Minnesotan creates the secret to stylish winter warmth: ‘It’s the single most useful thing in my wardrobe’

Katherine Pluhar of Edina calls it “the single most useful thing in my wardrobe.”

Janelle Fletcher of St. Louis Park describes it as “a very elegant solution to the inelegant problem of being cold” and says hers is “basically attached to me 24-7 in the winter.”

Despite this garment’s fervent fans (Fletcher: “I’m completely devoted and semi-obsessive”), most people have never seen it.

“Every time I wear it, people will be like, ‘What is that? Where did you get it? How do I find it?’ ” Pluhar said. “It’s kind of a showstopper because it’s so simple, but so unique, so versatile and easy to wear.”

What, exactly, is this chill-buffering game-changer? Would you believe it’s a wearable blanket?

No, not one of those kitschy, infomercial-infamous Snuggies. This won’t make you look like a housebound Muppet or some sort of hybrid half-blanket creature.

It’s the NorSari, a cold-weather counterpart to lightweight cloth wraps, created by a Minnesota seamstress.

Think of it as a wool-blend skirt, or kilt, that can be worn in a wide variety of situations, indoors and out. The NorSari is both work-from-home Hygge-wear and office-appropriate attire. It goes anywhere and everywhere, fans say. They’ll slip it on over pajamas to take the dog out, but also wear it to work in a warehouse. Or even to the symphony.

Pluhar says she would love to see the “one-wrap wonder” become a winterwear staple. “I think everyone in Minnesota should have one.”

One particularly cold morning in December 2012, Gwen Daniels grabbed a Faribault Woolen Mills blanket off the couch on her way to her job as an administrative assistant at St. Olaf College in Northfield.

“I folded it in half, put it around my waist, did the towel roll, and then I put my coat on,” she recalled. The ad-hoc blanket skirt kept Daniels cozy as she drove her cold car to campus and walked across the parking lot to her office. “By the time I got in there, I was like, ‘Why isn’t this a thing? A basic piece of winterwear, like a scarf or a hat?’ ”

So the lifelong seamstress (her aunt was a home ec teacher) headed to Brooklyn Park’s massive fabric warehouse, SR Harris. She bought a few yards of thick, herringbone wool and sewed it into a wrap skirt, which she wore to her family’s Christmas gathering. After getting a positive response, Daniels started making the garments for relatives and friends. Soon, her art-and-dance department colleagues and running-group members were wearing them, too.

The wrap was a simple concept, yet there really wasn’t anything like it on the market, besides blanket-style skirts worn indoors, or puffer-coat-like down skirts. Daniels didn’t even know what to call her creation until she wore it to the Loppet ski races and a curious attendee remarked: “Oh, so it’s like a Nordic sari-type thing.”

Daniels started selling her NorSaris on Etsy and at craft markets as she tweaked the design: adding Velcro to the waist, a pocket to the front and expanding her array of sizes.

For years, NorSari production involved Daniels buying a car-full of fabric remnants and enlisting several Northfield seamstresses to help her sew. But she couldn’t keep up with demand. Or satisfy her instinct to keep everyone cozy. “Whenever I see somebody on a really cold day wearing leggings, I just want to wrap them up,” she said.

So about five years ago, around the time Daniels and her husband moved to Golden Valley, her nephew Taylor Hanson’s investment firm provided the capital to help her scale the business. Today, NorSaris are produced by two manufacturers, one overseas and the other in St. Paul, and sold exclusively online. The wool blends come in various weights, in plain colors, plaids and stripes. One style has a waterproof shell that’s popular with outdoorsy types.

Compared with snow pants or long underwear, the NorSari is easier to put on and take off. It stays secure and doesn’t restrict movement, even when worn hiking or cross-country skiing. Sports spectators wrapped in NorSaris can stand up to cheer without losing their blankets.

NorSari fans wear them over denim or scrubs, to the gym and the grocery store. The garment can be workwear and even wedding attire, Daniels says. She’s had customers send her photos of themselves driving school buses and operating forklifts in their NorSaris. And she once made a custom set of NorSaris for a bridal party.

Fletcher, who has worn her NorSari to Orchestra Hall, said the NorSari’s natural fiber, understated patterns and trim details create a polished look for dressing up in cold weather — a great alternative to most formal womenswear, which is made of thin fabrics or exposes a lot of skin. “It’s the best way to look put together and stay warm.”

Darcie Steeves says her decade-old NorSari remains in pristine condition despite her regularly wearing it to supervise recess at Minneapolis’ City of Lakes Waldorf School. “They’re forever items in the wardrobe,” she noted.

And the kilt-like NorSaris are breaking gender barriers, too. Steeves says her husband often wears one of her NorSaris around the house, or will throw one on over his shorts after a winter workout.

Even in the land of the proverbial cold-weather shorts guy, there are plenty of male NorSari-lovers, Daniels says, though they don’t always like to admit it. “I have so many women tell me, ‘My husband says he doesn’t wear it, but he’s wearing it all the time.’ ”