When I went to Quebec on my first ever snow trip, I borrowed almost all the clothes I packed from Boyfriend's mom and from my neighbor. I think the only thing that was mine, was the underwear and some Icebreaker baselayer gear I'd bought. Luckily, my suitcase was evened out a bit better this time. It contained a new ski jacket and snow pants!
After I'd had a great experience trying out The North Face Thermoball Hybrid Hoodie last year, I contacted the brand again to see if they'd be interested in having me test a North Face ski jacket and some snow pants. They were and so I needn't fear being cold and out of style in Austria.
Now there were three things that I really paid attention to when testing out the beautifully purple FuseForm ski jacket and snow pants:
- were they comfortable?
- were they waterproof?
- did they keep me warm?
Let's start with the ski jacket, shall we?
The North Face FuseForm Dot Matrix Insulated Ski Jacket for women
“FuseForm Dot Matrix Insulated Jacket”, now that's a mouthful, isn't it? I'm guessing that's because this jacket really delivers. First of all, yes, it's super comfortable. I tested a medium and that fitted perfectly on my arms and a bit loose around my middle area, which I liked as I want to be able to wear a lot of layers underneath a winter jacket.
The insulation kept me nice and warm without the jacket being too heavy. The ski jacket I borrowed from Boyfriend's mom to go to Canada two years ago was also from The North Face and while it was comfortable and warm, it also was a little heavy. Then again, that jacket was at least 10 years old. It was around -3°C/26.6°F during the day in Austria and with my fleece layers underneath, I was cold only once and that was late at night when it was probably colder and I wasn't being active.
And did it keep me dry? It surely did. Even when I was playing in the snow with some other bloggers and we were pushing each other over. Good stuff!
Now this The North Face ski jacket also has a few cool features I'd like to mention.
Features
- The hoodie is nice and big so you can wear a hat underneath it, and you can also tighten it around your head by pulling the elastic strings.
- The sleeves are wide and long so you can easily pull them over your thick ski gloves, but they also have this little “inner sleeve” that fits nicely around your wrist and in your glove, so snow can't get in and there's no draft coming through it.
- The inner pocket easily holds a smartphone and even a smartphone and your passport – handy for travel.
- It has are arm-pit-air-conditioning zippers.
Final verdict?
I've looked for something, but I honestly don't have anything negative to say about this The North Face Fuseform ski jacket. It fits nicely, is lightweight, has zipped pockets, is waterproof and it kept me warm. What else do you want from a ski jacket?
The North Face FuseForm Brigandine 3L snow pants for women
There's three types of snow pants for women: tight fits, straight fits and relaxed fits. I'm a relaxed fit kind of girl. I wear skinnies when I need to look decent, but when I'm having fun in the snow? Baggies baby!
I got lucky in that these FuseForm snow pants for women are purple too, but that's not the only way the pants matched the jacket. They were also warm yet light, but I guess that makes sense as they're part of the FuseForm series.
I loved the fabric of these pants as they didn't feel like the typical synthetic fabric ski pants are often made of, but more like regular cotton fabric. They were still waterproof, though, and luckily so because I tumbled into the snow more than once!
What I loved most about these pants? These features.
Features
- Their baggy fit, but with adjustable waist velcros so they stayed on perfectly.
- The inner trousers that ended in an elastic so I could pull them over my snow boots and no snow could get in.
- The zipped pockets
Final verdict?
I highly approve of these The North Face snow pants. If there's one thing that could be improved, it's that it didn't really feel comfortable putting something in the pockets as the pants still fit nicely around the waist. I didn't mind that too much though as the jacket pockets were pretty big and I could easily put my paper tissues there and my phone in the inner pocket of the jacket.
Want to know what craziness I got up to in this outfit? Check the video!
(You can also watch this video directly on YouTube)
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I was given the The North Face ski jacket and snow pants so that I'd be able to test them in Austria and review them here on the blog after. This post contains affiliate links.
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