of fashion that has crossed to
mainstream dressing. Cargo pants and
shorts, Oakley sunglasses, Airwalkand
Vans tennis shoes and rock climbing
carbincrshave also sprouted up all over.
Cargo pants and shorts arc usually
used by hikers, backpackers and moun
tain climbers. Their many and easily
accessible pockets and comfortable
light fit make them necessary for ter
rain in which athletes frequently visit.
They have, however, evolved into ca
sual wear and can be found in fashion
venues as common as the J. Crew
catalog.
Carbiners have been seen used as
key chains, backpack accessories and
other miscellaneous things.
“I’ve seen carbiners used as key
chains all over the place. They’re very
practical,” said James Thompson of
Lincoln Sports.
Cycling has made its own contribu
tion toeveryday fashion as well. Oakley
sunglasses, which gained their popu
larity through cycling and skiing
crowds, have become popular among
young people.
According to Blue’s Bike and Fit
ness Center, Oakley sunglasses arc the
biggest crossover fad from the biking
world aside from Lycra shorts, which
appear to have been an ’80s phenom
ena.
Airwalk and Vans tennis shoes
started out primarily as footwear ac
cepted by skateboarders. Both brands
now have floated into the common
closets of people on campus.
Inspiration for new fashion is al
ways in demand whether the spark of
genius comes from an old movie, thrift
shop or sport. The popularity and abil
ity for these fashions to hold the atten
tion of such a large and diverse genera
tion is remarkable.
The technical outdoor clothing in
dustry has expanded immensely, and
the mark for this fashion is obviously
and abundantly present.
IT'S SPRING PARTY TIME!
52nd & O St
VINYL IN SEVERAL COLORS
•DRESSES
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• FLAIRS
• PANTS/JEANS
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• DR. MARTENS BOOTS AND SHOES
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483-BAND
Trendy apparel for spring
features pastels, brights
By Heidi White
Staff Reporter
Spring is on the way and with warm
weather sure to follow, it’s time to
ditch the heavy, dark clothes of winter
in favor of lighter and brighter ap
parel.
Most students should be able to (It
right in with spring fashion trends
across the board, according to the
Internet Fashion Mall (http://
fashionmall.com).
Writers at this site recommend re
laxed, comfortable clothes in 1 ight col
ors and natural fibers. Colors that top
their list are crisp whites, tan and fes
tive brights, especially yellow, green
and blue. Fun novelty prints also will
be in style.
Locally, Doug Ferrar, women’s
buyer for the Post and Nickel, said
spring would be fun and easy with lots
of choice for color.
Ferrar said dresses seemed to be a
big thing this year, with a lot of A-linc
styles and flouncy bottoms. Short and
lon£skirts also will be popular in all
kinds of prints and colors, especially
brights and pastels.
“Cotton things in fun colors and
easy shapes, both body-conscious and
relaxed, will be big in spring,” he said.
Lucky brand denimshortscontinuc
to be popular for the store, as well as
other items that are comfortable and
not necessarily expensive.
“We try to be a leading fashion
store and interpret our customers’
wants,” Ferrar said.
Susan Dewey, assistant manager at
Gadzooks, also a local store, has no
ticed definite trends for spring.
“The shorts are getting shorter for
girls and longer for the guys,” she said.
Surfer shorts and board shorts would
be big with both men and women this
season, along with the usual denim,
she said.
Dewey said that T-shirts with com
pany logos altered slightly, such as
“Fed Up” instead of “Fed Ex” also had
been popular along with baby tecs.
Shirts will be very free with their word
ingand say things like “wow” and “hot
chick” on them.
“Cotton things in fun
colors and easy shapes,
both body-conscious and
relaxed, ivill be big in
spring. ”
DOUG FERRAR
women's buyer for the Post and
Nickel
Red and white clothing and acces
sories have been big sellers at
Gadzooks so far, and basic black is
still an option.
Name brands like Redsand, Joe
Boxer and Calvin Klein have been
selling well in the store already, as
well as Mossimo. This spring suppos
edly will be the last season for Mossimo
to produce new clothing, Dewey said.
Doc Marten sandals, Hawaiian print
cloth ing, retro and bright-colored back
packs were also trends for spring, she
said.
Fol lowers of the high fashion scene
may want to check out Fashion Net,
(htlp://www. fashion.net/info.html) the
largest fashion site on the Internet, for
advice on spring trends.
Ellc magazine’s site, a link from
Fashion Net, included New York run
way reports, by Harriet Mays Powell
(http://www.ellcmag.com/member/
trcndrcports/ncwyork/indcx.h tml).
Mays Powell wrote,“Thcoutstand
ing collections all promoted a new
relaxed way to dress. Marc Jacobs and
Richard Tyler created simple but rav
ishing clothes that allowed their per
sonal message loshine through. Calvin
Klein, the King of Clean, triumphed
with sensuous matte jerseys and mini
mal details. His clothes were fresh and
sexy.”
Although Ferrar said magazines
were sometimes a little extreme, even
high fashion trends for spring seemed
to be leaning toward the relaxed and
comfortable clothes and fabrics of ev
eryday life.
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