theory of warms

It may be ridiculous, but before this year I did not know how to really dress for winter. How is that possible? I guess I just didn’t realize that I was so cold and there was something I could do about it–isn’t that weird? It is, and it bothers me more than a bit to look back on my poor little cold self and just think of how much more comfortable I could have been if I had known. And, we all know that being more comfortable makes you happier–just think of how unbearable a tight waistband can be. Knowing how to dress warmly has actually made the winter something to cling on to. I could be more excited about spring, and I’m not yet ready to give up the woolens.

Theory of warms
my theory on dressing warmly to enjoy the winter

1. Good socks are very important. Smartwool or similar are the best. (I’m sure handmade are also very nice, but I don’t have those. yet.) I get annoyed of my sock doesn’t come higher up my leg than my boot shaft. If I’m out of the best socks, then I wear knee socks–they keep your whole lower leg warm! If I am out of kneesocks, then I wear regular socks with legwarmers. Actually, I think legwarmers is a whole other item. Plain cotton socks are not enough.
2. Legwarmers. People mostly think of these as a fashion element, but I think they’re highly undervalued as a functional element.
3. I wear an undershirt. I tuck it in. I am my mother. Arrrgh! Actually, she is a very nice person, but she tried for years, possibly my whole life, to get me to wear undershirts and to tuck them in. I would not. I couldn’t think of anything more dorkily constrictive. Mom was right. Tucking it in makes me warmer, plus it hides any unsightly pants gaps.
4. Something around the neck. I recently finished the cowl in the picture. It’s from some cashmere + other fanciness blend that I got at xmas. It is so warm and so cozy, and I can hide in it like a turtle when necessary. Necks have a lot of skin, and covering it makes you warmer. I think my friend Jeanne taught me this. She wore some kind of scarf every day, and it looked good and was her thing, like a cross between crunchy and guerrilla and librarian. She said it was her defense against the drafts in her old house.
5. I wear my fair isle hat that I knit all the time
6. Last year I wouldn’t wear a sweater every day. I was always cold on days that I didn’t and had to wear my office sweater, which has gotten weird over the years of hanging in my office. Sweaters always.
7. I tried to get myself a new pair of boots 6 times this winter, but no luck. None as are good as the Keen London boot I wear almost every day. Next year I am going to cut the nonsense and just get another pair of Keens. Thinsulate actually works. I tend to think that stuff like Thinsulate is just marketing people trying to trick me, but in this case, it’s not a lie.

That’s about it. If I do these things I am warm, but not too warm. I can enjoy the cold weather and the one season where opening a pickle jar doesn’t make me break out into a sweat.