Hoodies for grown-ups
The magic of a good anorak, deep-cut Danish clogs, custom "counterfeit" gems & more
Concorde is Blackbird Spyplane’s “women’s vertical” that the fellas love as well. Every edition is archived here.
The B.L.I.S.S. List, Your Definitive Guide to "Beautiful Life-Improving Spyplane Staples," is here.
What is an anorak? Is it a jacket? A shirt? Is it a men’s or women’s garment? Is it a hoodie … or a dress?
My (Erin’s) answer to all the above is: Yes. When it comes to anoraks, I like to lean into the ambiguity. I own 5, all of them vintage except for a silver one from SC103. They’re so versatile that I tend to make room for at least one in my carry-on when I travel. That’s me wearing a trusty vintage Gap piece, above right, in Copenhagen after a downpour last June. I wear them as rain / wind jackets, as shirts, tucking the lighter-weight cotton ones into my pants, and when I want to wear something hooded that isn’t a hoodie. I’m not one of those people who believes hoodies are best left to children. I love them and think they have their place. But an anorak is a hoodie that can go more places.
Also? I’ve got my eye on some longer anoraks that could perform dress duty if needed.
So today I’m saluting anoraks — a perfect transitional spring garment. I’m sharing ways to style them, deep-cut vintage finds, the freshest new ones from small lines, and wisdom from two Concorde-beloved designers on why they make anoraks year after year, on their own quests for an “elevated hoodie.”
I’ve also got:
A studio visit with a jewelry designer whose colorful-and-customizable pieces work a “counterfeit jewels” theme
An under-the-radar workwear clog brand that is apparently even cooler than Dansko, according to Danish designers on the clog frontlines
Let’s get to it —
100% of the people whose opinions matter agree with the above assessment that an anorak is a vital part of a swaggy closet. Agreeing on the exact definition of ‘anorak’ is another matter: In the fashion press I’ve seen full-zip jackets, like Prada’s yellow one for spring, below left, referred to as anoraks… Nice try but no!
The word ‘anorak’ comes from the Greenlandic Inuit word annoraaq, for a hooded outer garment made of seal skin or fur. I saw one of these hard-wearing, sinew-sewn pullovers, made from paper-thin seal intestine (!), at The Met last fall, pictured above top right.
People often confuse anoraks with zip-front parkas, however, perhaps because the word parka, like anorak, also comes from Arctic peoples: the Nenets, native to Arctic Russia, used the word parka for all-fur hooded pullovers that often reached the knees or below. The key difference is that anoraks are shorter — usually hip-length — and pullovers, whereas today parkas open all the way.
Alarmingly, anorak is also apparently a Britishism for “a person who is extremely enthusiastic about and interested in something that other people find boring.” I fell down a research hole and started to worry I was being a damn anorak about anoraks, so I decided to get Yara Flinn of the excellent NYC shop and label Nomia on the Spyphone for some clarity. Nomia’s made an anorak in various fabrics, from cotton gingham to duchess satin, every season since ~2020.
“I’m not a stickler on how to define them,” she said, “but for me it has to be a pullover. Has to have a hood. Pockets are good. It’s a ‘functional jacket top.’” Simple enough.
Here’s the best of what’s new, and how to style it —