Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
An anorak or parka is a type of heavy jacket with a hood, generally lined with fur or faux fur, so as to protect the face from a combination of sub-zero temperatures and wind. Although of Inuit origin, the word anorak is mainly used in Britain, while parka is the almost universal name in the United States and Canada, and parka is used interchangeably with anorak in Britain. Originally an anorak or parka implied a pull-over jacket without a zipper, button or frogged opening, though that distinction is now largely lost. The garment was invented by the Inuit, who needed clothing that protected them from windchill and wet while hunting and kayaking in the Arctic.
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/parka). 10/12/04 |
The Inuit garment solved three problems at once, and modern parkas still copy its answers. The first problem was wind: at sub-zero temperatures moving air strips heat faster than still cold, so the parka's outer layer was a windproof skin and its hood closed around the face, the fur ruff holding a pocket of still air in front of the wearer's cheeks and breaking the wind before it reached the skin, which is why the ruff survives on expedition parkas today in real or faux fur. The second problem was wet: a hunting and kayaking life meant spray and snow, answered by skin outer layers kept water-resistant with train oil. The third was insulation worn beneath, since the parka system assumed warm clothing under the shell rather than one garment doing everything.
The modern parka rearranges the same three layers in manufactured materials. A water-resistant or waterproof shell replaces oiled skin, down or synthetic insulation is built into the coat itself rather than worn only beneath it, and the hood keeps its ruff and gains drawcords and a wired brim. Length is functional, the parka traditionally covers the hips and often the thighs, sealing the gap a short jacket leaves at the waist, and expedition and military versions, including the long fishtail parkas issued as cold-weather surplus, extend further. Closures are mitten-friendly, large zips under storm flaps, big buttons and toggles that work in gloves, a direct inheritance from a garment designed to be handled by cold hands.
Choosing a parka is a matter of matching insulation to climate: down fill gives the most warmth for weight in dry cold and loses insulating power when soaked, while synthetic fills keep working when damp at the cost of bulk. Care follows the fill: wash gently with the maker's recommended detergent, dry thoroughly with heat to restore loft in down, and store uncompressed so the insulation is not crushed flat over summer. The anorak name lives on in Britain both for the pullover smock form and, in everyday speech, for almost any hooded weatherproof jacket, while in North America parka firmly means the long, insulated, hooded coat, the Arctic original adapted to the city winter.
A parka is a heavy jacket with a hood, generally lined with fur or faux fur to protect the face from sub-zero temperatures and wind. It is the North American name for the Arctic hooded jacket called an anorak in Britain, and the two names are used interchangeably there.
The parka was invented by the Inuit of the Arctic, who needed clothing that protected them from windchill and wet while hunting and kayaking. Inuit parkas were made from animal skins and had to be regularly soaked with train oil, fish oil, to keep their water resistance.
Originally an anorak or parka specifically implied a pull-over jacket without a zipper, button or frogged opening, pulled on over the head like the Inuit garment. Most modern parkas open at the front with a zip and storm flap, so the distinction is now largely lost.