People who live in cold climates

[baratron]

Can you tell me how you dress in the winter?

I'm trying to work out what sort of clothes I need for this Canadian trip, and I'm confused about what to wear when it's -10 degrees C outside and 20 degrees C inside. See, I'd generally assume that when it's -10 degrees, you want to wear thermal baselayers - but I wouldn't want to wear thermal underwear indoors. So I'm trying to figure out what order you put the layers on in.

Also, sitting in a wheelchair, I get colder than people who are walking around. But I'm loathe to get one of those wheelchair-user leg-cosy things in case I need to stand up for some reason.

Comments

What I do

[redbird]

Layers, definitely, with silk long underwear for the bottom layer. I often go looking for a ladies room to change out of the long underwear, and then back into it when I'm heading out again—I usually leave it on for an hour in a restaurant, but not for all day at an office. Similarly, I sometimes put on a silk knit shirt (sold as long underwear, again, but respectable to be seen in) over my bra, then a more ordinary shirt over that, which I am prepared to unbutton or even remove if it gets too warm. I also have a quick-drying knit cardigan that can go over that, and under my parka, on really cold days or if the silk undershirt is in the laundry. That's probably simpler in terms of removing/replacing a layer when you go indoors.

I suspect that all of this would work with synthetic thermal base layers as well.