Today’s outdoor clothing for women is a far cry from 20 or even 10 years ago. No longer are female outdoors fans faced with choice of men’s small sized clothing ranges in a selection of oh-so-male blues, browns and greens. These days, women have their own collections of female-fit jackets, fleeces, trousers, thermals, gloves, hats, boots and even socks created specifically to suit their physique and in a spectrum of attractive colours. This is true across all outdoors activities including  walking, cycling running and skiing.

The size range of women's outdoor clothing is pretty impressive, too, from size XS to XL, or UK size 8 to 20. Admittedly, not all companies have the same extent of sizes but with a wee bit of shopping around it is usually possible to find something you’ll like in a size that fits nicely.

You see, just because you’re about to head outdoors where it might be chilly, windy, wet and muddy it doesn’t mean you have to compromise on outdoor clothing style. While the sack of potatoes look used to be a necessity when women were forced to wear men’s clothing, the 21st century outdoors clothing designers have come up with jackets, pants and fleeces that are both practical and also flattering.

Design details to look out for when buying women’s outdoor clothing

  • Jacket and tops tailored fit to suit smaller waist and fuller chests.
  • Shorter overall jacket length including women-length arms.
  • Smaller female-fit hoods.
  • Higher waist and fuller hips on walking trousers and over trousers.
  • Narrower fit walking boots, especially in the heel area.
  • Narrower fit gloves with adjustable wrist straps to suit slimmer arms.

Here are a few women’s fit products to check out

Helly Hansen base layer for women in a fun snowflake design. The sweat wicking layer is tailored to fit the female physique neatly and comes in sizes S to L.

Dare2B Women's Outspoken Ski Jacket is a funky blue and is obviously designed to flatter a women's shape. The hood size is also perfect for women, while the arm length is perfect for the average woman.Sizes 10 to 18.

Women's Merrell Prevoz Waterproof Boot. Who could ever have imagined that walking boots would look so good, so feminine and offer high levels of outdoor practicality? 

Carhartt Ladies Cargo Pants offer all the practicals of the men's version but with a female fit, including mid-rise waist and relaxed fit through hips and thighs. Lots of sizes and three different leg lengths.

Do you have any favourite female fit outdoor clothes you'd like to tell us about?