A “Hiking Suit” for women

The following an adaptation from my new book, Ramble On: A History of Hiking:

In Woodcraft for Women, written by Kathrene Pinkerton in 1916, the author admitted that there were only a few outdoor stores that catered to the needs of women at that time. However, there were a couple of outdoor mail-order retailers that female hikers would’ve had access to at that time, such as Sears or Abercrombie & Fitch. In that same year, the Abercrombie & Fitch catalog promoted a “Hiking Suit” for women, which included a Norfolk coat, bloomers, leggings and a duck hat. The outfit, in which “a woman need not fear tangled brush, fallen trees, or even an occasional mountain or two,” fetched a relatively steep price tag of $9.00 (in total), plus shipping.