SIMPLE STYLE
THE PUFFER JACKET
There is much truth in the maxim that when the temperature drops you are never more than six feet from a puffer jacket. In high streets, outside school gates, in parks and playgrounds, there they will be, keeping their wearers swaddled and snug.
As a nation, we have embraced this padded coat with as much warmth as it provides. It brooks no boundaries: politicians, rappers, influencers, film stars, your dad, Alan Partridge, you, me, we all love a puffer. And why wouldn’t we? What other garment offers such immediate cosiness and weighs so little? Advances in puffer technology (there must be such a thing) now mean that they pack into the tiniest of pouches, replacing the voluminous styles that made the wearer look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
Originally intended for outdoorsy types, it was not a fashion item. The first down jacket was designed by Australian chemist George Finch for the 1922 Everest expedition and made from hot-air balloon material. Ridiculed by George’s fellow climbers, they soon accepted that this ‘eiderdown coat’ had advantages: namely it kept him toasty as they shivered. In 1936, US outdoorsman and sports retailer Eddie Bauer came up with a quilted jacket insulated with goose down after he contracted hypothermia on a fishing trip. He patented ‘The Skyliner’ and the puffer was well and truly born.
It soon moved into the world of fashion when couturier Charles James designed a satin ‘pneumatic jacket’. Resembling a ruched quilt, it was ideal for slipping over a crepe de chine evening gown as you stepped from carriage to cocktail bar. In the 1970s, American designer Norma Kamali came up with a synthetic-filled jacket, calling it the ‘sleeping bag coat’ after devising it on a camping trip.
Synthetic fillings are an alternative as worries about animal welfare and down production increase. Most down is a by-product of food production – however some, often the cheapest, is harvested from live animals and should be avoided.
The widespread acceptance of the puffer means that these days, it’s more frequently worn at the bus stop than up a mountain. We buy versions by outdoor brands like Patagonia, Rab and North Face not to climb the Matterhorn but because they keep us jolly warm. It’s especially good when you are feeling peaky; the on-the-go version of pulling the duvet over your head.
“The first jacket was made from hot-air balloon material”