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

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

When it's cold enough for me to want long underwear outdoors, I always take them off when I've arrived at my destination (like work or school). In the bathroom. It's not nearly as embarrassing as I thought it would be. I wrote a post about it which I will find and link. Doing a series of outdoor errands and going in to stores, it's trickier, because overheating makes me cranky. I guess I'm cranky a lot. But really, I don't get warmed up in a few minutes in a store, so it's okay to keep the long underwear on. (And by long underwear, I don't mean the thick waffley stuff, I mean thin technical fabric, top and bottom).

Socks: clean, dry, and handknit. For really cold weather, changing socks so I'm never going outside in slightly damp ones.
Boots: Wide enough that they don't press on my achilles tendon, long enough they don't press on my toes. Too-small boots always make my feet cold.

Have a bag with you so you can take off your hat, scarf, and mitts when you enter a building and not lose them. Also unzip your coat. It takes a lot longer to go places because you have to manage all this stuff. If you are at a museum or something you can give all of it to them at the coat check (other stuff down your sleeves or in a bag). I wear hooded sweatshirts a lot because I like how the hood reduces drafts. In colder weather I wear a wool sweater with something under it.

Some people keep their houses significantly cooler than 20C, either by preference or just because it's drafty. Slippers indoors are a good idea for people who tend to cold feet.

If it's snowing, brush the snow off you when you go indoors. Especially if you're wearing a cloth coat, but also from your trousers, knitted hat, etc.

People who have good manners will recognise that you are from a warmer climate and not be jerks about "THIS isn't cold...". Not everyone has good manners.