How does a girl keep warm?

[Lesvinyl]

A good trench coat over your skirts and dresses might help and looks lovely and not too overdressed. Try and get a heavy wool one.

 

[KittyT]

Heavier duty wool or cotton stockings. I take heavier tights and cut the legs off to make stockings and that works fine. Also, when it's cold, I'll wear a shorter girdle so that stockings cover more of my legs! I also have several wool skirts that are quite warm and have also found that when wearing very long skirts, layering them can look quite nice and provide extra warmth.

 

[pigeon toe]

Since I live in Los Angeles, it's rarely TOO cold outside. I'm also the sort of person that gets hot easily, so a girdle and regular nylon stockings are enough to keep me warm. I also have a great, super tight pencil skirt that hits me about mid-calf, which does the trick for keeping me warm as well. I find that dresses that have more of a pencil skirt/wiggle type thing going on trap the heat better.

 

[Girl Friday]

Yeah... I was about to say move to Texas!

fftopic: Pigeon Toe, I totally love that silhouette behind you in your avatar! That is fantastic!

 

[pigeon toe]

Yeah... I was about to say move to Texas!

fftopic: Pigeon Toe, I totally love that silhouette behind you in your avatar! That is fantastic!

Hahah, thanks! It's my roommates poster, it's really great.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Usually I'm not outside long enough for it to matter - stockings are adequate. On really chilly days, riding boots or knee-high boots really help. You might also layer fishnets over regular stockings or go for knit tights.

And when it's 17 below? Pants and a down jacket. Let's not get crazy.

 

[Tourbillion]

My grannie used to wear long underwear under her clothes. You can get ones that end around the knees for dresses.

However, ladies did wear snow pants, especially for skiing and the like. Here's proof, the 1940 "Snow Queen" being crowned:

No strapless short evening gowns here. Women weren't that crazy!

P.S. My parka is vintage-correct.

 

[Laraquan]

Hehe, good advice all round.

 

[Miss Brill]

You can buy warm undergear at Wintersilks. They have long underwear, thermal t-shirts, and tights, except it is silk & lightweight.

 

[Trickeration]

I heard that one old trick was baked potatoes in the pockets. They kept one warm on the way to work or school and were later eaten for lunch.

My own non-vintage solution is to tuck camping hand-warmers in anywhere I can. Therma-care heat patches work, too. I tuck one against my spine and one at the small of my back (my corset helps hold them in place). One at the back of my neck if my collar can hold it. These will keep you pretty warm all over. One or two for your hands in your jacket or skirt pockets is good, too.

They may not be vintage, but they do the job. I usually end up handing out the ones in my pockets to some other freezing girl who is quite grateful.

 

[luvthatlulu]

Marry money.

Next question?

 

[katiemakeup]

Have someone wrap their arms around you!

 

[luvthatlulu]

Have someone wrap their arms around you!

See...that wasn't so hard to figure out, was it?

 

[K.D. Lightner]

When I was a young thing, we suffered in silence -- dresses with bare legs in all but the coldest weather (my high school allowed women to wear trousers under our skirts to school when the weather got below zero, but we had to take them off and store them in our lockers). We could wear long coats but they came below the knees, leaving the lower leg exposed.

We wore headscarves, babushka-style, hardly keeping our head warm or our ears from going numb. We wore galoshes over shoes, and my toes were burning with pain by the time I got to school.

Once women began to wear stocking caps, hiking boots, and pants, I could keep warm at 20 below zero.

Now, I like dressing in layers. If it is too cold, keep it all on, if it warms up, take some of it off.

karol

 

[Undertow]

Sorry for poking my dumb nose where it doesn't belong, but I was wondering if any of you could help me out with something.

My gf has decided she'd like a winter coat, an overcoat that could fit over her nice dresses for when we got out.

I was wondering if any of you had any suggestions on color, material, price and brand.

Any other info would be much appreciated! Thanks!

 

[texasgirl]

Give us some details. Does she want a modern vintage-inspired coat, or an authentic vintage coat? What is her build? short, tall, curvy, slender? Does she like a particluar era?

 

[Undertow]

She has no particular era in mind and modern vintage would likely be the way to go. She is just shy of 5'3" and quite slender (I know ladies abhor a weight specified, so suffice to say, she's is quite slim).

I know she's been talking about a longer coat, near ankle length and I imagine wool would be the warmest. I know the main concerns are warmth and formality. And when I say formality, I simply mean something she can wear over a nice dress on a night out.

I'm sure she and I will go shopping this weekend, either looking for something new, or possibly hitting up a thrift store for something vintage. However, I am not familiar with any brands, materials, or reasonable prices (modern or vintage).

 

[texasgirl]

Well, being on the petite side, I would recommend not going too long. She's also probably going to need a petite size. I am only 5' and I usually have luck at JCPenney. This one on their website is super cute and has a vintage flair and a good length.

I can't get a link to work but here's a picture. It comes in several colors and petite size

They had a few others in the JCP store here in Dallas too that were nice. One was a faux persian lamb that was super cute. I was at the Brass Armadillo store in Des Moines last weekend and saw a lot of vintage coats. I actually got a really nice fur wrap there.

 

[roselily]

Ellen Tracy has wool over the knee stockings for $12 a pair. No seam but they sure look warm!

http://www.barenecessities.com/prod...&cm_mmc=YSHP-_-Hosiery-_-EllenTracy06075-_-NA

 

[GoldLeaf]

There is a pattern to knit lacy stockings for the winter at Vintage Purls.
http://www.vintagepurls.net.nz/patterns.html

Pattern to knit fishnets here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/knitting/1940s/index.html