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

[ludy]

I obviously i don't live in a cold climate and it has turned out that my visits to Estonia haven't been very cold but it was a bit of a contrast to the south coast! The modern thermal underwear like Uniqlo's Heattech and M&S' s heatgen work very well as a base layer and don't look under-weary so it's fine (for bra wearers at least) to strip down to them indoors. Unlayered they are only slightly warmer than a regular t-shirt so you are unlikely to overheat indoors.
We wore Merino liner gloves under bulky gloves/mittens - silk ones are available for people who can't do wool. I know some people also layer socks (we didn't need to) but you have to be very careful to avoid rubbing and friction between the layers which could lead to blisters)
Some kind of ear covering is essential - so a hat with flaps or some kind of cowl or scarf. I really like Buffs (but there are plenty of similar brands) - I wore mine as a cowl with a ear-flap (and very nelfy!) hat and Dad pulled his up over his head like a hood with a hat on top.
Mum had a fleecey blanket for her knees when she was in the wheelchair which worked well because we could fold and layer it as appropriate to the temperature and it's quick to wash and dry (apparently salt/grit getting kicked up from pavements can be a problem). But I think it might be a bit fiddley to manage for an independent chair-user like you.