This Alaska City Was Voted The Worst Dressed In America
Do you agree that Anchorage, Alaska is the worst dressed city in America?
By: Courtney Dowd-Stanley
Well, we've never claimed to be a trend-setting state but can you believe Travel & Leisure voted our beloved big-city of Anchorage, Alaska as the worst-dressed city in the entire United States of America? I guess the big fancy magazines don't find flannel, bunny boots, ice-bugs, parkas, and those skirt-over-pants things (skhoops) as fashion-forward? Oh well! We weren't trying to impress anyone with our smart, comfortable, cozy, and casual clothing choices anyway! In general, we tend to dress to stay warm and to stay safe. Not to mention, we sort of have that whole "layers" things down to a science because there is a saying that goes something like, "wait 5 minutes or drive 5 miles and the weather will more than likely change." So be as you will, Alaska fashionistas. We think your ridiculous outfits make you just as unique as the state you live in. And that, is pretty dang cool! Outsiders never had a chance at understanding.
Flickr - Kevan Dee
We take that whole "science says that dogs resemble their owners" thing very literally up here. You might not think it's cool, but the dogs do! Not to mention, guaranteed that fur and those bunny boots keep her just a warm as all those fur-babies.
Flickr - Jim O'Neil
If frozen eyelashes and frozen hair doesn't scream "wild Alaska outdoorsman" than we don't know what does! This style is a cool as it gets. ;-)
Flickr - Frank Kovalchek
Head-to-toe fur, a regular Alaskan tuxedo! 
Flickr - Travis
Beards... and beard parades! Only in Anchorage, Alaska! But hey, those big burly beards serve a dual purpose; look like the rugged Alaskan you are + prevent frostbite.
Flickr - Mike Juvrud
Nothing like wearing a lynx head and/or a wolf head on your head to, err, stay warm... and totally Alaskan! Only in Alaska is it customary to wear your best flannel and Carhartts to just about any formal (or informal) occasion under the sun. Well hey, practicality at it's finest!
Flickr - Travis
Are you really an Alaskan family if you don't have a pair of XtraTuf's for everyone in your pack? No way! This is just, simply quintessential.
Flickr - Kim F
During the summertime when the heat turns up and the sun rarely sets for long, the style of Anchorage gets even a little stranger...
Flickr - Kim F.
Even our four-legged friends embrace the local style of the land. AKA - dressing to stay warm, not to make a fashion statement. ;-)
Flickr - Wonderland
What's the wildest wardrobe you've ever seen in Alaska's big city of Anchorage? Looking for more where that came from? Check out these 15 incredible lakes that will demand your attention this summer. If you love wildlife, you'll enjoy the admirable Alaska animal sanctuary that's providing a safe haven for bears in Sitka, Alaska. Also, we're sure you'll agree with these 15 reasons why anyone who visits Alaska this summer won't want to leave.
If you are living and loving The Alaska Life – share your adventures with us on our Facebook page HERE, and they might just end up getting featured in one of our next blog posts.
Written by Courtney Dowd-Stanley
13 comments
Lived in AK for over 30 years. In the winter roads are icy,or slush, dark when you go to work and dark when you come home. Moose on the roads, school buses stop and go on icy roads or even worse, frozen rain. Wear short skirts and high heals in January and see how far you get. It only takes once.
There isn’t now and never has been a Needless-Markup in Alaska. Nordstrom’s came close at least back in the ’Eighties when Alaska was flush with oil money, but overtime it became more like their “Rack” outlet stores and is now gone altogether, though they do maintain a “Rack” in a mid-town mall.
Evidently Fairbanks wasn’t in the running…
What fascinated me on my first visit to Alaska was the counterpunch to all this anti-fashionista clothing was the Nieman-Marcus in Anchorage and its section of glittering evening gowns. Also, the bling at the mushers’ drawing for the sprint race that coincides with the Fur Rondy.
I wish more of the world were sensible. Yay Alaska!
Alaska, where even the hookers wear XtraTufs.
We have less hangups about dressing to impress. Unless we want to.
The old adage "We don’t give a damn how they do it “outside” still holds true!! Yea for us!
How can this be accurate with no photo of Croc shoes in all seasons?
Genuine. Real .
We don’t dress to Impress.
Actions speak louder than clothes.
I am impressed by who is inside the clothing.
We very well could be the worst city for trendy clothes but we do keep ourselves warm, That’s more than I could say for some ? We drive in snow with ) 0 degree`s & lower , We still work in 7inch of snow
? Hey, it’s Alaska! ? We dress with the weather & occasion like everywhere else. ??
This is true and what makes this state Home!