A Note About the Tyrolean swimming goggles hat : As suggested by a page visitor, I should note that there is another  part to the Alpine hats. The gamsbart, or large brush-like fixture you often see on the hats (and as seen in the image above), is a common feature of the Tyrolean hat. It literally means  chamois beard and was originally a hunting trophy made of the hair taken from a chamois lower neck before it just became a common, traditional ornament for the hat. The hats also often have pewter pins and other ornaments affixed to them.

One of the first things I noticed when stepping off the plane was the beautiful jackets that the women wore. They looked to be handmade, as each women s jacket was unique: a little band of black lace swim goggles prescription here, an extra fur cuff there. Many times, the fur was died bright and bold colours: beautiful blue, red and pink fur lined the woman s hoods. I watched a woman pull up to the airport entrance on her snowmobile, wearing a coat that had an swimming goggles best extra large fur-lined hood. As she pulled it down, I noticed the baby on her back, entirely sheltered from the cold by her functional and fashionable hood. Genius!

I found it incredibly inspiring to see so many beautiful designs, knowing that each of them were handcrafted by the women themselves, or by someone they knew. It would be amazing to see this kind of  handcraftivism shape the fashion and trends we see down south as well. Making something useful for ourselves or for others in our community, using your own two hands, swimming goggles target is one of the most empowering and rewarding things we can do for ourselves. This article on Inuit fashion touches on this topic.

On the plane, I was excited to notice a woman crochet, but didn t think too much of it, until I realized that many of the men were wearing crocheted hats! These hats weren t the typical beanies you would see in North America. They were more square shaped, and featured beautiful geometrical motifs on the side. Again, I let my shyness get the best of me and didn t take any pictures, but I promise to take some on my next trip up to share with you!

I came across this article , which features an outsider s perspective on what it means to be a Northerner. My vision of the North was just a small taste of a different lifestyle. I stayed in camp, and wasn t able to stay in town, but had some fascinating discussions with an Inuit while working. He was incredibly proud of his culture, and told his coworkers swimming goggles walmart tales of the traditional way of life, which is very quickly changing.

There was also lighter small talk among the men, such as conversations about holidays in Sicily and Sardinia. At one point, the Italians joked about wanting to send some people to the Russian  gulags for  mental rehabilitation. At another there was some banter about giving up smoking, with one of the Russians complaining about the graphic health warning images on cigarette packs in Italy, and an Italian joking that men in his country always ask for the one with the warning about for the one with the warning about not getting pregnant.