LIKE MANY PEOPLE who grew up in New England, I have been skiing most of my life. In that time I don’t think I have once looked fashionable—or barely even recognizably female—while doing it.  That’s certainly a contrast with my everyday wardrobe, both stylish and feminine thanks to years of working in the fashion industry. My ski clothes, meanwhile, have remained trapped in a frumpy 1990s-era bubble I can’t seem to pop. Until recently, I thought this was one of the Puritanical, no-pain-no-gain pleasures of the sport: You freeze your butt (and feet and hands) off and resign yourself to looking unattractive while doing it.  The occasional attempt to upgrade to parkas and pants that actually fit my frame instead of puffing it up has inevitably failed. It’s a task that typically takes place at a fluorescent-lit sports emporium with nothing in stock that’s stylish or in my size. To avoid this frustration, I’ve essentially worn the same weatherworn Patagonia ensemble (both shell and windpants are men’s size small) every winter for the past decade.  Since moving to London a few years ago, where the popular resorts are in the highest reaches of the Italian, Swiss and French Alps, I’ve noticed that European women look sharper on the slopes than their counterparts in Vermont, Maine or Colorado. Their secret, I realized: small, chic European ski brands—both tastefully inclined and technically sound—that are difficult to find in your average American ski shop.  Now, however, access to this sort of gear is easier to attain. Two high-fashion e-tailers—Matches Fashion and Net-a-Porter—have set their sights on the sport, carrying labels typically stocked at boutiques in Alpine hot spots like Chamonix in France and Gstaad and Verbier in Switzerland. A number of new labels, too, are focusing on skiwear that flatters women’s figures.  U.K.-based Matches began carrying skiwear in October. “We felt like there was a real gap in the market for clients who were looking for a curated [selection] of luxury skiwear that merged fashion with function,” said Natalie Kingham, the site’s buying director.  Ms. Kingham has picked up labels such as Lacroix, a nearly 50-year-old French company that offers high-performance separates in a restrained palette of black and white, including sleek color-blocked jackets that can be customized with fur collars and hoods that are sold separately. Its lightweight, form-fitting pants feature the smart detail of a side-zipper at the calf that lets you adjust them perfectly over your ski boots. I can actually feel halfway attractive while wearing them.  Added Ms. Kingham, “Traditionally, skiwear has been perceived as quite masculine and sporty, but now brands are realizing there is huge potential in the women’s market for feminine, fashion-forward designs.”  Matches also offers stripped-down accessories such as blessedly neon-free frameless goggles from Zeal Optics that could pass as Tom Ford sunglasses. Meanwhile, a sleek matte black carbon-fiber helmet from Swiss company Zai has a barely visible debossed logo—and it gets extra points for its subtly retro, aviator-style leather ear protectors.  Net-a-Porter’s senior buyer Candice Fragis also avoided the typical garish branding and blinding hues of many mainstream skiwear brands when she selected goods for the site’s ski section, which launched in October on its activewear portal. “When I started skiing, the only product I could find came in a rainbow of colors that I wouldn’t ordinarily wear,” said Ms. Fragis, who also found skiwear too oversize and padded.  To remedy these problems, she sought out sophisticated European brands such as Kjus, Lacroix and Perfect Moment. The Net-a-Porter selection also includes flashes of high fashion—from Fendi’s ski range as well as brightly printed Emilio Pucci jackets. And a five-piece collaboration between Roxy and cartoony British fashion designer Henry Holland’s label House of Holland is slated to be launched later this month  One of Ms. Fragis’s favorite discoveries is Perfect Moment, a ski label started by extreme-sports documentarian Thierry Donard over a decade ago. Net-a-Porter offers the brand’s streamlined jackets, parkas and stretch shell pants, as well as pieces from its après ski collection.  Founded in Chamonix, Perfect Moment has gradually become a still-under-the-radar favorite for such stylish European skiers as Lady Dalit Nuttall, designer of new jewelry line Saqqara, who visits Gstaad annually. “I would describe [the brand] as being to skiwear what J. Brand is to denim,” said Ms. Nuttall, referring to its subtle branding and streamlined look.  Creating ski clothes that are as neutral and reliably flattering as a favorite pair of jeans is an idea that Sophie Lacoste, French heiress to the tennis-brand fortune, has taken to heart with her relaunch of Fusalp, a sleepy French skiwear brand founded in 1952. She and her brother Philippe purchased a majority stake in the company a year ago.  Ms. Lacoste has made fit her number one priority. “Above anything else the cut needs to be perfect, especially for the trousers,” she said. Her secret ingredient, she explained, is a costly fabric that looks and feels like neoprene. “It allows the trousers to be very form-fitting,” she said, adding with a laugh: “It makes a very nice butt.” Her first collection for the label debuts next month.  Highly functional pieces with thoughtful details dominate the ski range introduced this winter by British activewear brand Sweaty Betty, which expanded to the U.S. last summer. For instance, a fitted jacket comes with an iPhone-ready “media pocket” and a faux-fur hood that can be secured over a ski helmet. Suspendered pants are offered in three styles—short, regular and long—and have detachable waistcoats and gaiters, nylon cuffs that prevent snow from getting into one’s boots.  “Most ski lines are created by men for men,” said Sweaty Betty founder Tamara Hill-Norton, who spent her childhood swishing down mountains all over the world with her father, a competitive skier for the Royal Navy. “We wanted to create a line 100% dedicated to and inspired by modern women,” said Ms. Hill-Norton, “[one] that will make them stand out on the slopes looking cool, feeling amazing and performing to the highest standards.”  The town of Chamonix is in France. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated it was in Switzerland. (Jan. 5, 2015)
Finding flattering but functional clothes for the slopes is easier than riding a chair lift thanks to e-commerce sites and newly launched brands.