Curse of the winter wardrobe

Restrictions that we face regarding winter wear

by rayanne gwilliam, contributor

Winter weather comes with many challenges: ice, driving conditions, and the out-of-control Saskatchewan wind. But what helps us prepare for all that while still causing us more problems? Dressing accordingly to deal with these winter conditions is the biggest pain. Now some people are fortunate enough to be accustomed to still just wearing t-shirts and jeans (envied by me, while also not recommended).

For the rest of us though, there’s dealing with the sweat building up around your forehead from wearing a toque, and it completely messing up your hair – if you care about that sort of thing. We deal with the change in temperature where you’re freezing outside and it’s windy, to the building you’re in being a sauna because you’re wearing a cardigan and sweater over another shirt. Then maybe the wind speed changes and the next thing you know, you end up carrying your bigger jacket with you because you no longer need it. Personally, I’m always cold, so I don’t have this problem often, but when I do the thing I find works best is having a spare bag to house heavier items if they’re no longer needed.

There’s also a good amount of functionality problems that happen, like how if you wear glasses you’re inevitably going to be blinded when first walking in from outside to inside; or, in the case of wearing gloves, which render your hands useless. There’s no grip, they’re bulky, and I swear you drop things so much more often and it’s harder to pick anything up. Besides that, a lot of the time you must try and not get them too wet, or your hands get cold. I’m sorry, but if you’re made for winter and can’t handle snow melting into you, you really serve very little purpose.

Short of wearing contacts, there is anti-fog lens spray that can be used on glasses. As for the glove issue, in terms of keeping your hands warmer, mittens are better than gloves due to each finger not being separate from each other so there’s shared body heat. Either that or carrying “hot pouches,” which are small packs you can squeeze for a burst of heat and stick inside your gloves, or your boots if your feet start getting cold. Wearing wool socks and hats is also a good idea because it’s a warm material on the two areas of the body that expel heat the most.

Lastly, there’s the ice and uneven ground that’s a source for a lot of injuries. As funny as it may look, having your arms up and walking like a penguin often helps on ice. However, there’s also walking sticks you can get that mimic ski poles, just without the skis. When at waist level, you’re at your best state of balance with even weight distribution, and they can dig into ice and snow. This makes it easier to get better traction overall when walking in the winter. Speaking of traction, another good investment is cleat straps for your winter shoes. Unless you feel like skating across open-faced parking lots for fun, I just hope you’re not clumsy. Last thing is if you can find anything with either a fleece or wool lining, I’d snag it because that will be your friend during the cold months – like 8 months out of the year. Take these tips, and good luck enjoying winter!