How to dress for Winter? (Minneapolis, Cleveland: apartment, to live, to move)

[Kebinminn]

Originally Posted by CAtoMN

I will be attending college in Minneapolis next fall. What are some ways to make walking from class to class warm without having to take on and off a bunch of layers. I am a California girl so it will be a big transition for me!

A heavy duty coat with a hat and some high-quality comfortable boots.

[QuantumIguana]

I like long underwear. You can get the heavier knit stuff, or the more "space-age" lightweight stuff. Comfortable, and keeps your legs warm. Keep an extra pair of socks in your glove box or at your desk, that's good for when your feet get wet, you won't have to be miserable all day.

Layering up is good, that way you can take off a layer if you need. I typically have a t-shirt, a shirt and a sweater and then a jacket. I'll take the sweater off at work. If you don't mind looking like Mister Rogers, a cardigan sweater is easy to take on and off.

I have an old wool Belgian army surplus great coat. Or I used to have it, my wife started using it. Usually, I wear a medium down coat.

I knit hat is usually sufficient, often you won't even need that. You can get warmer hats if you like. You will want some gloves, of course. Lightweight knit gloves are usually sufficient. One thing I like on those coldest days is to wear a medical mask, you can get them at any drug store. That preserves the heat from your own breath, so you're not breathing in cold air.

You will get used to the winter, it generally takes less time than you might think.

[mmhl]

I have lived in MN all my 40 years, I usually get around in sturdy shoes, a down jacket, gloves & yes a hat. (Of course I would have never worn one as a teenager, but thank goodness we do come to our senses usually). City streets get slushy & wet so I'd get some kind of boots that are warm & somewhat waterproof. I personally hate long underwear & turtlenecks. And lots of windshield wiper fluid is a great piece of advice!

[Radical_Car]

A sweatshirt or a coat and maybe gloves and a hat. Sometimes no jacket at all if im feeling lazy or if it isnt all that cold. If im going to be walking somewhere slushy or muddy ill put on boots.

[Kamsack]

As someone who lives in a significantly colder area of Minnesota than the cities....what I would wear all depends on what you plan on doing. If I am going to run errands...say Target or local grocery...the walk to/from a car even in well below zero weather I would wear gloves...hat but a medium weight coat....something I dont burn up in when inside. Now...if I had to walk a lot or going out for snow removal then that is when I bundle up as I know I will be outside for much longer periods than a run in/out of a store/work.

I would encourage you to look around for ideas on clothing....but wait until you arrive and see how you feel. I would caution getting a bulky-heavy coat (the kind that makes you look like a pillsbury doughboy) right away as I have one but honestly so rarely wear it it just takes up space. But do get a coat with two layers one inner one for to keep you dry then an outer shell...

gloves and hat are most important as you can take them off and put them on easily. Many people like ear muffs and scarves as well...as the head, neck and fingers are your most prone cold areas.

[Voyageur]

Originally Posted by robind

The Minneapolis area sounds like a great place to live. It keeps running tops on our our list of places to move to! So I think we'll be there soon.

I know it gets cold there. I'm trying to prepare myself for that.

Let's say going to work on a Janaury day to an office and a 5 minute walk from the car to inside. How do you dress?

Coat, gloves seems obvious. Is it soooo cold everone wears a hat?

What kind of coat is popular? What's a good coat for the winter?

I keep laughing that I'll buy something scientists would take on a Polar trek.

Thanks!

Like all months in Minnesota, January can be highly variable. It could be be 15F and sunny or -15F and windy. Neither would be particularly unusual at 8am (say, the time you're heading into the office). But there's a world of difference between those two temperatures.

Personally, I don't dress for warmth unless I'm going to be outside for longer than five minutes - going for a walk, shoveling snow, etc. So I'll usually just throw on my simple leather jacket for short walks outside. But I've been here for 41 years. YMMV You'll just have to experiment and find out what works best for you.

[moving123456]

My winter wear is as follows.....

Short trips to the car, store, work = Leather jacket with removable thinsulate vest liner or wool pea coat. Normal shoes that I would wear any other time of the year. No hat or gloves. Hands go in the coat pockets if cold. I don't even button the front of either coat about 95% of the time.

Snowboarding = Thin but warm Columbia jacket, thin cargo pants style snow pants, gloves, hat.

Snowmobiling, ice fishing, or long time out in extreme cold for any other reason = Thicker jacket made for snowmobiling, thicker bib style snow pants, gloves, hat, boots. Sometimes a balaclava/ski mask.

I have never owned long underwear or a big puffy down coat, and I hate turtlenecks.

[tpk-nyc]

When I decided to move to Minneapolis I went to Eddie Bauer and bought a three-quarter length down coat. However, the coat was so warm that I could only wear it on the coldest of cold days. It was not as useful as I thought it would be.

[Voyageur]

Originally Posted by tpk-nyc

When I decided to move to Minneapolis I went to Eddie Bauer and bought a three-quarter length down coat. However, the coat was so warm that I could only wear it on the coldest of cold days. It was not as useful as I thought it would be.

That's where layering comes in.

If my leather jacket isn't quite warm enough, I can add a hooded sweatshirt underneath it. Then, after 15 minutes of working up a sweat shoveling snow, I can remove the sweatshirt.

Or one can own two or three different jackets.

There are a variety of ways to deal with the cold!

[Govie]

Shorts, a Hawaiian short sleeve shirt and a pair of sandals should do the trick.



















































Seriously, the natives (IMO) tend to dress really out of season here from my experience. In late winter you will see people wearing short sleeve shirts with no coats, sometimes shorts, and so forth. It's really weird, but it's Minnesota. That's why I always get a kick out of watching ball games on the west coast and seeing people in San Fran wearing big coats when it's in the 40s and 50s. Thin skinned out there they are.