It's hard to say what exactly happened here, but it appears as if the Alaska male archetype has somehow become a permanent part of the national style trend.
The Alaskan breed of dirty, sweaty, hairy, bearded, plaid covered male has always been around, but recently the "look" has been taking style blogs, boutique colognes and hip news sources by storm, and on a regular basis.
Take a recent article in Slate for example that claims more and more "hipsters" are turning to real- life-actual-kill-it-yourself hunting-- as in shooting their own dinner, not just prowling the aisles of some specialty charcuterie shop. Slate writes:
Hunting is undeniably in vogue ... The new trend might even be partly behind a recent 9 percent increase from 2006 to 2011 in the number of hunters in the United States after years of decline. Many of these new hunters are taking up the activity for ethical and environmental reasons.
For most places in urban America the trend is a play on fantasy, which is probably the driving force behind the entire trend (who doesn't love to play dress up), but in Alaska it's just how dudes are.
In a "Get to Know Your Carhartt Boyfriend" fashion advertising news brief, Jezebel writes:
The Fall 2012 Carhartt catalog — shot on location in Alaska — is filled with men. "Real" men. These are not models, posing in slim-cut suits, like you might see in J. Crew. They're men. Working outdoors. Doing things we think of as manly.
Because nothing says "dude" like being a dude.
Had enough? No? Then watch the video below.
While you do, it's worth considering that the longer one occupies a mountain man look, the more likely it is one may be mistaken as an actual mountain man. How can anyone tell the difference? It wouldn't be a trend if you couldn't change out of it.
Contact Katie Medred at katie(at)alaskadispatch.com