With the onset of cold weather, everyone thinks about warm clothes that can not only warm you up on a frosty day, but also be comfortable and practical in any life situations. Purchasing a down jacket will solve this problem and make you feel comfortable throughout the winter.
What is a down jacket
A warm winter jacket filled with swan or duck down is called a down jacket. The percentage of down in relation to other components of the lining may vary. Warm, consider the value to be more than 70%. Jackets lined with other insulation (fur, feather, padding polyester) are not down jackets, but in Russia they attach little importance to this, because All models are similar in appearance and have the same name.
Down jackets have the following advantages:
- ease;
- inability to shed;
- does not restrict movements;
- retains heat for a long time;
- ease of product care.
Features of the cut
In addition to the fact that the jacket warms you up in the cold season, the variety of styles allows you to create a spectacular silhouette. It should be fashionable and emphasize a person’s individuality.
If you spend a long time outside in winter, it is better to choose a long down coat. Such a model will be able to completely protect not only from severe frosts, but also from the cold gusty winds inherent in Russian winters. If you spend a lot of time behind the wheel, then a shortened style of a down jacket will be suitable. The need for a universal wearing option, the hemline of which ends below the hip line, is satisfied by a large selection of such popular models.
Differences in the patterns of down jackets allow picky buyers to choose the degree of fit of the jacket to the body. The presence of designations on manufacturer tags indicates the degree of freedom that will be provided to the future owner of the product:
- slim – tight cut;
- fit-regular – jacket fits exactly to size;
- relaxed - loose style, sometimes a little larger.
An important fact when choosing the cut of a down jacket, especially for women, will be its compliance with fashion requirements. Trends in recent years allow you to choose between patterns, the products of which change the shape and height of the bottom line of the jacket. The presence of fashionable stitching, Velcro, attractive decorative zippers and rivets often affects consumer demand.
What materials are used for sewing
When choosing a jacket, it is important to know what material it is made of. For the manufacture of down jackets, current textile technologies suggest the use of two types of raincoat fabrics:
- synthetic;
- mixed.
Materials containing polyester and nylon are very popular. Treating such components with water-repellent and wind-resistant impregnation is the key to long-term wearing of the jacket.Fabrics with water-repellent properties are designated by the letters DWR.
The tag of the down jacket includes the designation of the material from which it is made:
- waterproof - waterproof;
- windproof means windproof.
There must be an intermediate membrane between the top fabric and the insulation material. It is technologically advanced to use “breathable” material for such purposes.
IMPORTANT! The most acceptable option would be a gore-tex membrane. Its use will preserve the properties of the down lining over a long period of wearing the jacket.
Types of filler - a key element of quality
It’s rare to see a down jacket whose insulation is made from a homogeneous natural material. Textile manufacturers combine down with other elements, most often with feathers. Synthetic fillers can also be used as additives.
Natural down, feather
Down used for insulation of jackets is:
- goose;
- duck;
- eider.
Most often, duck down is used to insulate down jackets. But when buying Chinese textiles, you can also run into chicken, the heat of which is not enough for one season. Jackets made from eiderdown are rare. They are very warm, made in Norway and not exported.
If financial capabilities allow, then it is better to find a jacket with goose down. It is hardly possible to determine whether the down belongs to any of the birds. Therefore, you have to trust sales representatives.
An important property of down insulation is its elasticity - the ability to restore its shape after compression. This quality indicator is designated fill power; it has a digital value. For high-quality material it will be 500 units, and for advanced brands it will exceed 800.
ATTENTION! The absence of such an indicator indicates that the product does not have elasticity, and this entails rapid wear of the down jacket and the fluff clumping into clumps.
All manufacturers combine down with feathers. This allows you to increase elasticity and maintain the shape of the product. A down content of less than 70% indicates that the jacket is demi-season. It is not recommended to wear such clothes in severe frost.
IMPORTANT! An indicator of true quality is the use of a down bag. This is another jacket made in the middle of a down jacket. The quality of the inner bag allows you to keep the down jacket warm and keep all the shapes of the product in its original form.
Synthetic materials
Sewing down jackets can be done using non-natural materials. At the same time, the meaning of the word “down jacket” loses its meaning, but textile sellers call jackets with natural and artificial insulation the same. The insulation material can be homogeneous or combined, depending on the purpose of the product.
The following materials for insulation are classified as artificial:
- holofiber;
- isosoft;
- padding polyester;
- synthetic fluff;
- Thinsulate.
All these technical fabrics have properties such as lightness, volume and low weight. Some of them have a durability greater than that of natural insulation. But the ability to retain heat, synthetic materials are weak compared to natural ones.
It is also possible to combine down with synthetics. This is done in the manufacture of clothing for special purposes, for example, for polar explorers.
Having understood the insulation, styles and type of jacket material, you can safely go in search of the desired product. All that remains is to choose the appropriate color.
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