That beautiful moment in Fashion has come again: when clothes meant solely for skiing hit the high street.
It's not one sided of course - last winter's fashion magazines told us that leggings, fur gilets and suede hats were the way to go when lounging around one's chalet. I don't know about yours, but my chalet included a grumpy toddler, precarious fire and there was notably not the right amount of space to have a serious magazine-style lounge. So, unable to pull off any of the stretchy poses, and a fire sweating any fur gilets to the floor, it was all a bit useless. Luckily, there were copious amounts of après ski to make up for it.
Going the other way this year, from Val D'issaire to Topshop, are Snoods - and whilst they've been downgraded in garish levels they're still pretty recognisable as Buffs. The Buff ranks pretty high in the what-to-avoid fashion stakes and whilst very warm and practical, combats this upside by being produced in a number of garish '90s-style European Ski patterns.
The Buff also has a few up on the Snood since it works not only as a scarf but as a hood as Snoods do, but also as a gypsy-hat, bandana, blindfold and seven other variations, each not too dissimilar from the one before and each less street-worthy. I'm not entirely sure why you'd want a blindfold up a mountain, although maybe that's a crafty après ski thing.
I'm not doing a good job at making Snoods sound like they're based on a good thing. They're not, but the ones hitting the storm seem quite pleasant.
After having a browse at Elle's top Snood picks I'm surprisingly taken by the Marks and Spencer and All saints versions - probably since they resemble simple comfy scarves without the confusing ends that get stuck in button holes.
On the other end of the scale, the Guardian's also released a thrifty but ugly demonstration of how to turn a jumper into a Snood, although this may only be ugly since it's a yellow jumper. Further investigation might be needed (if you get thrifty with the sewing machine and produce a non-yellow version do let me know).
So ignoring the home-baked version, is the Snood any better and will it really be taking Autumn/Winter 09 by storm?