One-Piece Wonder

Tara Clark, founder and chief-fun-haver at TaraShakti, has a theory about skiing: The bravest person on the mountain is not the one dropping into some terrifying chute. It’s the grown-up wobbling around the bunny hill while a pack of fearless 6-year-olds flies past.

She would know. Tara didn’t grow up on the slopes and never quite absorbed the reverence that surrounds serious ski culture. For years, she liked skiing well enough. Then she found the one-piece snowsuit. When she wore one, skiing felt less intimidating. People smiled. Strangers struck up conversations. Everyone seemed to loosen up.

It started on an annual Whistler trip with girlfriends, when donning vintage snowsuits became something of a tradition. They were colorful, conspicuous and impossible to take too seriously. And somewhere along the way, Tara realized she was finally having fun.

Naturally, she began collecting them. Then she began thinking about them. Why couldn’t someone take everything fabulous about those vintage suits and rebuild them for the way women ski today?

So Tara set out to build the version she wanted to wear—a feminine silhouette, loaded with stretch and made from legitimate technical fabric that could handle an actual day on the mountain. There are pockets where you need them and a clever waist zipper that easily solves the logistical problem any woman who has ever worn a one-piece is already thinking about.

The result sits somewhere between functional ski gear and fashion, which is exactly where Tara wants it. Olympic gold medalist Deb Armstrong has put the suits through their paces, helping dispel any notion that they’re merely made for après.

Now Tara is taking the same philosophy beyond the full snowsuit, adding divinely soft faux-fur reversible vests, fanny packs with a built-in hand muff and velour sets designed for winter days that may or may not involve skis at all.

Interested? Try them on when TaraShakti pops up at Eclipse on Dec. 16-19. Be bold! Brave the cold in style.