The Hat and fashion through the eyes of a musher

2011 Iditarod finish in Nome

You would not believe how many comments I get about this hat, people even email them. It seems y’all like the hat. I am not surprised, it is a cute hat. And to be fair that is part of why I bought it, but only part.

Now mushers are not often known for their fashion sense, and when spending money on clothes it is usually not the kind one would wear to a fancy restaurant. We tend to be more Function Over Fashion group when picking an outfit. I could not name the top fashion designers right now, but I have a love of technical fabrics that underlies the reason I have more long johns then can fit in one large dresser drawer. Like some women I have ‘a thing for shoes’ as long as you consider work, rain, and winter boots shoes. Come on ladies, some days are made for Lobens, others are Intuition liners and Neos all the way, and that is just the winter season; a girl needs lots of options. When fully donned in my new duds I often feel like my butt needs its own back up beeper, there are people in big animal suits at theme parks who are wearing less. It is not that I don’t go shopping and spend money on clothes. It is just that the stores that make me drool and the events I am getting dressed up for are different. Those who know me will say, “Hey wait! you, Kelley (Griffen) and Michele (Philips) always dress up for the race banquets.” and you are right. And we have a great time going to Value Village and rummaging through the racks of used dresses to find ones that would be fun to wear.  There are actually some photos from the ’09 Yukon Quest banquet here, to illustrate. But that is hardly representative of how we usually look going through life. My clothes tend to be functional, and covered in dog fur.

Dog fur hats for sale in Nome

The hat was actually a whim, fun choice. Waiting for Dan in Nome in 2010 I went and visited the craft fair at the Church with some good friends. It was there that I ran into someone I had not seen in years, Robin Underwood. Side note: she is actually one of the very first people to introduce me to mushing. Ages ago; I had x-country skied out to her cabin for a relaxing night away from town, and then drove a small (I think it was 4) team of her dogs back out the next day. Turns out Robin is now making and selling these amazing hats, they are hand made. The yarn she uses is a spun mix of shed dog fur, and some wool. She makes hats with many different linings; polar fleece or different furs.  I was drawn to one made with a non patterned mix of colors, she said it was a hodgepodge or leftover colored yarns in a creative mix.  I loved it right away, it was fun and cheerful. And having seen my dogs outside having fun at insanely cold temperatures I was fairly certain it would be super warm. Therefor it fit the “functional, and covered in dog fur” requirement. It all came together, seeing an old friend, the dog connection, being in Nome, I had to buy that hat.

Start of the 2011 Yukon Quest

And it functions beautifully. I was right about the dog fur being warm. But the best part, it breaths. I am no longer sporting the clammy wet head look every time I take off my hat. You can see my Patagonia DAS parka has a great windproof hood, as does the Patagonia nano puff hoodie, and my wind Anorak (Dogwood Designs). I can easily cover my head in enough windproof hoods that I can not hear the world outside if I have to. The dog fur hat is a soft comfy layer of insulation at the base of it. And worn alone it is more the enough most of the time. Of course the fact that it has all the bright and pastel colors also makes it stand out. People are not likely to mistakenly grab it for theirs.

I got mine in Nome, which is probably the most fun way to get a dog fur hat. But you can also contact Robin Underwood to find out where else you can get yours. Maybe we will start a new fashion trend?
Robin Underwood, willawaw@coppervalleyak.net