Women's Anoraks & Ponchos

The anorak is a traditional jacket designed and worn by Inuit communities. They pioneered this style as a means of staying warm in brutal Arctic conditions. Some anoraks feature hoods while others don’t. Interestingly, the term itself has a slightly different origin.
“Anorak” is derived from the Greenlandic word annoraaq. In the early-twentieth century, the word was actually used to describe a type of person rather than a garment. These people had a niche obsession with trains. In other words, trainspotters.
These folks would stand in freezing cold temperatures just to catch a glimpse of an inbound train. Obviously, they had to stay warm. And so many of them adopted the dependable, Inuit-style jacket. Over time, the jacket became so completely associated with these trainspotters that the term eventually came to refer to the jacket itself.

The most glaring difference between a typical anorak and a typical jacket is the front zipper. In contrast to jackets, an anorak eschews a full-length zipper. Instead, it’s characterized by a pull-over design which can include oversized front pockets for extra storage and insulation.
The absence of zipper hardware means that anoraks tend to be lighter than jackets. They’re also generally better at retaining warmth as there are fewer places from where your body heat can escape. The upshot is that no front zip means that anoraks are inferior to jackets when it comes to ventilation or quickly dumping heat.

The terms anorak and windbreaker are often used interchangeably. Traditionally, both are a type of heavy jacket used to keep biting winds at bay. But that isn’t necessarily the case today. In fact, it may be more accurate to say that all anoraks are windbreakers, but not all windbreakers are anoraks.
For example, many modern hiking windbreakers are actually constructed using lightweight synthetics to reduce pack weight and volume. In contrast, a lightweight anorak is actually a poncho.