Surviving the Chill – Clothing

Whilst heating is a modern wonder and when working correctly, a godsend to many a student sometimes, clothing is still probably the most basic and useful amenity you can possess smartly to help keep you warm this winter. Now I’m no good nor bothered with fashion as many people who know me agree and thankfully my stylist family help to keep me in check with those that do care, so I won’t go into specific designers in this article and let you guys decide from there. So without further ado, here’s the best bits of clothing to work with this season.

Hoods & Jumpers

Now I mentioned these in the previous post in this series about hoods and warm jumpers so I won’t go into it too much, but for the sake of another nag – wear a few layers on top!! It’s a cheap and effective method to help keep you warm and with most student unions, guilds and university shops stocking their merchandise not too far away, there’s no shortage of supply of these basic layers to keep you warm. For the Brits among you, it’s also a good excuse to get involved in the National Christmas Jumper day!

Thermal Underclothes

These can come in all shapes and sizes from underpants to vests to socks. These clothes are made from thicker materials often designed specifically to be breathable but to help trap the heat your body so readily dissipates when exposed to the elements to help keep you insulated when you’re out and about or the electric/gas runs out! These are usually found seasonally in supermarkets, department stores and clothes shops as well as year round in outdoor, army surplus or travel shops.

Scarves, Gloves & Hats

When we were little we took the idea of gloves, hats and scarves for granted when our parents made us wear them for school (and inevitably something would go missing towards the end of winter). With your head giving out the most heat from your body, it’s wise to wear something on your noggin to help prevent the heat from escaping.

Electronically Heated Clothing

With electronics and textiles getting closer together each year electronically heated clothing is becoming more of a thing. These aren’t the cheapest to maintain, but with mos simply comprising of a wire element between the two layers of fabric ending in contacts. This allows you to safely wash and dry the clothes before adding electricity. The other halves of the circuit are stored in battery packs that live inside specially made pockets in the clothing or elsewhere on your person. Depending on the cell size clothes can last from a few minutes to a couple of hours on a single charge, which if used economically should tie you over for a walk to the shops or your friends and back.

Heat Pads

Okay, it’s not strictly clothing, but you do apply it to your person. These curious little things often contain small solids or gels, which when activated in some way will perform an exothermic reaction, with the resulting heat being used to heat your person for a limited time. Depending on the compound, you may be able to use the more expensive pads numerous times allowing you to keep your hands, pockets or wherever you place it (be warned, some give off high temperatures so be careful when applying directly to certain parts of the skin to prevent burns!). The lower end of the market usually consists of single use pads, but these are useful if you have to walk a long distance in the freezing cold, or to keep in your bag or car just in case. With most of these having no expiry date, if you have some left over hang onto them for next year and save yourself some pounds!

Slippers

Walking around on solid floors isn’t great when the temperature drops, so to save you having to sprint around the kitchen or bathroom (or anywhere that isn’t carpeted), invest in a pair of comfortable slippers. You can go open top, or full on grandparents, so long as it’s warm and you don’t traipse them around outside too much then a little investment in these foot favourites will save you having to Bolt to the bathroom or act out Farrah for a cheeky fag.

Conclusion

Some people like to have 2 wardrobes for the year, some hate the idea of stepping into a clothes shop unless they need to, but invest in these clothes and it’ll keep you from having to spend more on heating your premises and will hopefully contribute towards the prevention of you getting ill (which I’ll cover in the next post).

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