The term poseur has historically carried a negative connotation when it comes to the core outdoor enthusiast..  But what if we told you that it was the poseurs that created the way forward for many of the advances  we now have to help get us outside?  Part history lesson, part trail run, episode 1 will start our journey to better understanding how outdoor industry trends helped sportswear to  become our daily driver.

Thanks for listening! LAYER is a production of Rock Fight, LLC.

Sign up for NEWS FROM THE FRONT, Rock Fight's semi-weekly newsletter by heading to www.rockfight.co and clicking Join The Mailing List.

Send your feedback, questions, and comments to myrockfight@gmail.com.

From Polartech, the science of fabric, creator of textile technologies and design solutions for any need and any reason.

Welcome to Layers, a deep dive into the untold or little known stories the outdoor industry is built upon.

This is Season one the Rise of Dressing Down I'm Colin True.

I need to start the first episode of Layers with ended mission.

My name is Colin True and I am a poser.

I'm 46 years old and if you're listening to this, then you too are probably an enthusiast of all things outdoor.

I've ridden bikes up and down mountains, backcountry, skied, surfed and kayaked on multiple oceans.

I've climbed rocks and ice and sandpapery plastic walls, run adventure races and ultramarathons, slept in and out of tents deep in the woods or next to rivers.

If the outdoors are an important part of your life, then your outside CV probably reads a lot like mine.

You've tried it all.

You have your favorite, and if you go more than a couple of days without some time on the trail, you start to go a little stir crazy.

But I'm not bragging here because I'm a poser.

And I'm here to take back that word and make it okay to be a poser.

I didn't grow up doing anything outside that I like to do now.

As a kid, outside of a handful of Boy Scout camping trips, I was a card carrying member of Generation X. I hung out of my room.

I played with Transformers and GI Joes and watched he man and Thundercats.

I played Atari and then Nintendo, and when I did go outside it was to ride bikes with friends or play backyard football.

I count the movie Singles as a transformative piece of cinema, and I don't mean that in an Eddie Haskell kind of way.

But then the outdoors became cool.

I first noticed this in the early 80s when my older brother had to have an Ocean Pacific T shirt.

Not long after that, fleece jackets started turning up under the Christmas tree.

And that's when I became a poser.

Because as much as I started becoming interested in doing outdoor sp, I was as much vested in looking like I did outdoor sports.

To the core enthusiasts, poser has always been a dirty word.

I once had a colleague suggest that a certain outdoor brand should change their tagline from never stop exploring to never stop posing because of how big they had gotten.

The implication being they had strayed too far from their roots, despite the army of legit guides and experts that use their products.

But I'm here today to tell you that it's the posers who deserve all the credit for why we as outdoor enthusiasts have all the clothing and gear options that we do.

Not only that, but because of the wannabes.

We now live in a world where we can wear just about anything anywhere.

The casualization of the world is a direct result of the rise of the outdoors as a trend.

And the outdoors became a cool trend because of posers like my big brother who wanted to rep a surfing brand in cow country.

And that's the point of layers.

To unpack the really big and important questions, like how should I care for my lofted fiber?

Or how do we get to dress so comfortably?

Today, we'll start by unpeeling our first ever layer and examine how went from just trying to survive in an unforgiving natural world to a place where we could invent, in all seriousness, words like athleisure.

And we'll be giving credit to the unsung engineer who unwittingly put us on this path.

The poser.

Welcome to Lairs, presented by Polartech.

This is season one, Episode one.

Praise be to the Poser.

It's summertime, and I am clinging to the edge of Nevada on a trail outside of Reno.

The air at 9,000 Fe is making it challenging to breathe, and that's without the tinge of wildfire smoke that is inescapable.

That said, Lake Tahoe is spread out in front of me.

Aspen leaves are rattling.

I'm getting paid to trail run.

It's a pretty good day.

With me is my pal, Tyler Mayhew.

I'm in his backyard, and like any of us who have local hills to play in, he's eager to tell me about where we are.

The kind of rim trail that you're really missing is over by Desolation Wilderness on the southwest corner.

That's where you cut across.

Tyler has been a Polartech sales rep for a good long and.

Yeah, let's just get this out of the way up front.

Like you heard at the top, this show was presented by polartech, so you can expect to hear from the people who work at this venerable fabric maker from time to time.

Look, they have a pretty unique perspective on outdoor apparel, and someone has to pay the bills.

I may have started out as a poser, but then I started actually doing things outside.

I became an outdoor enthusiast, so much so that my career path took me through Multiple outdoor industry companies over the past two decades.

Recently I started to ponder how we got here.

And by here I mean being able to wear joggers, hoodies and T shirts to pretty much any occasion.

So how did sportswear become our daily driver?

Well, the urge to find out is how I found myself in Tahoe running trails with Tyler and testing out some new shirts made with polartech fabric.

So we're both sporting Polartech Power Dry.

I've got on a Roark Trail tee and then you've got the Miles Momentum tee.

And you know, the technology is pretty neat, permanent life of the garment wicking through construction.

And so that's a, you know, an innovation that polartech spearheaded.

How do you make base layer that doesn't wet out and stay wet?

How do you make it so that you can be active and comfortable, you know, for long periods of time?

Tyler is an enthusiast, a true believer, A guy who found his way to his position selling fabric to outdoor brands after years as a whitewater paddler and someone who still pursues his outdoor passions today.

How do you make it not look like a performance tee?

How do you make it emulate the feel of cotton, the drape of cotton, as close as you can and still not give up on that performance?

I was curious what someone with his insight thinks about how we got to this particular place.

I think brands and designers got smarter about it.

They weren't necessarily in a place to where they needed to, you know, just design for the end use.

Right.

Garments can have multifunctions.

The shirt that you're wearing, you wouldn't feel uncomfortable wearing it to a coffee shop.

Right.

But I make a real effort to take the cotton T shirt with me to change into afterwards.

Sure.

So do people do that?

Do you think they do?

Yeah, I think they do.

I do think that there's a, there's a mix right there.

There is absolutely a place for cotton but you know, for traveling, for outdoor pursuits, for having less stuff and doing more with that stuff.

So yeah, I think it's certainly in the last four to five years that's more on folks mind how to, you know, how to design and develop product that have multi functions as opposed to an individual kind of purpose driven piece of apparel, but that still functions with all the same performance that you would expect.

And I think that's a statement on how far the industry has come.

Because when you and I were growing up in this industry.

It was very specific.

You had your hiking piece, your run piece, your ski pieces, and they were designed and looked the part of whatever that was you were into.

Okay, that makes sense.

But while playing in the hills around Lake Tahoe with a fabric junkie was awesome, it wasn't going to get me where I needed to go.

I needed content, context.

Like, seriously, how the hell did the modern apparel or the outdoor industry even become a thing?

I needed experts, someone who not just understood fabrics and apparel, but had worked to mold them into the actual clothing I am so used to putting on every day.

Or maybe someone who could take a peek back at the cultural side of things, you know, look at what was happening in the world to lead us here as well.

Lucky for me, I found my people.

I saw an article the other day that said, like, is the necktie dead?

And it's kind of like, will my son wear a necktie?

Would my daughter ever wear a necktie at some point in her life?

I don't think so.

This is Ryan Thompson.

Yeah, my name is Ryan thompson.

And this Dr.

Gross, thanks so much for joining us today.

Excited to have you here is Dr. Rachel Gross.

Thanks.

I'm happy to be here.

Ryan is so passionate about fabrics and apparel that he went to college just to learn about them and then worked for 15 years at one of the OG brands that is inescapably tied to the history and influence of the outdoor industry.

Patagonia.

Dr. Rachel Gross is a historian who has looked at the early days of the modern outdoor industry for her forthcoming book, Selling the Outdoor Industry in American History, From Buckskin to Gore Tex.

I thought perhaps the two perspectives, one focus on the details of the stuff itself, and one focused on the big picture of the industry in which the stuff exists, could help lead me somewhere.

It's good to know where you've been, to know where you are.

So I asked Ryan what was the first performance fabric.

The earliest cavemen who were, you know, skinning animals.

And I'm sure they were very elegant, draped garments of flesh and whatever.

And they were.

They were wearing them for a purpose.

Right, Right.

To protect them from the elements, to keep them warm to whatever insects, weather, whatever.

Huh?

Okay.

Right.

Big light bulb moment over this dumb guy's head.

When you think about it, until we got to a place in society where we had the means to have both work and play clothes, everything was rooted in.

In terms of the history, I think it just became.

Yeah.

As what your environment provided you agriculturally, what could grow There, I mean, cotton wasn't a staple product until colonialism took over the world.

It was a very much a niche product in Southeast Asia and parts of the New World, but not to the extent until after colonialism.

Back in the day, we didn't have the capabilities that modern manufacturing and fibers have afforded us.

But each time a culture took a step forward in how they dressed, it was typically to address a new way of keeping themselves warm, dry, cool, or safe.

So really, the question is, what led to the ability to have performance fabrics?

That's the big question, is people improved manufacturing techniques where you could make things faster, cheaper, you know, anything from the cotton gin to the sewing machine, those things allowed what was previously only available to the very, very rich to become more and more available.

And as people went from wearing horrible, stiff, rough fabrics to nice, supple, warm fabrics, like, it's hard to go back.

Right.

So I guess what, what would you consider then, like, the first fabrics or the first textiles that sort of would eventually pave the road maybe to what we consider to be modern performance fabrics.

Right.

When did you start seeing things where you're like, maybe it was not being applied in the same way that we would today?

I mean, is it wool?

Is wool the easy answer here?

I think wool is probably the.

I think, like, I mean, people were certainly weaving muslin fabrics, really loose, open weaves, based on where they lived.

So, like, it's hard to not call those performance fabrics as well.

People living in the Middle east have been weaving, you know, the right combination of density and coverage in order to provide themselves protection from an extremely sunny environment.

So we can look into the history of, like, when those certain techniques were starting to be done.

But, like, it's really hard to say what's a performance textile versus a. I mean, wool is a performance fiber, Right?

Right.

So it's like, when did you.

When did you gain the knowledge or the mastery to turn that fiber into a spinnable yarn?

So you can talk about when was the spinning frame introduced, or the hand spinning loom or spinning wheel, rather?

We're getting into rumpelstilts kind of stuff here.

Okay.

We could spend hours talking about the history of textiles, how we learned to spin fibers and apply that knowledge into the construction of new material.

But for our purposes here, I'm starting to see a roadmap to the technical innovations that lead to a closet full of cheap 5k tech tees.

But there needs to be inciting instances along the way that helps drive the creation of these new fibers and fabrics.

We don't get the creation of a billion dollar outdoor industry Just because someone figured out that shearing a sheep and spinning the fibers makes for a sweet sweater.

So how did we find our way outside for fun?

That's where Dr.

Gross comes in.

The rise of outdoor recreation happened in the middle of the 19th century.

For most people, it began at that time, and it coincides in the United States with the process of urbanization.

So as more Americans move to cities and take on new kinds of work, Sometimes in factories, but sometimes also in office buildings in growing big cities, especially on the east eastern seaboard, they have more time for recreation.

And as labor conditions change, they have perhaps additional funds to support their leisure activities.

And so many Americans in the late 19th century looked to experiences outside in nature with nostalgia.

They're thinking, ah, we can get back to some better way we used to be by returning to nature for a short time for a vacation, for a camping trip, for a hunting trip, something like that.

So the outdoor industry grows in response to this urge to get back to nature in the middle and end of the 19th century.

So for much of our history, anything new and effective we created served to protect us from the environment we were forced to live in.

It wasn't to extend our good time outside.

It's not until a more urbanized late 19th century that we start looking for ways to have fun on a regular basis.

But it's really a developing industry.

It's nascent.

It's not there yet in a coherent way.

And in the buckskin era, many outdoors people, the majority of whom were wealthy white men from the east coast, turned to the labor of native American women who knew how to sew buckskin suits.

Buckskin had this association of being of the old frontier past.

It seemed authentic.

It seemed like it worked really well in rugged environments.

And so it wasn't just that it made sense functionally.

It was that Even in the 19th century, Americans thought buckskin represented an America of the past that they wanted to hold on to, Especially of white American manhood proving itself on the frontier.

And so throughout the rest of the story that I tell in my book and that we'll talk about, the technology changes.

Buckskin gets supplanted by a succession of natural and then synthetic fibers.

People's ideas about what kinds of clothes they need, what equipment they should carry on their pack or leave behind, totally changes.

But this notion that outdoor clothing and equipment is about both function, what it does for you, but also what it says about who you are, about your identity, Remains throughout this entire Period.

This is a major turning point in our culture as it pertains to how we view the outdoors.

People starting to look for ways to go outside for aspirational and recreational purposes.

Because clothing is partly always about identity, I don't think it's exclusive to outdoor recreation at all.

I think there's a strong concern from wearers that it might signal the wrong kinds of things about their expertise, about the knowledge they have about the outdoors, or even how to build a campfire, things like that.

So I've read in the 19th century Guidebooks Many concerns that if you wear your buckskin suit in the wrong way, if you have the wrong kind of fringes, or perhaps too many fringes, that it might signal your greenhorn status, the fact that you're a beginner who doesn't really know what he's doing.

And this was really deeply concerning to the people who were buying buckskin suits from native women who were eager to show that they in fact knew how to make a buckskin suit and, you know, wanted to show off their expertise in the outdoors.

And so, yeah, so that was a really big concern.

And a lot of the guidebooks recall, you know, on these frontier towns, you know, at the jumping off point near a well known recreational space, a lot of people in very clean, very sharp buckskin suits looking clearly like they just got off a train.

And there it is, ladies and gentlemen, the origin of the modern outdoor industry.

Poser.

I even bet that peeking out from under that buckskin suit was a button down plaid shirt.

And now a word from our sponsor.

Hi, I'm Colin True.

You might remember me from such podcasts as the roadside attractions of Salunga Compost Treasure Hunt, and this one.

Today's episode is brought to you by Polartec.

Power Air.

Do you value warmth but hate shedding fibers?

Then Power Air may be for you.

As the first fabric engineer to resist fiber shedding, you can wear your poweraire garment with the smug superiority, knowing that you're better than everyone else.

Powerair the fabric for winners.

And now back to our show.

Before this time period, there really wasn't room for someone to be a poser.

Being outside usually meant that we were all busy working on not dying.

But when we reached an age where disposable income and middle class wealth allowed for recreation to become its own sort of market driver, identity started to play a Key role.

For a long time, anything we wore would originate from agriculture, plants or animals providing the fibers and yarn to make our clothing, most of which was designed for basic weather protection in whatever climate you happen to live in.

And while the buckskin suit followed this same path into existence, this application is the beginning of a new breed of outdoor user.

As soon as these users showed up on the scene, they were given options by the first iteration of the modern outdoor industry.

Someone at home in the backcountry repairs their own gear and cures their own jerky.

A person who knows how to stay warm, dry, and safe in a world where the fabrics they were wearing sometimes didn't offer much help towards that goal.

One is that many guidebooks in the 19th century, before there was specialized attire beyond buckskin, made the recommendation that aspiring outdoors people wear their old suits.

Not buckskin suits, but just, you know, suits from the city, from their workaday lives.

Once they were worn out and you couldn't wear them to work, you could still wear them to go on a walk.

So.

So that doesn't last.

But one thing that does last, to answer your question, is this notion that making goods yourself, making outdoor gear or outdoor clothing, reflects a mastery of the outdoors that is superior to buying your own stuff.

That notion is as old as outdoor recreation itself.

It dates back to the buckskin era, when a lot of men talked a very big game about sewing their own buckskin suits and hid the fact that they actually had purchased them from the native women who did know how to sew them.

And you can see that attitude reflected in many different eras of the history of outdoor recreation.

Not only is it cheaper to sew your own down vest, which it absolutely was, but it also reflects a kind of crass skill.

If you combine what we've heard from both Rachel and Ryan, it adds up to a pretty powerful lesson about the ingenuity of humans.

First, we spent a long time finding new and innovative ways to improve our safety and be more comfortable in harsh environments.

Can you imagine the first person to shear a sheep.

Just the like, nasty.

I mean, have you seen a sheep?

Sheep?

Oh, yeah.

Even with modern technology, there's quite a bit of processing involved.

Then there are those who don some buckskin and start seeking their fortune.

Either because they have the means and it sounds cool poser, or it helps them reconnect with an earlier part of their lives.

Nostalgia.

Many of the people who are looking to recreate the homosocial, which means kind of experience they had with their male friends during the Civil War sought out camping as a way to do that because it mimicked some of the best parts to them of the, you know, camp, camp life and the fighting life without all of the violence.

And so you see that some of the early authors of guidebooks to the outdoors are military veterans.

That doesn't necessarily mean that they were using Civil War issue uniforms or tents, but I think that's possible that there's.

An overlap and it snowballed from there.

Familiar names like Abercrombie and Fitch, L.L.

bean and Filson all popped up at the end of the 19th century to fill the needs of the growing populace of outdoor seeking consumers.

Once we get into the early part of the 20th century, our buckskin and wool options expand considerably when the former gunpowder producer dupont starts making big leaps in the manufacturing of synthetic yarns and material.

You can argue that every step forward for performance apparel was a direct result of those breakthroughs.

Innovations like wetsuits, synthetic pile and waterproof laminates all become possible.

Gore Tex, and most importantly to the sugar daddy of this podcast, Polar fleece, the original brand name of the first widely wearable synthetic fleece.

With these technologies, more people are able to enjoy being outside, or at least look like they do.

In between the buckskin era and the age of performance fabric, another trend arose that would influence not only how we dress today, but how we connect with our inner dirtbag in order to feel a part of an authentic lifestyle.

It's a trend that might surprise you because, well, it doesn't involve dirt at all.

Surfing.

That's a layer we'll dig into in episode two.

For now, I'm back in Nevada on the trails.

These buckskin wearing posers once set out on a path that resulted in guys like Tyler and I mountain biking above Lake Tahoe wearing amazing technical shirts that, yes, we can also wear to the coffee shop.

Wait, was that your first fleece, though?

Was that the one you're talking about?

Was that your first fleece, you think?

Is there one before?

I had a Patagonia retro X.

That's the first one I can remember, actually.

I take that back.

I had a chuck roast.

No way.

Snap tea.

I was a New England kid.

And, yeah, that was probably my first.

Piece, because at the end of the day, it's really about getting outside with your buddy and talking shop.

We'll see you next time.

This episode was produced at Digital One in Portland, Oregon.

Written by Colin True and David Karstad.

Produced by Colin True, directed by David Karstad, engineered by Eric Stolberg, and assisted by Tristan Schmunk.

I'm your host, Colin True.

Lairs, presented by Polartech, is a production of Rock Fight, llc.

Rock Fight.

Rock Fight.