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By Maria Heil, The Shooting Hunting Outdoors Trade (SHOT) Show was amazing! The show boasted more than 640,000 square feet of exhibit space. For the average person, walking the whole length of the exhibit hall, and going up and down each aisle, it was an exhausting experience. However, it was an impressive display of outdoors related equipment and gear, as well as security related products.
Ever since my first day of hunting on a frosty November morning in 1984, I've been searching for decent outdoor gear that would fit me. Many times I remember going out hunting or scouting wearing outdoor clothing that my husband had "outgrown." Not that his old clothing had anything wrong with it, but it just didn't fit like my normal clothing. Of course, I had plenty of room for bulky layering underneath, but I ended up looking like a camouflage version of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man! It's not just a vanity thing either. It's very difficult to bring a gun up to your shoulder to take a clean shot when you have all this extra material in the way, not to mention that with the extra layering you might not even be able to find your actual shoulder! Well, I'm happy to report that there are now a number of outdoors clothing lines designed with the female shape and function in mind. I found nine different booths that carried women's clothing. There may have been a couple more, but in the vastness of the show, I never saw them. The first one I mention is Wilderness Dreams. This line is not exactly "outdoor" gear, it's really more for indoor games, but hey, you may as well start with underwear. Wilderness Dreams carries camouflage lingerie and swimwear. This is more what an outdoors guy would love to see his lady in, and obviously, that's whom they are directing their marketing toward. However, there are some of us gals who would buy a camouflage bra and panties, or thong. Their lingerie is 100% polyester and their swimwear is a polyester/Spandex material. Wilderness Dreams features Mossy Oak® Break-Up® camouflage. " Wilderness Dreams is a line by Weber's Camo Leather Goods in Minnesota. Next up is a company called High Maintenance Camo, Inc. This company is owned and operated by three women, and is based in Zellwood, FL. They tout themselves as "Trendy Camo Wear for Women and Girls." One thing I really like is the fact that their clothing is cut for a woman's figure. Another great feature on their camo bib is a patent pending in-seam zipper. This zipper starts at the inside edge of one ankle and runs all the way up the inseam and back down to the other ankle, which makes answering the call of nature a lot easier. It's no longer necessary to pull your bibs down and expose more of yourself to the elements than you have to! High Maintenance Camo, Inc. also carries logo shirts, camo shorts, as well as camo for children and jewelry.
On the higher priced end of camouflage clothing for women is a company that carries designer hunting apparel, Foxy Huntress™. This line of clothing is designed by female hunter Shelah Zmigrosky. Shelah founded Foxy Huntress, a Texas-based LLC, in 2005. She uses Italian fabrics and has an exclusive camo pattern for this unique clothing line. They even carry a snap Velcro® crotch pant that sells for $145. Their waterproof hunting jacket with a "zip over the face" dark mesh looks to be something I would like for turkey hunting. Their prices may seem daunting, but their hunting apparel seems to be a good investment. Another company to look at is SHE Safari. SHE Safari appears to provide attractive and functional apparel for women's outdoor experiences. One item that I like from their catalog is their Upland Field Jacket. It looks fashionable, yet it's designed for performance. It has 8.5 oz. waxed cotton facing that repels moisture and won't catch on brush. Inside is a fleece lining that's four times more wind resistant than your standard fleece. It has an internal elastic waistline and a front tie closure, which really look great on a woman out in the field. It's one Upland Field Jacket that looks like it's worth the $200 price tag! I also like a few other items that they carry in their catalog, but why don't you see for yourself? On the limited side of things is the Mossy Oak® Apparel Company. From their Mossy Oak® Elements Fall catalog they have a Ladies Vintage Pant in camouflage that is 55% cotton and 45% polyester twill, which is really the only camo item they show that might be good if you're going out hunting. The same catalog, spring edition, is even more limited with mostly just logo shirts for the ladies. The Cheer Shorts and the Journey Pants have a pink camo insert. Scent-Lok, famous for its odor eliminating technology, is now making its BaseSlayer top and pant for ladies. They also are carrying their TmberFleece 360 in a ladies hooded fleece parka and a fleece pant. Additionally, they have a Ladies' Savanna Shooter's Glove for female bowhunters. It's a nice start. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Browning has a clothing line. I particularly like the looks of their Fatigue Sweater with Overlay For Her®, along with the Contego Camo 6-Pocket Pant For Her®. The sweater is 100% cotton knit with cotton/polyester camouflage twill. It has the shooting patch overlay with REACTAR™ pad pockets on both shoulders. The pads are sold separately. I like the four-button Henley neck and the elbow patches. The pants are 7 oz., 60% cotton, 40% polyester midweight twill in a ladies cut. These pants sport deep pockets, draw cord cuffs and a side elastic waist. The shirt is in Mossy Oak® camouflage pattern while the pants are in Mossy Oak® New Break-Up® pattern. Last, but not least is Beretta's clothing line. It would not be deemed field clothing but rather more of a clothing line for the shooting range. Beretta has a line called "Women's Victory Collection" which is a line of clothing and accessories for competitive women shooters. Mostly it's a pretty line of shirts and shooting vests. Pretty, but not too "girlie"-just the right balance. Beretta also makes an upscale line of clothing for both men and women called The 1526 Collection. This is the collection which the Beretta family feels is their legacy. There is some very nice clothing in this line, which looks great in an estate setting. All in all, my search for women's outdoors clothing was fruitful, and probably quicker at the SHOT show than it would have been searching through outdoors clothing websites. I hope my apparel discoveries from the SHOT Show will help you on your journey to finding the outdoor clothing that works best for you! Resources: Beretta Browning Foxy Huntress Girlie Gear High Maintenance Camo Mossy Oak Apparel Co. SHE Safari Inc. Weber's Camo Leather Goods |
I narrowed my interest
to just one topic, that being outdoor clothing made for women.
A brand new company
is Girlie Gear. They have their own camouflage pattern. Their
camouflage includes a pair of female lips and lace throughout
the background. Their clothing is made functional for females.
They showed me where they had a nice little chest pocket for
storing your tube of lipstick (which is also nicely sized for
an extra shotgun shell!). While Girlie Gear did not have a catalog
available at the time of the show, they were expecting it to
be ready the following week, so you should be able to get a hold
of one now. 
