Styling Vintage Ski Sweaters

I am OBSESSED with Vintage Ski Sweaters.

Give me something with a downhill skier, snowflakes, a moose or deer playfully knitted on it and I can’t walk away!

Whether its kitschy cool or chalet chic ski sweaters are my jam!

A little ski-sweater history: Real ski style came to the US during WWII when hundreds of Austrian skiers left Europe to escape the German take-over of their country bringing with them their knitting skills.

Wool ski sweaters soared to popularity during that time and into the 1950s- the Hollywood era of Skiing. Heavily influenced by the Musical “Sun Valley Serenade” starring John Payne these folksy knits became a mainstay for winter-wear.

Emilio Pucci (who was an Olympic Skiier himself) began his long design career by designing colorful ski ensembles for White Stag in 1949.

This particular sweater was actually mine as a child- yep it’s from the 70s-in my option the best era of ski clothing! It’s still fresh and funky (the sweater not me lol).

My grandmother gave my parents and I three of these matching sweaters to wear on ski trips. I’ve had it as for long as I can remember! A camper, a ski slope, this sweater and cheese fondue- to me this IS winter.

…..and so fashion comes full circle… again.

The Fall/Winter 2016-17 runways were chock-full of stylish iterations of the ski sweater. Whether it was Fair Isle print’s at Balenciaga, Western inspired ski at Scotch & Soda or mirrored deer on a color-blocked backdrop at Off-White, the ski trend stole the show.

Beyond easy to style, you can pair them with everything from leggings and thermals to jeans and turtlenecks or even a boho-dress and moonboots! Endless possibilities, you really can’t go wrong.

Whether you plan on actually hitting the slopes or just sipping hot toddies by the fire there’s no reason to hold yourself back from grabbing one of these timeless seasonal knits.