Functional & Multi-Purpose -Â Dolly Varden Outdoor Clothing [Product Review]
Posted on January 27, 2017 • 5 minutes • 982 words
Table of contents
When it comes to clothing, many people tend to purchase clothing for hiking and spending time outdoors and then other clothes for a night out on the town. Gore-tex, tor-gex, etc-ex, all the other weird NASA futuristic fibres in outterwear (nobody really completely understands but we all nod and say “oh that sounds waterproof”). Then there’s your ordinary run of the mill fibres for regular wear like cotton, polyester, and the funky cotton-polly blends. If you are one of these people who likes to buy clothes that serve dual purpose, you are going to love this brand. I was recently contacted by the folks at <strong>Dolly Varden Outdoor Clothing</strong>
to take some of their outdoor wear for a spin. I checked out their website, and saw their style and thought –“Yup, that’s right up my alley”. I was curious about its effectiveness in both scenarios but thought, let’s take ’em for a spin. [box style=“full”] Open Dolly Varden Outdoor Clothing’s
 website up in a new tab while you finish my review, make sure you check out their whole stock. TL;DR – their clothes are great! [/box] 
First off, cool tags!
I received a few promo pieces from Dolly Varden, and before I even tried them on IÂ knew I was going to like this brand. Maybe I’m a simpleton, but the tags made me smile and I appreciated their outdoorsy-quirky design, so much so that I had to lay them out like a shmuck and take a photo of them. I hope they have more, because when I re-order, I’m going to be looking forward to the tag. 
Men’s Frying Pan Shirt
I received this shirt (disclaimer, pro-bono) in green gingham and I really like the cut of the fit. It’s slim enough to make me feel hip & happening while wearing it for casual drinks out, but still roomy enough so that I can move when I am out hiking or exploring the wilderness during the day. The high quality fabric dries quickly, which is a nice feature when sweating or getting soaked by snow or rain. The fabric also keeps the sun’s rays from giving you the big C-word. The best part about this shirt is that at the end of a long day, the shirt does not smell like I have been in it all day long. Instead, it smells fresh and ready for more action. I hate doing laundry so this is a big plus. One thing I should mention is that all of the pieces of clothing feel light, they really breathe. But despite this they’re made to last. I’m fairly rough on everything I own. I’ve had these now for over a month and they still look as good as the day they were unboxed. 
Men’s Biscayne Ball Tee
This long sleeve tee has been a wonderful addition to my wardrobe. I work from home and for the last couple of weeks it’s been one of my go-tos for wearing around the house when I don’t have meetings. The style means I can wear it just about any time of the year, whether by itself or layered under another shirt. During the summer months, you can roll up the ol’ sleeves for the world famous forearms-only “suns-out-guns-out”. The long sleeves helps block sun and keep warm in cooler evenings. The quality fabric is very light and breathy, so you don’t sweat easy in this stuff. As much as I love wearing this shirt when I am outdoors, I really enjoy wearing it when I am out for a drink or just lounging on the weekends. The soft material is perfect for when I am relaxing and having fun. I should warn that with it being white, I had a stain on it after like day 2 of wearing it (stupid mustard!). Fortunately my Tide stain removal pen got it out, so for clumsy eaters like me, know that it is possible to keep this thing white.
Men’s Crooked Creek Pant
These pants might look they can only be worn to work or dinner, but they are made from material that suggests otherwise. I have worn these outside multiple times and the light breathable material has held up to several hikes and bumps with rocks, ledges and even touring around in hot-sweaty Mexico. The material is fast drying. I’ve washed them once so far since I received them and they dried in under 15 minutes on ultra-delicate. Another heads up, these too got hit with mustard (FYI, the culprit was a he-man style home-made chicken sandwich with a thick layer of mustard and mayo). The Tide pen + a quick was on light got that out too. Again, clumsy eaters and fans of the yellow-sauce will rejoice in their ability to not hang on to stains. I think what I like most about these pants is that they’re probably the most multi-purpose of all three items I tried. I’ve worn these to meetings paired with an oxford shirt and a cardigan. I’ve worn these to the pub dressed down. I’ve worn these in Mexico where pants won’t be your first choice. I’ve worn these in blistering cold (-35 with windchill) walking my dog. I’ve worn these hiking, napping on the couch, flying on a plane, and even did some dancing in them (shoutout to Xbox One’s Just Dance). All in all, they’re a new favourite item in my wardrobe. [box style=“full”] Visit Dolly Varden’s
 website and stock up! [/box] 
All three of these items are made by Dolly Varden and I couldn’t be happier with them. I’m always a bit reluctant taking freebies, but I’m already planning on ordering more of their items next pay cheque. Each item is made from super high quality material and they fit better than a lot of the other pieces of clothing I have purchased online. I’m looking at you Amazon!
