Strike the pose.
Well…hardly high fashion, but yes reader this post is about clothes. I’m writing about clothes; which as you know very rarely happens. However, the people at Royal Robbins very kindly sent me a jacket to try out and asked me to review it in return. So here goes.
- Name – Longs Peak Jacket.
- It’s comfortable, especially thanks to the fleece lining.
- It’s a good colour (blue is my favourite colour – although RR call is ‘eclipse’). If blue isn’t you’re favourite colour it’s also available in ‘charcoal’, ‘pewter’ and ‘turkish coffee’.
- It’s warm, yet lightweight.
- It’s pretty hardy.
- It also has nice deep pockets on the inside (see image on left below).
- I have been assured that it dries quickly when wet, although as it has been so dry in Essex recently I haven’t been able to put it to the test properly.
For more information or to buy click here.
There we are. I probably won’t be attracting requests for guest posts from fashion bloggers, but as you know this isn’t a fashion blog. This is thinkingcountry. Anyway, as a top/jacket for the winter I’d recommend it, especially if you are just looking for something to go on walks with the dog. I have tried working while wearing it and if I’m honest it gets a bit hot (it is fleece lined and does a very good job at keeping you warm) so I wouldn’t recommend it for this purpose, but otherwise it’s certainly worth considering. I am not a climber but Royal Robbins is designed with climbers in mind, so I’m sure that it will be worth buying if you fit this identity. I’ll probably live in mine until the spring. It’s great layered over other jumpers to keep you warm when the heating’s off.
Review of clothing tick.
Now let’s take a quick look at Royal Robbins’s social responsibility page.
Royal Robbins, the founder of the business, is acclaimed by the company as having been one of best climbers of his day and he held a strong sense of ethical and environmental responsibility in the founding of the company with his wife Liz in the 1960s. Back then clothing designed for climbers (and other outdoor pursuits) didn’t really exist, and so Royal and Liz were pioneers, both in the clothing business but also in climbing. They were advocates for ‘clean climbing’, using removable climbing nuts, which enabled them to climb big faces without damaging the rock. It seems that this ethos has been carried through to their business.
Something that has particularly impressed me is the company’s ‘rewear’ programme. RRs is encouraging people to buy high quality durable clothing instead of fast fashion so you can actually buy less overall and have a lower overall footprint.
The company recently launched a clothing recycling initiative with I:CO in the US. Those participating in the scheme are given an incentive coupon towards future purchases at Royal Robbins and any proceeds raised go to the Yosemite Conservancy. Any items sent back to Royal Robbins are reworn, reused or recycled by I:CO or resold in RR’s ‘Rewear’ section.
They also seem very open about their commitment to the bluesign system, as well as to their ethical, environmental and labour standards.
N.b this is a sponsored post.
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