Why you don't want to stop wearing your green parka: from military uniform to fashion icon, how to wear the Gallagher coat in 2021
By F. Javier Girela
Surely in your closet hang a green parka (or any other color). We would dare to say that there is a high percentage of possibilities that this is the case. And if it's not right now, possibly it has at some point in your life. It has an explanation. The main one is that it is a practical coat that survives every winter, which has been a basic coat, but how it has come to be is another story.
The origin of the parka as we know it today is found, like that of most classic coats of our time, in the Second World War, although it was not created at that time. Before the US incorporated Alaska as a state, the territory belonged to Russia, and the indigenous community of the Inuit (descendant of the Russian Nenets) lived there. They were the ones who created a prototype of the sealskin parka to survive the cold. After the outbreak of war in the mid-20th century, Americans needed a warm, practical coat to add to their uniform, so they took the Inuit parka as a prototype and made it out of lighter, more affordable materials like nylon and the tactile It was roomy enough to wear over a uniform, and its pockets held all kinds of ammunition and emergency kits.
This initial parka was beige in color and had no lining. Its update to military green –easier to camouflage– and with an extra inner layer, which has become the undisputed classic, occurs in the Korean War. And that's how the parka you're wearing comes about. But why does it still hang in your closet today?
From practical coat to fashion icon: the mods and the Gallaghers
The fault that you still want a green parka lies with the mods of the 60s and the Gallagher brothers of the 80s and 90s, who made it an icon of everything we wanted to be and wear. A sign of aesthetic rebellion from a past time that today has become a basic that you throw on yourself to be cool without having to think.
After the postwar period, in the 1950s, aesthetic departures from tone were constant in order to get away from those warlike generations. Jeans, white t-shirts and leather jackets triumphed. However, the British mod style of the 60s was synonymous with elegance and accessible sophistication thanks to its classic cut suits, its brogues and, of course, its fishtail parka (finished in a peak at the back and perfect for not staining your suits). when they were riding their vespas). His lifestyle appeals, again, to good taste as opposed to rebels without a cause.
His essence was reflected for life in Quadrophenia, The Who's rock opera that would become a parka fetish and ultimate amplifier with the release of the 1979 film of the same name. In it, Jimmy (Phil Daniels) rode his Vespa dressed in a skinny suit and green parka shouting “I don't want to be like anyone else, that's why I'm a mod. Do you know? Regardless, the reality was that the mods created a timeless uniform that was worn by everyone and is still relevant today.
The mod style remained alive for two more decades thanks to the Gallaghers and Oasis, who appropriated the garment until they practically made it their own. The key to their aesthetic was to create a recognizable and accessible style that they used for everything, bringing the character to life: they wore the same clothes to play on stage as they did for their walks down the street, parka through. Thus they made it their fetish garment and a key element of any wardrobe that tried to copy their way of dressing. The myth was born.
Both Liam and Noel made the green parka the garment that everyone wanted to have. So much so that Liam Gallagher created the Pretty Green brand in 2009, inspired by the post-punk era, from 78 to 82, and which, of course, includes a wide selection of parkas from which to choose your favorite.
From icon to myth
Obtaining the basic status of the male wardrobe is not easy. For this label to hang on a garment, it needs to have gone through the years and decades at full capacity and, moreover, to have marked a milestone or turning point in history. In the case of the parka, going from a popularly military coat to an icon of aesthetic rebellion is not a process that all garments have gone through.
That a mythical piece of the military uniform moves from the battlefield to the street is nothing new, in fact more than half of our wardrobe has the same origin; however, most of these garments today have a formal facet. However, the parka continues to reveal its aesthetic dissident profile, thanks in part to its latest references, the Gallaghers.
Wearing a parka today continues to be synonymous with being cool and getting it right without thinking, and it continues to be revisited by countless firms every winter, although now far removed from the suit popularized by the mods and closer to the jeans and sneakers they wore in Oasis. If you don't know what coat to wear in your free time – to go for a walk, pick up the children from school, go out for beer or any other casual activity – the parka is the coat you need no matter how old you are to always be the cool of the group.
BUY: Mango green parka, from €99.99
BUY: Green parka by Pretty Green, €215
BUY: Green parka by COS, €195
BUY: Zara green parka, €99.95
BUY: H&M waterproof green parka, €59.99
BUY: green parka by Ecoalg, €224.95 at Zalando
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