The North Face Drops Some Wickedly Cool Threads 

Women’s Lenado Jacket

How does it feel?

Emma says “This jacket feels extremely substantial in terms of comfort and warmth on the body. It’s super warm against the elements, very stylish with a slightly contoured waist and has an extra couple of centimetres (compared to many other brands) at the bottom of the jacket. This gives the visual of having a longer body, which is good for shorter people, while also actually covering your butt as a tall person and not being a ‘kidney-freezer’ feeling the wind blowing at your lower back or the chill of the chairlift. 

The DryVent™ technology creates great waterproofing and windproofing, something we definitely need at very windy Australian resorts and at resorts worldwide where there are no hooded chairlifts or covered gondolas, making the ride up unbearable at times if you’re wearing cheap and flimsy outerwear.

Pockets

Pocket placements are great, I do love pockets at the belly region as well as having an easy place for the pass on the forearm. The colour combo (White Dune / Gravel) is fantastic, I absolutely love it.

True to claims: this jacket managed to feel lightweight with good breathability with the underarm vents. The powder skirt feels solid on, no way snow can get to those kidneys and wet the under thermals even after a stack in snow.  

Hood and Neck 

I love the adjustable helmet-compatible hood and so much protection around the neck area, as the neck is somewhere I usually feel the cold A LOT. The arm areas have reinforced sleeving, which makes this area of the body very warm. I would only wear one thermal layer under this jacket, when usually I wear too because I hate being cold”. 

Materials: Main: 94% Recycled Polyester + 6% Elastane & Chin Facing: 100% Recycled Polyester & Body Lining: 100% Recycled Polyester & Center Back and Underarm Lining: 91% Nylon + 9% Elastane & Insulation: 80% Post-Consumer Recycled Polyester.

Women’s Freedom Insulated Pants 

Functionality

“I absolutely adore these pants, I love the colour combo and how solid and great quality they feel and I know they will stand the temperature drop in Japan in January. Some brands and some outfits do not go from Australian conditions to Northern Hemi conditions but these will stand the test of time. I notice the material uses Heatseeker™ insulation and you can feel the support. I love the extra kickpatches and hem as I’ve ruined many a pair of pants from sheer wear and tear, so the extra material is a plus.

Waist and Butt

I love the belt loops and I forgot to wear my ski belt, which would have been great. Make sure you measure your waist and butt area for the pants as I have been a medium FOREVER and a day but given this waistband is solid (a very good thing) with two buttons holding you in, I omitted to take into consideration the extra kilograms I’m carrying after my knee injury – so if you’re not sure , measure yourself twice! This is only serving to motivate me as I was given the all clear to commence flat surface running recently so I’ll be baaaaaack, baby.  The knee area felt really good once the pants were on and I notice TNF has addressed this area with articulated knee features, which means ‘curved stitching or extra fabric panels sewn around the knees’. For me, I really felt this translate as great mobility around the knee area, and not straight up and down stiffness. I think this would also be an advantage for anyone skiing or snowboarding with any kind of knee brace, which was me last January in the USA. The brace wouldn’t be pulling your stitching out or ruining your pants. 

Colour

I love the White Dune colour and the combo with the jacket, I’m into the matchy-match look at the moment, absolutely loving it on the slopes when I wear it myself and when I see it on other skiers and boarders. 

Some people get a bit nervous about owning a white jacket but this is the second white jacket I have worn, after my Bogner Fire and Ice, which I wore absolutely to death. I agree, you have to take a bit of extra care on black road and petrol-stained snow by being on the front foot (so to speak) and you can do this by rolling up the ankle material until you’ve cleared a dirty car park instead of dragging the base of the pants along the ground. And getting onto stains early with a warm cloth is not a bad habit to cultivate with clothes anyway. They have StretchVent™ gaiters with gripper elastic so they’re not going to look scrappy anyway.They are amazing pants, they have truly thought for everything and I consider this outfit a good investment you will have for many seasons, it’s quite timeless.   

I love the air vents on the inside of the thighs (Chimney Venting™ system), the extra centimetre or so at the base of the pants, as I’m 173com tall and don’t like ankle freezers. Love insulated seams so the wind doesn’t whistle through (seam-sealed DryVent™ 2L shell with a non-PFC DWR finish).

Made from 100% recycled materials makes me feel good about the world. I’m all for recycled materials for fashion and think it’s the way to go, why not!”

Body 160D x 140D 133 g/m² DryVent™ 2L-100% recycled nylon with non-PFC durable water-repellent (non-PFC DWR) finish / kickpatches 420D x 500D 235 g/m² 100% nylon with non-PFC DWR finish / insulation 60 g Heatseeker™ 90% recycled polyester.

Women’s Montana Ski Gloves 

Emma wore The North Face medium women’s gloves during an August trip to Perisher, which included several hours trekking up near Porcupine Rocks on snow shoes, putting hands in snow, sliding on snow and scrambling on snow from the base of Guthega going to wrong way to Guthega Pub for lunch! The gloves, made from 100% polyester were gorgeous, being white gloves with black hand and thumb area and had a hasa reinforced thumb.

The gloves kept Emma’s hands very warm (Heatseeker™ synthetic insulation made with hollow-core fibres), they are very flexible gloves and super soft and squishy, retaining good dexterity for the wearer for gripping poles or other equipment. 

The gloves are quite long, reaching halfway up to Emma’s elbow, which she loved. She tucked the longer forearm section of the glove under her jacket. Some people may not like gloves with this extra length, preferring shorter ones. It is truly a personal preference.

One aspect of glove annoying-ness that TNF has got absolutely right, is the curvature of the gloves, they’re not stiff but they’re rounded and the reasoning is : Progressive Precurve is the accumulative increase of curvature from index finger to pinkie, creating a more natural shape for your fingers as they relax in the glove.  And they do what they say, they’re great. 

They really are gloves with a bit of everything, they have a strap with a buckle on the back of the hand area with a cord that has a cord lock, if you want to tighten the gloves.

Waterproofing was great (Non-PFC DWR finish) and they certainly met style and functionality requirements, matching nicely with the Women’s Lenado jacket and Women’s Freedom Insulated pants outfit. Get out there! 

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