All the best adjectives of the season go to the leaves. Deep, rich, vibrant, stunning, shimmering, splendid, glorious, spectacular… But what are we on the Hill, below these fantastic headdresses of the season, adorned with as the temperature slides between various degrees of chilly? Fleece. Sure, it is cozy, and it isn’t flannel, as flannel promises so much more than a few colored leaves, but is this our neighborhood look for fall? It is warm and keeps the bones warm, but is it stunning and glorious? Surely not.
What is a fleece top but a an abbreviated bathrobe that, in the language of 1,000 outdoor aficionado magazines, wicks away moisture rather than absorbs it or a comfy pajama with a hoody or a zipper?
Fleece pullovers are ubiquitous on a fall weekend here. Many – too many – are emblazoned with The North Face logo. Powder blue fleeces, black, logo’ed vests, black hoodies, green, red on the kids (the better to see them with, my dear), scores of The North Face logos as if a truck carrying a shipment broke down on 8th Street and everyone went to the back and helped themselves.
How did the Hill folk keep warm before the advent of this polyester puffery? That is for our resident historian Mr. Pohl to answer, but clues can be gained in the patterned wool sweaters and smart trenches worn by some of our more seasoned residents. Some even hold hands and keep close while strolling, but fashion cannot always wait for a partner!
Are there other alternatives? I prefer suede until gloomy showers send me home from half an errand,or colder than the cozy coffee house time-share residents with their shiny Macs, muted fleeces and what look to be all-terrain sandals.
Happily, there are some alternatives, if not to fleece, than to the soft, sometimes shapeless, North Face look.
So, whether venturing out to yard sales, grabbing more beer at the liquor store, conducting guerilla-style “extractions” of groceries at Safeway, bringing warm banana bread to the neighbors, or putting your recyclables into their bright blue trash bin in the alley afterward, don’t you owe yourself, the neighbors, and those high, proud, show-off leaves an alternative?
One of the coolest women at the park and at after-school pick-up sports wears Monkey Phur, a high-piled fleece by Mountain Hardwear in a nuclear shade of green on green, which the company calls “grasshopper/cypress.” I admired it so much, I gave in to my alterno-fleece craving and got one for myself (although I don’t look as good in it as this lady does, and our kids would never mistakenly “pet” the wrong Mom.) No kidding: One outdoor retail website describes her (ours, now) Monkey Phur women’s jacket as “soft and fuzzy like a teddy bear.” Another comment on one retailer states that “everyone wants to pet my Monkey Phur.” The fabric is much more aggressively visual than its cousin, fleece, and the colors more daring than the flat tones of the red, blue and washed-again black of most regulation fleeces out there.
Oh, dear, and Mountain Hardwear counsels that “your monkey, like your dog appreciates a good brushing to keep its fleece lofty.” Stiff bristles preferred. If I use the cat brush, I am sure Mandy will get jealous.
Speaking of animals, when I dare to Google alternatives to fleece, I get pictures of shaggy mountain animals returned to my computer. And one Eastern Market flea market vendor does sell Peruvian llama goods at her stall, and they looked cozy enough. Of course, there is microfleece and Ultrafleece and Powerstretch, (made by Polartec,) but a few quick tours this month of Eastern Market vendors yielded not much in the way of casual, comfortable outwear. At least not the stuff without buttons and belts and lapels.
Another stylish Hill friend just got a new stretch (touch of Spandex for the sleek look) fleece pullover from Land’s End with an MP3 player pocket she loves to use while running with her iPod. Offered in Lime Zest. Looks like she got a deal, at $35 and still gets a sleek silhouette. However, she warns fleece can indeed take a bad turn, though, if untended.
And Nau claims it has a sleek, feminine version of fleece with its angular, multi-zippered hoody,which, at $195, is $50-$100 more than even the Monkey Phur. Not that North Face is cheap, either, But this fleece goody promises to shed water, wind and grime, so it isn’t pretending this is only going to be worn while scaling some sheer, brilliantly-peaked mountain in unspoiled wilderness, and may, in fact, be worn on city transportation. One of the color choices is carbon, which is used in connection with a footprint these days, you know? Take that, grasshopper! Nah, there is a blurb on the website about how the polyester fabric used was developed by the company behind a technology that uses post-consumer and industrial waste, along with other, similarly eco-friendly practices by fabric manfacturer, Polartec.
Capitol Hill Bikes is selling some interesting looking outer apparel that of course is intended for the biker out in the elements and looks pretty important in the window. The store has a little primer on biking outer gear on its website, as well.
To undo Robert Frost, Keep warm, young and old Hillies! Good-bye and keep WARM.
I’ve traded my fleece for down vests, though I don’t know if it is any better of an option. That said, I think the phur jacket looks great! Is it as warm as, if not warmer than the fleece we all know too well?
Hi. It is warmer and lighter but not sleek in any way, nor does it try to be–my friend was given one by her husband her cold Cap Hill kitchen. It is very urban fleece, despite its intended use. Join the Monkey Phur crowd–although there are other colors besides that crazy green we have. Down vests are bulkier, aren’t they? Fleece dries so well and so quickly. Thanks for your input!