Gorp...Core?
You’re 7 years old, and your parents are about to drag you to the closest regional park for a good old family bonding hike. Look down at your clothes, what are you wearing? If it was 7-year-old me, headed to the Piedras Blancas for some scrambling, you’d probably see me strapped in and ready to roll in those weird lizard-like toe shoes, the most random pair of leggings ever, and a marshmallow-esque puffer jacket.
So how is it that I, and every other kid with dirt streaked on their grubby face and scraped knees, are dressed the exact same as supermodels gallivanting down the runway? Why did A$AP Rocky look ready to scale K2 walking down the street during the 2017 Paris Fashion Week? And that practically everyone on campus is going with him?
The answer: GORP-CORE.
You might be thinking, what the heck is gorpcore? Relatively similar to ‘granola’, GORPcore is smoothly synopsized by the Oakland Post as “a subgenre of the tech wear movement comprised of items usually worn by hikers and skiing enthusiasts to help protect them from the elements”. The acronym from which GORPcore derives its name also encapsulates a flavor of this aesthetic (Gold Old Raisins and Peanuts), however, to really understand the origins of this ‘trend’, we need to go back to 1786, Mont Blanc, with two French guys.
WHAT IS OUTDOORSY WEAR?
Jacques Balmat and Michel Paccad were not the inventors of North Face or Patagonia, no, in fact, they were alive so long ago they didn’t even have a chance of sponsorship, but what they did have is some of the oldest documented mountaineering outfits. We can track the evolution of outdoorsy and mountaineering/hiking/adventuring/backpacking wear through the ages beginning with them. Balmat and Paccad had insulation in mind, and so were sporting oversized wool coats, waistcoats, tall leather boots, and layers of stockings. Dressed in Earthy tones, these two looked like your standard old-timey explorer. Women in those days dressed similarly, but swapped pants and waistcoats for light wool or alpaca dresses (explorersweb). Pacific Rim or Pacific Northwest Kayakers also dressed to evade the cold, but in a long, parka-like outer shell made of waterproof bands of cured bear or seal intestine instead, topped often with bentwood hats, often decorated with sea lion whiskers.
A few decades later, alpine skiing began to rise in popularity, and along with that snowy sport, the brightly colored wool-cap, not only to protect the ears but also a statement. The wool cap blends fashion with function, chic with comfort.
However, for a while, things did not go much further than that. Into the 1930s, Everest and western climbers of other daunting mountains still bundled up in taupe and muddy-green “tweed, Norfolk jackets, and camel hair coats” (explorersweb). It wasn’t until 1936, that goose-down jackets replaced lambswool, signifying the start of turning toward lighter-weight, water-resistant clothing. After that, a slew of years marked new innovations paving a way for today’s modern outdoor apparel.
The Beginning of the Beginning
So, by the 80s and 90s, outdoorsy and mountaineering gear had evolved enough that comfort, dryness, weight, and coziness, were no longer an issue…now it was time for POP! Synthetic fibers, the material commonly used in most apparel at the time, was very easy to dye. Bright colors, patterns, and designs took that era by stride, hikers and outdoor enthusiasts stood vibrant in the backcountry.
Since then, outdoor gear has changed slightly, hydrophobic and weight-reducing technologies only improving, but the same general shape and look. Brands such as Patagonia, North Face, Mountain Hardwear, Arc’teryx, Cotopaxi, Columbia, Scarpa, dominate the field. As environmental concerns rise, many of these brands have begun reflecting that, boasting items made from completely recycled or renewable material, opting for clothes un-dyed to avoid excess carbon emissions and chemical runoff.
Outdoor wear has changed through the ages to provide mountaineers, climbers, high-altitude skiers, backpackers, and other nature sportsmen with the highest quality and most functional clothing as they frolic and rampage outside.
What outdoor wear did not anticipate was that college students 10 minutes late to class would also be sporting North Face 1996 Retro Nuptse jackets. Or millennial hipsters at the corner coffee store, warm in their Arc’teryx beanie, ordering an $8 cashew milk latte on their lunch break. Or soccer moms, handing out Gatorade during the game, would be wearing the latest Patagonia nano-puff. Or Frank Ocean, front row at the blank fashion show, like an inflated neon orange tic tac in a Mammut.
Today, an offshoot of mountaineering sportswear has been born, taken to new levels by high fashion brands and celebrity influencers. Its name: GORPCORE.
GORPCORE
GORP is shortened from Good Old Raisins and Peanuts, a quirky way of saying “trail mix”. Trail mix, a quintessential nature enthusiast snack, is only too fitting as a name for the new camp aesthetic. It’s not only brands with practicality and function in mind, such as Patagonia or Scarpa, but also designer brands. Gucci collaborated with North Face to release a line of clothes equivalent to highway robbery. The least expensive jacket I could find is going for $2,070 (stockX). The collab even produced a tent, more eye candy than anything else, at the small price of $3,533 (highsnobiety). Compare that to the ground tents sold at REI, the most expensive clocking in around $700, intended either for very large groups or extreme weather conditions. In the high fashion world of GORPcore, people are walking marshmallows. The most inflated version of GORPcore is really nothing you’d ever seen on the street, but you could spot at least 15 of the most base level of GORPcorers in the closest Trader Joe’s. GORPcore is here. It’s real, it’s alive, it’s thriving, for better or worse. In an age of extreme consumerism, trends can easily become inflated to a point of ridiculousness. GORPcore, in its highest form, is extremely expensive, exclusionary, and a weird sign of status. However, the GORPcore aesthetic can be achieved (and be arguably more fashionable, less preposterous), by an hour at your local thrift store, keeping an eye out for poofy jackets, long wind-breakers, beanies upon beanies, the strappiest hiking boots, and insulated pants.
Important Dates:
1943: Ventile Fabric
1949: first climbing slipper
1950: synthetic fill
1951: zippers
1952: cord lock toggle
1953: “health shirts”, mesh shirts of light wool, low water absorption
1959: Lycra (synthetic, stretchy, versatile)
1961: “W” pile fleece garments
1965: 60/40 Sierra Designs Mountain Parka
1970: Gore-Tex uses Teflon as waterproof coating
1970: Synthetic pile sweater by Yvon Chouinard
1975: First softshell by Rohan Tundra
THOSE INTERESTED IN GORPCORE (ACCORDING TO PULSAR)
(blurb: I have no idea actually how accurate this is, but this list deserves points for bizarre creativity for sure)
Fashionista Students
Mancheresterphiles
Menswear Enthusiasts
Glossy Mag Fashion Fans
Crypto x Art Fans
Day6 K-pop Stans
GORPCORE PIX
A$AP Rocky so happy in his GORPcore!!
Hailey Bieber killing it (unusual) with a cute beanie/scarf combo
Frank Ocean SO GORPcore-ing it up…Timmy not so much
calm, cool, collected. I mean, why bring a tent when you can just wear one?!
Personal Sidenote
I have a love-hate relationship with this trend. While I am forever fighting against the evils of consumerism, and recognize how inflated and over-expensive trends as these serve no practicality and further divide those who can afford it from those who cannot, there is something captivating about the images of dramatic models swathed in bunches of the poofiest clothing, posing like a piece of art. It is somehow amazing. GORPcore, at the highest level: practicality is below zero, vibes are sometimes dubious, but overall chill/silliness is immaculate. People look like penguins, like talking puffballs. We have booh-bahed and teletubbied into real life. And theoretically, we are also ready to go on a hike!
