Glamski back on top in the downhill world

Uphill and down with fashion on the slopes over the decades. This season the classic sporty ski look is key.

In the 1980s I went skiing every New Year with my twin sister. We thought we were the bee's knees, dressed in our matchy-matchy hot pink, lime and orange all-in-ones, with colour coordinated Bollé goggles, headbands, Moon Boots and lashings of zinc-stick sunblock.

Our style was a fusion of Rodeo, at the time C&A's own brand, which specialised in shiny, nasty nylons but got the colours spot on, and the other extreme, fur-trimmed jackets and slim-fit ski-pants by the luxury French brand Killy.

The latter were donated by a fabulous Auntie Mame-type family friend, a paid-up member of the Eagle Ski Club Gstaad, who spent every last franc on expensive skiwear (bless her). Wearing Killy, a label that exemplified the Dynasty look of the time, I made the slopes my catwalk.

Then something happened. Fashion moved on but skiwear and, despite its youthful following, snowboard gear began to exist in another dimension, completely isolated from current trends. My Killy gear began to get me strange looks from ski bunny Tara Palmer-Tompkinson types, who now wore serious jackets in exactly the shade of magenta worn by Fritz the ski instructor.

The alternative was the snowboarders' uniform, but for all its baggy, grungy grooviness it was hardly "catwalk-hot".

Everything changed in 1997 when Miuccia Prada threw down the ski gauntlet with her Prada Sport line. Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci and Chanel joined in, offering skiwear that, although glamorous, was a very all-black, white and silver affair.

Now it's changed again. Winter sportswear brands that boast a heritage of innovative technical textiles have reclaimed skiwear, taking it back to its sporty roots while throwing in a bit of glamour for old times' sake.

Most recently, even Chanel paid homage to iconic skiwear on its catwalk, in much the same way that Italian designer Giambattista Valli did in his Gamme Rouge range for Moncler - and this, remember, has made the wearing of jewel-coloured puffer-style jackets de rigueur in the city, not just on the slopes.

It's safe to say that if you are Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys or Kanye West and suddenly find yourself halfway up a mountain in Aspen or Courchevel, whereas you once might have worn the Marc Jacobs version of Moon Boots, gold-mirrored Ray-Bans and a black leather Chanel ski jacket (as Victoria Beckham did so memorably), or most recently a Moncler Gamme Rouge jacket, now it is way cooler to opt for a specialist ski brand, such as Norrona or Mover.

Norrona, which hails from Norway, offers styles that mirror the trend, moving away from acid brights and grunge towards bold primary colours such as birch green, hot pink and flame orange. You can spot these a mile off because of their contrast neon zips.

Mover, from Sweden, has a strikingly graphic, tailored, clean signature style coupled with punchy colour. Less flashy than Moncler, Mover is worn by Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Let's call them the Celines of the slopes. Wearing either Scandinavian ski brand will allow you to blend in effortlessly equally with Muscovite millionaires in St Moritz or the Black Eyed Peas in Naeba, the Meribel of Japan.

According to Dave Whitlow, the snow sports clothing buyer for the British winter sportswear giant Ellis Brigham, the classic sporty ski look is key this season.

"Classy sports styling, relaxed athletic fit, fantastic stretch fabrics and wearable colours which deliver a high-performance package makes sense to the thirtysomething turned off by the baggy and the bright," he says.

Those wanting all-out glamour can still find it in the very Euro-flashy brands Killy and Bogner (or sportier in the Canadian label Spyder, or Roxy, the female line of Quiksilver).

According to Whitlow, boardwise there are two themes this season: bold primary colour blocking and a retro mountaineer/outdoor look reminiscent of early 1970s Colorado campus chic. "Think weather-faded down jackets, plaid shirts, Carhartt work pants and heavy leather welted mountain boots," he explains. There are also more eco fabrics (made from recycled plastic bottles), championed by the label Patagonia.

Perhaps the biggest change since I first went skiing is that now everyone wears a helmet. Casco's wood-shelled Edelholz causes maximum helmet envy along with the Trespass Burlin, which makes you look like a transformer toy. Even if you don't feel like investing in a whole new set of skiwear for your trip to Ski Dubai, the one area in which you should never scrimp is sunglasses. Slope chic in the 21st century demands Tom Ford or Oliver Peoples at the very least.

For us skiwear veterans, of course, the best news of all is that the one-piece is coming back in brighter-than-bright shades. Glamour and superb snow conditions: what could possibly be more tempting?