When I was a city girl, I never understood how it was possible to look cool in the mountains while keeping yourself warm, especially in winter... until I met Giulia Taboga.
Giulia is famous in Italy for making the best social-media-hunting-tandem with her partner in crime Andrea Cavaglia, an extremely good photo and videographer. She launched her own clothing brand, and I have put to test her latest collection in extreme weather conditions in the mountains of Madrid at -5°C.
After experiencing the difficulties of finding nice hunting clothes outside the 4 main retailers, Giulia decided to design her own clothing brand for outdoor lovers: GT Outdoors. Mainly focusing on hunting, her jackets have the best gadgets and top quality fabrics you can think of. They are water repellent and some of her pants even have 3 layers water proof and breathable fabrics. I have gone through her collection and reviewed the fabrics both in terms of quality as well as how comfortable it is to wear them in the countryside during winter.
I wore GT Outdoors at -5 in the mountains of Madrid while it snowed and I also wore them in a medium sized finca closer to the city at 9 degrees Celsius. I did not wear thermal clothes underneath, just a simple shirt from Hartwell Countrywear and a pullover when it snowed. To keep this short: GT Outdoors has passed the test with an A+.
GT Outdoors honours its name, it is a top quality brand for outdoor and adventure lovers, and even though they only have a female collection, I simply cannot wait to see the men's collection to buy my husband one of their jackets. I felt comfortable wearing them while I shot, and they are perfect for a walk in the mountains too, as well as skiing when the skies are clear and it's not too nasty in the slopes.
There is something special about Giulia's clothes, and you won't believe it until you actually buy one of her pants and try them out: they make you look thinner and taller due to the way she has chosen to place patches of different colours in the "winter pants" model: darker patches on the knees as well as the bottom. Not that I am obsessed with these things, but as a woman who spends time outdoors, I am a bit tired of the thick boring clothes that make you look like the michelin-brand logo.
GT Outdoors, offers the best fabrics to repel water and protect you from the wind. They might not be cheap, but I will give you another secret: GT Outdoors has prolonged their Black Friday sale and items will have discounts until the 29th November starting this Friday.
If you don't want to be dressed like your husband's clone (he most probably wears green for his hunts) but yet you need to be dressed accordingly for the weather and foliage, you can wear a colourful tie and a nice shirt, which will help you be a bit more original than the rest.
Especially if you attend a weekend hunt where dinner follows immediately after the hunt and have no time to change to your tweeds (if you are a tweed lover).
If you don't like ties, then a nice bow in a colourful silk scarf can freshen up your looks in a GT Outdoors outfit, but the Mia Gilet goes well with anything, I personally love to mix and match things from different styles and the red tie I borrowed from my father was just perfect for this day.
If I had to choose 1 single item from the 2019 collection, the hunting vest would be my first choice: When I train, I normally do more than 5 boxes and I really need big pockets for my ammo. This vest doesn't only have the typical 2 side ammo pockets, but also a detachable game bag which I use to carry additional cartridges, and the 2 zip vest-pockets are perfect for thermopad hand warmers which I put in my vest to keep myself warm (I only put one on the left pocket when I shoot).
I actually think I finally found a brand which I can use when I go ice-skating in the winter as well as shooting in Skokloster (the ground where I normally practice).
Ps. I did not abandon my over and under. I just borrowed this side by side from my husband as I find it extremely beautiful. You should see the colours of the lateral plates... INSANE:
Outdoor outfits Mia Gilet make Andrea look more stunning