Strange threadfellows: How the U.S. military shaped what we all wear
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The other day, I brought a couple pairs of binoculars to lower Manhattan to meet up with fashion reporter Avery Truffleman. We were there to do a little bit of urban birding. Are you a big birder? I don't do outdoorsy things.
It's not in my nature. I'm not an outdoorsy guy.
Luckily, Avery made an exception for us because we were not, in fact, heading out to spot migratory birds with spectacular plumage. No, no, no. We were on the hunt for some very particular kinds of clothing. Would it be fair to say that fashion is kind of your Roman Empire? Yeah, I would say fashion is my Roman empire. You see, Avery is the host of a podcast called Articles of Interest, which is all about unraveling the hidden histories behind the things we wear. She's done deep dives into the question of why women's clothing didn't used to have pockets, or how preppy Ivy League style got big in Japan. And I wanted to talk to Avery because her latest season is all about how a massive shadowy force has been shaping the stuff we all wear for the better part of the last century in ways that most of us might not know about.
And what is that shadowy force, you might ask? The United States military. The United States military. It is kind of common knowledge at this point that many of the most resource-intensive technologies that define our daily lives began in government-funded labs as military R&D, from nuclear fission to GPS to the internet. But what Avery found is that that same military-industrial influence has shaped many things that are even more intimate in a way. The very clothing we wear to express our sense of who we are or to protect ourselves from the elements. And it's the kind of hidden influence you can actually see on the street today, if you have the right kind of eye.
Yeah, do you want to take a little walk?
Yeah, let's do it.
Let's take a little walk.
Avery and I start our walk in Soho. The neighborhood is known for its high fashion, their fancy boutiques every few storefronts.
Let's cross the street. Well, let's do a walk.
But these days, it's also been taken over by people wearing expensive outdoor gear. Think Arc'teryx rain jackets or North Face puffies.
Oh, and look, she's wearing camo pants. How perfect.
We're standing in the shadow of the monolithic brick REI store. By the way, REI is a financial supporter of NPR. And Avery starts to point out all these sartorial hints of the fashion world's military past. Things that I'd failed to notice just a moment before. Like storefronts I'd never heard of.
Oh my god, and Alpha Industries is right there. That's a fascinating case study. Are those ammo cans? Yeah, it's like a military-themed store. And they used to make military clothes. They were a supplier to the military in the 20th century.
In the distance, Avery directs my attention to a woman wearing a synthetic down park.
Like, see that stylish-looking pink puffer? And she's got the pink boots. Let me get my binoculars up. She's moving far away. Yeah, she's in motion right now.
Even that, Avery told me, was part of this bigger story.
The idea of artificial down was pioneered by the military. Really? Yeah. And then it was peeled off and manufactured by a company called Primaloft, which first marketed it to civilians, to the mass market, through L.L. Bean.
All around us, there seem to be these signs of how the military has shaped the literal fabric of our daily lives. And Avery says that influence is a lot bigger than just camo sweatpants.
It's everything. It's everything you wear. It's literally everything you're wearing, Alexi. Like, it's your jacket. It's your khaki pants. It's your beanie cap. It's the layers. It's everything you're wearing.
Avery points to the Velcro straps on the sleeve of my jacket, the plastic cord lock used to cinch up the hood, the performance fabric on my turtleneck.
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