Monday, October 27, 2014

Oh, That's Just Me Making Your Trip to Target Awkward

Because I am the social one (between me 'n Matt, that is), the second I got to town I set about to finding fun things for us to do so that we might make friends and not be sad lonely hermits. Matt was perfectly happy with his level of hermit-atude before I got here, but I am sad when I don't know people, so out we went.

And it was during one of these outings (to get Viet-Thai food!) that it started to get pretty chilly in the evening. I was wearing a three-quarter-sleeve tee shirt and a furry vest, and I was FREEZING as we walked a few doors down to get dessert. That's when I was informed that, in addition to winter clothes and varying thicknesses of coats, I'd need to invest in some thermal underwear.

Whaaaat. This winter thing is crazy, ya'll.

So I went down to Target the other day to look for long johns. (That's what my mom always called thermals, and when I was a kid she wore them all year round, in Texas, because she's weird. Hi Mom!) It took me an awfully long time to find them, and when I did, there were so many options I didn't have any clue where to start. I was crouching there in the aisle looking helplessly at package after package of Cuddl Duds (that's the brand name Target carried) that came in like seven patterns and four colors, and crew-neck and scoop-neck and henley, and some of them are silky and some of them are waffle-y (as in, waffle-square-quilted, not actually pants made of waffles, which would be weird, but also delicious).

And there's this woman in the same aisle as I'm in, and she's facing the opposite shelf. I glance over at her, probably with this awkward, red face, and she catches my eye. So I say:

I have a question for you.

And she was like, for me?

And I said yes, I just moved here from Texas, and I have been informed that I'm going to need thermal underwear for winter, and I don't know what I'm doing. Is it better to have the silky kind or the waffle-y kind?

She said the silky kind feels nicer and is better for not bunching up under your clothes.

And I said thank you, and I picked up two pairs of the silky thermal pants, and one soft, silky top.

Yeah, uh huh, I'm suuuuure that a snow day is the perfect time to go galavanting in long underwear and cute vests.

(Is that going to be enough? Are thermals like regular underwear in which you need enough pairs to wear a different pair every single day between laundry days?! Or can you wear them multiple times between washes, like jeans?)

Tell me about what you wear in winter to keep warm! And if you live somewhere warm, tell me about how beautiful and hot it is outside so I can live vicariously through you, because I am so not ready for this.

16 comments

  1. Ha ha! In 6th grade, my youth group went camping at Enchanted Rock in February, so my mom bought me some long underwear and it did work for sleeping in a freezing tent. And then I went to Boston during high school (also in February) and wore the silky Cuddl Duds under my clothes. I sweated my you-know-what off walking around the city, and I did fine in just jeans, a sweater, and a warm coat. I don't think I'm the long underwear type because I prefer to be a little bit chilly, rather than toasty warm. I remember that they bunched under my clothes, too.


    In other news, it's still in the mid-80s in the afternoons here. I had the window open this morning while I did some chores, but I got so hot in my t-shirt and jeans that I closed the window and turned on the A/C, before 9 am.

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  2. Katie @ A Beautiful Little AdvOctober 27, 2014 at 11:49 AM

    Haha! I've only ever worn long underwear on ski trips. I'm fine with jeans, heavy sweater, scarf, gloves, boots, and heavy coat in the winter. The closest thing to long underwear that I have is fleece lined leggings to wear under dresses. Very cozy!

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  3. We're hiking back up in the upper 80s this week for some unknown reason. I was kinda enjoying the not needing a/c 24/7 and warm jammies!

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  4. I do prefer to be on the cozy side! That weather sounds wonderful … I miss Texas so much!

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  5. I am torn, between wanting to be warm all the time and not wanting to be that dork in 30 layers every day! Fleece-lined leggings sound sooo nice.

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  6. Beautiful! Thankfully today it's in the 70s here!

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  7. Makes sense, and good to know … if I find I'm still cold, I'll switch to the waffles!

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  8. I call thermals long Johns too! :) I have some silky type and some waffly type. They are both OK and add a lot more warmth to dress pants, for instance. But TBH, I’m looking into getting some wool thermals from Icebreaker because I think they would work way better than my cheapo stuff.

    I mostly wear em like jeans and just wash em when they are stinky or sweated in. I only have 2-3 pairs. Some days I wear tights under pants instead of thermals. I also have a lot of pairs of really long socks, like thigh highs and Japanese long socks and they are great for keeping warm in the winter. Since i have so many socks, I also wear thermals less often.

    What I’m interested in is getting the thermal undershirts and wearing them with nicer shirts or blouses in the winter that would otherwise be impossible to wear without two huge sweaters on top!

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  9. Also have to add that I get cold really easily in the office and we have a lady who likes to open up a window for fresh air even in the dead of winter and the wind blows directly on me a lot of the time... so yeah... need em even in the Swiss summer if it's only in the 50s here!

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  10. memories! i moved to chicago from arizona, and outfitting myself for the winter was quite the adventure. i tried my best, but my best never seemed winter-proof enough. i had friends and relatives sending me thermal underwear, a winter coat ( thanks grandma!) and mittens (mom). it's going to be an adventure for sure...

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  11. Haha oh man, I feel for you. I have no idea (as you know, Oklahoma is similar to Texas weather-wise) but I can't imagine having to wear thermal underwear! I hope you get some good advice!

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  12. What a jerk! That's good to know about dress pants; I tried them the other day under jeans, and even Matt was like, you would have been fine with just the jeans. I also wasn't sure what to do about the thermal top, but under thinner long-sleeved shirts is a good idea. I guess I need to get more long-sleeved shirts … most of my closet is sleeveless!

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  13. Eep! That was very nice of your friends and family! Hopefully I'm doing okay by arming myself a little early...

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  14. Thanks! Oh how I'm missing those Oklahoma winters right about now!

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  15. As a person who lives in Michigan, is always freezing, and woke up to snow this morning, I think I've got the long john thing figured out. (Yeah, I call 'em long johns). I think the key is to not only wear the leggings, but a long-sleeved "base" shirt too. I know, it's not exactly fashionable, but plain black or white shirts match most things. The other tip---running tights. Yep, I wear my Women's UA Base Leggings from Under Armour under my jeans (fashion guru) and they work wonders!

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  16. Thanks for the advice! It was supposed to snow on Saturday here, but thankfully didn't yet.

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