99% Invisible: “Gear” (Articles of Interest, Chapter 1) – Summary
Avery Trufelman’s deep dive into the surprising military roots of classic American style
Podcast: 99% Invisible
Host: Roman Mars
Episode: Gear (Articles of Interest, Chapter 1)
Date: November 4, 2025

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode marks the first chapter of “Gear,” the latest series from Avery Trufelman’s acclaimed fashion spinoff Articles of Interest. Trufelman explores the intricate relationship between the military, the outdoor goods industry, and everyday American clothing. She draws lines from buckskin breeches and military surplus to the Patagonia and Buck Mason staples filling modern closets, showing how American fashion—and even our sense of masculinity—are deeply entwined with war, empire, and the myth of rugged outdoor self-reliance.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Foundations of “Classic” American Clothing

(03:21–05:30)

• Avery visits Buck Mason’s design HQ in LA, where their collection of “classic” garments is revealed as old military surplus: flight jackets, automotive jackets, field jackets—“almost all classic menswear is based on 20th-century militaria.”

  • Quote: “If you pick things off of this wall, there’s almost every archetype for every modern piece of clothing.” – Avery Trufelman (04:44)

• Chief Design Officer Kyle Fitzgibbons describes how Buck Mason’s designers literally copy vintage military pieces stitch-for-stitch, believing that’s what gives their modern clothes “soul.”

2. The Military-Outdoor Industry Pipeline

(06:38–10:23)

• Ethical fashion advocate Alex Goulet, co-author of Crafted with Pride (a phonebook-like directory of US-made clothing), explains why outdoor gear is the last bastion of American manufacturing:

  • Strict 1941 Berry Amendment requires military apparel be US-made.
  • Most American clothing factories survive on military contracts, and their civilian gear shares the same supply chains.
  • Quote: “The only reason these things are made in the US is Berry compliance. At this point in time, if you buy something that says made in the USA, its zippers could come from a factory that makes zippers for the military." – Alex Goulet (08:47)

• Industry lines blur: civvies and soldiers wear the same waterproof shells, sweat-wicking layers, and hiking gear, often from the same companies.

3. The Outdoor Aesthetic and American Masculinity

(13:12–19:37)

• Historian Rachel S. Gross (University of Colorado Denver, Shopping All the Way to the... How the Outdoor Industry Sold Nature to America) explains:

  • The 19th-century outdoors aesthetic wasn’t just about utility; it was loaded with anxieties over “restoring rugged masculinity.”
  • The rise of “anti-fashion” as a masculine ideal: practical, unadorned, outdoorsy clothes signaled manly authenticity.
  • Americans always performed their ruggedness—donning buckskins, buying guidebook-approved gear, and mythologizing pioneer self-sufficiency, usually by shopping rather than making.

• White settlers mimicked both Native styles and imagined frontiersmen (despite having to buy much of this gear from Native American women skilled in buckskin tailoring).

4. Shopping, Surplus, and the Start of Mass-Produced Uniforms

(19:47–29:52)

• ETention to the hunting shirt: a “non-uniform uniform” adopted by militias and championed by George Washington for its simplicity.

• US ambivalence about having a standing army. Early revolutionary ideals venerated the “citizen soldier” in homespun or hunting shirts vs. mercenaries in flamboyant uniforms.

• First real army uniforms copied British redcoats (but in blue).

  • Army blue was the original “army green.”

• Mass-production of uniforms kicks off during the Civil War, introducing standardized sizes (small, medium, large)—and "shoddy," the term for subpar materials.

  • Quote: “You do not want your pants to rip on the battlefield. It’s not a place for a button to come off or a knit to come undone or a thread to pull.” – Avery Trufelman (28:15)

• Quartermaster Corps perfects military logistics and quality assurance, supplying troops across the continent and giving rise to military surplus stores (the origin of the gear/retail pipeline).

5. Military Fashion and the Illusion of Peace

(32:56–33:50+)

• Absurdly ornate peacetime uniforms (Prussian-style helmets, gold tassels) arrive post–Civil War, as Americans mentally checked out of ongoing frontier violence.
• Quote: “During war, everything has to get simplified and ready for the trenches. And then when you get into peace again, the uniform is more concerned with how it looks on the parade ground.” – Kyle Fitzgibbons (32:56)

6. Roosevelt, Manhood, War—and Shopping

(37:59–45:58)

• Teddy Roosevelt, the sickly New York rich kid, transforms himself into a proto–outdoor man, fueled by a strenuous regime (“our future president is born with severe, severe asthma... do something about that... we must lead a strenuous life.”).

• As white-collar work rises and the frontier closes, anxieties peak about “lost masculinity” and “peace rot.”

  • Quote: “An essay in the upper crest periodical, The Arena, warned, the new danger will be peace rot.” – Avery Trufelman (43:48)

• The “new woman” upends gender norms—entering public spaces, riding bicycles (in bloomers!), and entering politics, further fueling male anxiety.

• Suffragist Sarah Grand: “Man is morally in his infancy. In this mismanaged world, it looks as if she should soon be obliged to do their work as well as our own, or nothing will be done.” (45:21)

7. Pacifism, Arbitration, and the Path to War

(46:56–51:31)

• Late-19th-century pacifism gains traction. US almost signs a peace treaty with Britain for mandatory arbitration, but the Senate quashes it for fear Americans would “decay” without war.
• War fervor returns with the Spanish-American War; peace is labelled “effeminate,” arbitration the work of “ugly, sour-faced hags.”
  • Quote: “And Theodore Roosevelt, who is often the poster child for this, said, ‘I should welcome almost any war, for I think this country needs one.’” – Kristen Hoganson (49:19)

8. The “Splendid Little War” and the Khaki Revolution

(52:42–59:31)

• Volunteers (including Roosevelt’s Rough Riders) flood the military, supposedly “forging a new American race” in the crucible of war.
• The Spanish-American War launches Roosevelt’s presidency and flips the uniform palette: from blue (French, Prussian, American) to khaki (British colonial).
  • “The Rough Rider uniform... is constructed of the same khaki colored canvas material that was used for the enlisted men’s uniforms. So yes, it’s pretty cool that this safari looking suit was made by Brooks Brothers.” – Avery Trufelman (58:58)
• Tactical necessity: khaki and olive drab are more practical for new weapons, climates, and invisibility.
• From this moment, American military style pivots toward the functional and heavily influences civilian “gear.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Almost all classic menswear is based on 20th-century militaria.” – Avery Trufelman (04:44)
• “The only reason these things are made in the US is Berry compliance. At this point in time, if you buy something that says made in the USA, its zippers could come from a factory that makes zippers for the military." – Alex Goulet (08:47)
• “During war, everything has to get simplified and ready for the trenches. And then when you get into peace again, the uniform is more concerned with how it looks on the parade ground.” – Kyle Fitzgibbons (32:56)
• “An essay in the upper crest periodical, The Arena, warned, the new danger will be peace rot.” – Avery Trufelman (43:48)
• “And Theodore Roosevelt, who is often the poster child for this, said, ‘I should welcome almost any war, for I think this country needs one.’” – Kristen Hoganson (49:19)
• “So yes, it’s pretty cool that this safari looking suit was made by Brooks Brothers. I love that. But this war, the Spanish American War, is the war where the US Military sheds its signature blue.” – Avery Trufelman (58:58)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [03:21]–[05:30]: Tour of Buck Mason’s vintage military inspiration; copying classic militaria
• [06:38]–[10:23]: Military contracts underpinning US-made outdoor gear; Berry Amendment
• [13:12]–[19:37]: History of outdoor aesthetics, rugged masculinity, and “anti-fashion”
• [19:47]–[29:52]: Evolution of American uniforms; hunting shirts, army blue, Civil War innovation
• [32:56]–[33:50+]: Ornate peacetime uniforms; influence of European military fashion
• [37:59]–[45:58]: Teddy Roosevelt, the strenuous life, and gender anxiety
• [46:56]–[51:31]: The rise and demise of peace arbitration; move toward Spanish-American War
• [52:42]–[54:40+]: Influx of volunteers, the Rough Riders, the forging of national identity
• [58:58]–[60:23]: Rough Rider khakis, Brooks Brothers, the shift to olive drab military style

Overall Flow & Tone

This episode blends Avery’s engaging storytelling with smart, lightly irreverent humor and sharp historical insights. Adamant about dispelling myths, she foregrounds the ways in which war, gender anxiety, and the myth of self-reliant manhood have shaped not only the nation’s foreign policy, but also the actual clothes Americans wear—and shop for—every day.

For those who haven’t listened:
You’ll walk away understanding why so much of what’s hailed as timeless, “practical” American design owes its life—and style—to war and empire and why your closet probably mirrors, in ways both subtle and glaring, the uniforms of soldiers past and present.