Top 10 best one piece snow suits of all time, from retro to recent

Editors Note: We've added to this "top 1o" as we've discovered new brands breaking into the one-piece market.

It keeps you warm, snow-free, and looking rad: your one and only, the one piece snow suit has continued to evolve in style and tech since it debuted in the 1960s.

All of the romper tosser, neon suit, and one piece patterns have kept skiers and snowboarders gleaming with stoke throughout the decades—seriously, when is there ever a photo of someone frowning while wearing one?!

Today, a handful of skiwear companies design higher-end functional one pieces—gnar enough for mountaineering—and one snowboarding brand has made it their bread and butter to create super fun, durable onesies.

And this time of year, retro one pieces seem to find their way out of the closet and back onto the bumps. (Share your best Gaper Day photo with us on social media ... @garagegrown).

While the pool was way too big to choose from, here is our selection of the top 10 best one piece snow suits of all time.

Shinesty Vintage Onesie Collection

Not to be outdone by the past,  Shinesty carries on the tradition of the one piece ski suit with styles that may even rival those of yesteryear.  If you can't dig one out of your parents closet to wear on "Gaper Day", Shinesty is ready to provide you with styles like "Day-Glo-A-Palooza", "The Vincent Van Snogh", and the "Paul Revere" (pictured above.)

Suzy “Chapstick” Chaffee: Skintight Silver Suit

Top dog American skier Suzy Chaffee revolutionized the sport of skiing—and she did so in seriously fun style. At the 1968 Grenoble Winter Olympics, the American women’s ski team and then-captian Suzy wore a set of skintight silver ski suits, which were designed by Doug Burden, the top American skier in the 1956 World Championships.

Post Olympics, Suzy was integral in popularizing freestyle skiing—dubbed the “hot dog” technique with amped up imagination versus solely speed—and, without an existing women’s category, she won the first three unofficial World Championships from 1971 to 1973. Oh yeah, she also became the first woman on the board of the Olympic Committee, helped to form the World Sports Foundation, and led the march in Washington for Title IX for equal opportunities in women’s sports. Now, that’s one powerful suit.

Along with inventing ski ballet and her passion for political activism, Suzy also was known for her modeling career. In a commercial for Ford, her name was changed to Suzy “Chapstick,” which definitely gained attention and stuck.

 

Salomon: Neon Onesies

Thumbing thru the archives, we stumbled upon this advertising gem in January 1988 ski magazines. Salomon really brightened up the slopes!

 

Degre 7: Classic 90s cover suit

We spotted this celebratory onesie for skiing on the aged cover of the winter 1991-1992 product catalogue from Degre 7—a French technical skiwear company. A sea-colored, puffy, belt-strapped snowsuit on a snowboarder with hardboots and a leash: What a classic.

 

Spyder: “Max warmth, minimum dullness”

Two decades ago, Amy Wheeler was photographed ski-jumping in this Spyder romper stomper, as highlighted in the November 1993 issue of Skiing. For the books, Amy was 22-years-old in this shot. At the time, she was living in Vail and working as a ski model hitting jumps in next season’s outerwear. The caption of the photo is spectacular: “This Leopard can’t change its spots, because it has none. But it could change your vacation, because it is maximally warm and minimally dull.” Enough said!

 

NILS: Fluffy and tie-dye

Charging ahead with high-end women’s sports apparel, NILS has really hit the ball on ski fashion trends over the years. In this ad, they released a tie-dye-suit, year unconcluded (our guess is that it’s from the early 1990s.) The one-piece is made out of Taslan nylon with Thermoloft insulation, which was likely to be pretty tech forward during its onesie reign!

 

TOBE: Vivid Mono Suit

This is the most bomber one piece we've laid our hands on.  Swedish company Tobe Outerwear primarily makes the Vivid Mono Suit for snowmobilers but if you're looking for a super durable, highly functional, and well thought out one piece this is it.  Not only is the Vivid suite ideal for snowmobiling but would also be an excellent choice for deep lift served powder days or a week of heli-skiing.  (Full review coming January 2017)

Norrona: Lofoten Gore-Tex Pro One-Piece Suit

Another shred-hard design, the Norwegian outdoor company Norrona created the Lofoten, a durable, streamlined one piece snow suit in vibrant electric blue or “mellow yellow,” made with two types of Gore-Tex: the waterproof-breathable Pro Shell for weather protection and Pro for durable flexibility. As a heads up, this suit is less about insulation and more about withstanding wind and water for backcountry and freeriding adventures.

 

Haglofs: Vassi Q Suit (and Vassi)

Volcanic pink and firecracker—don’t let the make-you-dance colors of this romper suit fool you. Designed by the century old Swedish company, Haglofs, this high-tech one-piece is a lightweight Gore-Tex shell for shredding powder, with a helmet compatible hood, laminated fleece areas—in the back, knees, and neck—and a fog preventing face protection system. Check out the Vassi Suit for guys. Cowabunga!

 

Airblaster: The Freedom Suit 

Nowadays, Airblaster masters the 20th century snowboarding onesie—for men and women—with hip style, comfort, and technicality. (Also note: this spirit-driven company was founded in a basement.) Waterproof and fully seam taped, the colors are wildly wowing and the tailored design is super functional—it even includes a waist zipper for quick bathroom breaks.

 

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