Warm Winters

Way back in my first winter in Massachusetts I commuted by car. It sorta went like this:

Warm Winters

It was easy to never be dressed for weather. And easy to misplace things like gloves.

Once I moved into the city that changed. Even before I started biking I found myself walking an average of 4 miles a day to get to public transit and everywhere in in between. It was horribly cold. Then I realized the weather wasn’t bad. My clothing was. All my disposable fashion was just that, disposable.

However, it’s not always easy to find good winter wear these days:

Warm Winters

I suspect many fashion designers are drivers. And live in Los Angeles. They’re not designing for my lifestyle.

I need functional fashion. And it doesn’t have to look like this:

Warm Winters

There are some warmer winter options out there if you really look. I still make sure to pay attention to the details:

Warm Winters

Because there is a difference between looking warm and being warm.

So after several winters in the city I have finally built up a quality winter wardrobe of quality winter items and approach that works for me:

Warm Winters

Winter is much warmer now. And I no longer lose my gloves.

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47 comments

  • Gary January 10, 2013  

    I agree with Steve.

  • Marge Evans January 10, 2013  

    you labels had my laughing my head off! so true! I remember years ago looking at swimsuits in Nordstrom’s and there was one, with a label that said “dry clean only” wth! keep up the good work!

  • Megan Ramey January 10, 2013  

    Love the post! You know what’s crazy? I sweat more during extreme cold weather commutes (like last week) than moderate (this week). People are always surprised by when I arrive sweat-free, but last week with the down coat and layers, I had major pit action going on. Ironic.

  • Justin Winokur January 10, 2013  

    Whatever you do in the winter (or summer for that matter), stay away from cotton. Cotton is nice if you never get it wet (sweat) and is fine for a sweatshirt INDOORS. But once there is a chance that the fabric can get wet, all bets are off. You will freeze! Wool is really great but expensive. Otherwise, you are stuck with man-made fibers

    • Josef Taylor January 17, 2013  

      Cotton is awesome in summer! I ride year round in LA (OK, that’s not very impressive), and cotton keeps me cool and non-sweaty in the summer fantastically, and even works great under my wool in the non-heinous winters.

  • Ray January 10, 2013  

    Great Info!

    While our winters here in the eastern part of North Cackolackie aren’t anything like yours, we still can get “cold”. Okay, don’t laugh, but when the thermometer drops below about 20F, that’s getting chilly. I love the way you dress, but I look more like the stick-up thug. Yea, I’ve got “street clothes” for winter, including a nice wool coat, but I’m not going to wear that stuff on the bike for my commute. Since I’m gonna sweat, I would rather do it in clothes that are easy to wash. So I end up with a bunch of thin layers, topped by a windbreaker. Legs are taken care of by REI’s “Mistral” pants (these are not “bike clothes”) from 55F down to about 30F. Any colder and I’ll wear thermal underwear under the Mistral’s. It doesn’t get too cold in my part of the world to stop the bike commute.

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