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As the first cold breezes move in, guys have been breaking out everything from fair isle sweaters to fur lined jackets to that cashmere beanie bought at a sample sale someone’s been dying to pull out all summer. Yet, the one item I’ve seen more than any other in these early days of a fall, that feel awfully close to winter, have been quilted down vests and jackets. It’s as if everyone got together and determined that if wasn’t quilted, it wasn’t worth buying. While they might be trendy right now, the quilted jacket is far from a flash in the pan, packing not only heat, but a history that goes back over seventy-five years to one of the outerwear originators: Eddie Bauer.

During the 1930’s Bauer was out on a fishing trip in the wilderness of Washington State when he was suddenly faced with a terrifying situation: the sun was setting and the temperature dwindling. As Bauer was climbing up a hill he began to feel that sleepy feeling that strikes fear in the heart of any outdoorsman. He knew from experience that the early stages of hypothermia were upon him and when he reached around to feel his back all he ended up touching was pure ice. His once-trusty wool jacket had become waterlogged and was now nothing more than a coat of frost about to freeze him to death. Luckily, Bauer was able to make it off the mountain that treacherous night with the goal to make a better winter coat so no other traveler would ever experience what he went through. Weight was crucial to Bauer’s idea, as he wanted to design something that wouldn’t soak up moisture and weigh the wearer down. The Russian military had experimented with down feathers in the past, so Bauer decided to try it out for himself. He filled a prototype jacket with down insulation and while the warmth was there, there was now a new problem; the feather’s sank to the bottom, which was both awkward and ineffective. Bauer decided to keep the down in place by quilting the jacket and creating small diamonds that would evenly distribute the heat throughout the whole piece, while sealing it off with ribbed cuffs and collars that helped to trap the heat and block out the wind. In 1936, Bauer began selling his new invention, dubbing it The Skyliner.