Winter Clothes

Cold weather is here (unless you live in Miami, you lucky stiff), and college campuses are cold places! College students need to walk around campus in the snow and wind, and need warm winter clothes to keep them cozy. Here are some suggestions for winter clothing for the college student's wardrobe. These are great ideas for gifts, including holiday gifts!

• Warm socks. Cold feet make you feel awful, and cold wet feet make you feel even worse. Warm up your feet with a sturdy pair of warm socks. Avoid 100% wool socks; these are plenty warm, but itchy and not necessarily water resistant. Instead, invest in some quality wool blend socks. A good place to find warm socks is a sporting goods store. Hiking socks will do the trick.
• Silk long underwear. This is the best for those transitions from the cold outside to the overheated classroom! Silk long underwear will keep you very warm, but it's light and won't make you sweat when you go inside. Silk long underwear can be kind of expensive, so this would make a great Christmas gift.
• Warm fleece mittens. These really warm up your hands and fingers. For cold weather, it's always a good idea to buy mittens, not gloves. When you wear mittens, your fingers are pushed together, and this helps keep them warm. Fleece is great because it's soft and doesn't make you itch, so check out fleece hats, fleece scarves, and fleece pullovers as well.
• Waterproof winter boots. An absolute must if you're walking around a snowy college campus. This isn't the time to show off your cute boots. You can find warm winter boots in sporting goods stores; check out Sorels.
• Warm pajamas and slippers. An absolute must if you have a cold dorm room! Warm pajamas and slippers make great holiday gifts. Fleece and flannel are the classic warm pajama materials, but keep some good cotton pajamas on hand too for when it's less cold. For a childhood retro feel, get yourself some warm pajama sleepers with the feet sewn in.
• A down winter coat or jacket. If you go to school in a very cold climate (like Minnesota, where I went to grad school), a down winter coat will make you a much happier person. Look for thinner down as it won't look as bulky and will be easier to hang up, but still will keep you warm.
• Layers. Layers of clothes help keep you warm, especially layers of clothing made of different materials. Layers also are great for that transition from the cold outside to the overheated classroom, as you can add and subtract layers as needed. For quick layering, keep on hand some cotton turtlenecks and zip-up hoodies.
• Sweaters made out of natural materials. These are more expensive than acrylic, but will keep you warmer and are great for layering. Stay away from pure wool, but wool blends are great. And of course, there's cashmere. Cashmere sweaters are hard to clean and expensive (so this is a great gift idea), but keep one nice cashmere sweater on hand for days when cozy warmth is a must.