In Praise of the (Woolrich) Arctic Parka
The Original and the Best...
I can’t recall exactly how many Parkas I’ve gone through during a surprisingly long innings. I do though, remember the first. It was green with fake fur, and much the same as every other kid’s at the time. I soon changed that by stencilling ‘Eat At Ron’s’ on the back. That’s a lie, I did it with magic marker but stencilling sounds better. One that stood out, came my way in the mid-seventies, via Dear Mother’s Brother. He was an army bod and, in an extremely rare fit of generosity, gave me a Parka he’d got while on manoeuvres of some kind, in Canada. Fair play because that thing was incredible.
The fur around the hood was Grey Wolf. There was wire in there, so you could shape it depending on which way the wind was blowing, or snow-falling. It was guaranteed to keep you warm at 65F- below. The only drawback and it was a big one, was the lack of ‘hand-warmer’ pockets. For a yobbo like myself, those pockets are vital. There were numerous after that but none, until the Artic Parka happened along, nearly as good.
Devoid of extraneous bells, whistles and badges, the Woolrich Arctic Parka is a design classic worthy of high praise. It’s the garment’s very plainness, that makes it so special. Buying one these days is not as straightforward as it once was, due to the (Italian) company’s insistence on producing such a variety of them. I keyed in ‘How many versions of the Arctic Parka does Woolrich make’ and the internet responded;
‘A unique reinterpretation of our iconic Arctic Parka, this new silhouette is part of the capsule collection of 5 Parkas that play with the lines and details that made this model famous, bridging tradition and modernity.’
So, if that’s anything to go by, there are at least five. In some respects, a modern version of the classic Artic will be better, due to the technical evolution in fabrics. Lighter, more water and wind resistant. They coat it with something so for the first year or so, they’re practically waterproof. That though, quite literally, wears off. As the fill’s seventy percent down, thirty feathers, they’re not ideal for torrential rain- obs…
For decades, there have been a couple of - not so much two iterations of the coat - but labels inside it. This began in 1982 when the Italian firm licencing Woolrich in Europe, came up with the ‘John Rich and Bros’ label. I’d always thought that indicated it was more ‘ream’ but on researching this post, discovered it’s quite the opposite. The label I’d always turned my nose up at is the American one. The one I’ve been paying over the odds for, for years, is the European… Well done me.
There might be many other American ‘Outdoorsman’ brands but the three I’m aware of are Woolrich, Pendleton and Filson. Of these, Woolrich is the least considered. That might be a relatively new occurrence and, due to them having moved production from the good old US of A. You could put this down to nationalism from jingoistic Americans but as these are heritage, as opposed to fashion brands, they may have a point. At least Woolrich was a heritage brand but since shutting down their mill in Pennsylvania almost a decade ago, like Carhartt, it appears to have reinvented itself as a fashion house… At least, in Europe. They’re now producing monstrosities like this;
It’s a shame how far Woolrich’s fallen as, in my humble opinion, neither Pendleton nor Filson has ever come up with anything- even remotely as iconic, as the Artic Parka and that includes (respectively) the Board Shirt, along with the Original Briefcase.
On the Parka front, I’d imagine the main rival to the Woolrich Arctic is the Canada Goose. Maybe North Face could be thrown in there too but offhand, I can’t think of many others. I’d imagine that, were there a comment section, it’d be brimming with people putting me straight on the topic and that’s precisely why there’s no comment section. Write your own blog. The Arctic, according to the Woolrich site, retails at £885.00 but that’s a snip compared to a Canada Goose, which comes in at £1,325.00.
By all accounts, the Canada Goose is warmer but what makes both ‘luxury items’ isn’t the retail price but that, in the UK, at least in the southern end, the climate’s rarely cold enough to warrant either. However, when it is, those coats are worth every penny. Given my dire fiscal circumstance and the general mess I’ve made of life, I rarely get to feel smug but when there’s a cold snap and that old Artic’s donned, I do. Smugness may be horrendous when you’re catching but man, it’s fantastic when you’re pitching.
Post Script;
If you’ve not got one and you’re interested in acquiring a Woolrich Arctic, various outlets do them for less than the official site. The best I found was Oxegen Clothing who are knocking them out at £427.05. As ever, bargains exist on platforms like eBay.
