Winter packing 101
Keeping it chic when the weather is bleak
After almost a decade in LA, my worst type of packing anxiety arrives ahead of winter travels. As someone who prefers a tight, 5-degree temperature band (65 to 70, please), it can be challenging to fathom what 30 to 40 degrees will feel like for extended periods of time (i.e., many hours) outside. For those who have been readers for some time, you may recall that my favorite types of trips are what my husband and I refer to as “urban orienteering” —essentially walking around cities for miles and miles, logging more than 20K steps per day. City walks are my absolute favorite way to discover a new place and its many hidden gems.
So, today’s post is intended to be a practical, yet stylish reflection on how to best pack for cold weather trips based on learnings from my November trip to London and Paris. These recommendations aren’t born from aiming to achieve the perfect instagram shot—rather, they’ve been “road tested” for miles and miles on [tired] foot.
Base layers or bust.
Certainly the hardest working pieces of the trip—by far—and bonus points for the fact that they take up little to no room in the suitcase. Not only did they help to keep me warm, but they also allowed me to get more wears out of my sweaters. If anything, I should have packed more. I opted for cost-effective, but extra soft cashmere blend long-sleeve t-shirts in black and tan in addition to turtlenecks in order to protect my neck from any potential itchy sweater layers (personal pet peeve). I also love this for base layers.
Forever team [mid-weight & cashmere] turtlenecks.
I packed a mix of sweaters for the trip - a couple of crewnecks, a v-neck, 2 chunky knits, and 3 turtlenecks. To be honest, I packed way too many sweaters which was completely unnecessary because they take up so much room—lesson learned for next time!
Given the colder temperatures, I ended up rewearing the turtlenecks while the other sweaters never really left the hotel room. The turtlenecks providing full neck coverage was one obvious reason, the cashmere knit being super soft was another, but the third reason is because they were mid-weight and fit quite comfortably under my coat and other layers. The chunkier sweaters made me feel like the Michelin Man and were frankly just awkward to walk in for extended periods of time. They also didn’t provide enough incremental warmth to justify the bulk. Here are some of my favorite options: the personally love the Heidi— it has a nice tight knit and resists pilling better than other brands (1, 2, 3), these are also great options (4, 5, 6), more budget friendly options (7, 8 - strong reviews), and an Outnet steal (9).
Hooded bibs & balaclavas have dethroned the scarf.
Sure, they may feel trendy given their popularity in the past 6 months, but the utility is real; they have true staying power. Don’t get me wrong, I love scarves because they’re chic and can be styled in so many different ways. That being said, practically speaking there are some real downsides—especially if you’re on the go all day long. I find that they can be difficult to manage, cause me to overheat, they sometimes shed all over my coat, and I really don’t love my face rubbing against them and the makeup transfer that occurs as a result.
A year ago, I bought a hooded bib on Farfetch from Toteme; unfortunately it is no longer available for sale (Elin & Karl, please bring it back!). This piece was key to surviving the coldest days outside. It provided the warmth of a scarf with full neck and chest coverage plus the flexibility of having a hood during those unexpected London drizzles. It took up way less room in the suitcase. And, it also looked great. Perfection. It was my hero piece of the trip. While I can’t reproduce the Toteme one, here are some other great options, ordered from most to least expensive: 1, 2, 3, 4.
A wool coat that fully covers the chest—significantly harder to source than expected.
There’s certainly no shortage of options when it comes to winter wool coats, but narrowing it down to ones that are thicker and have a lining, fully cover the chest, and hit slightly below the knee—all while still being stylish—can feel like a needle in a haystack exercise. After searching far and wide, with FedEx & UPS visiting way too often, this Toteme number (also here in charcoal) turned out to be a great solution. I had the hardest time finding other coat options for this post—nothing met 100% of the criteria except for the Toteme linked above except maybe this chocolate one and this gray number. One Allison Bornstein recommendation that I love is layering a thin puffer underneath a wool coat if it’s especially chilly. I planned to do this, but with my other layers the puffer never left my suitcase.
Only tolerate great, not good, socks.
Weirdly, finding soft, warm, and thicker socks did not prove to be straightforward. I looked everywhere, but typically the options were thinner (though perfect for loafers) than desired. I used these and these every single day. I also snagged these compression socks for the 11+ hour plane ride. Chef’s kiss.
In lug sole boots we trust.
The first time I went to London during the winter, I made the mistake of wearing leather soled boots. My feet were incredibly cold and given the damp climate, my boots didn’t fare so well (RIP). This time around, I knew that a lug sole boot was going to be the best option—very pleased with this investment. Here are some good options across different price points: 1, 2 - take a half size up, 3, 4, 5.
Cheers to winter adventures while staying nice and toasty.
x
jz
Images | @b.g.mckay |
This post contains some affiliate links. Please note that all recommendations and opinions are my own.
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