Stylish in extreme cold
I'm from Northern Saskatchewan, where it can semi-regularly get down to below -40 (C or F, same at -40). Wondering for those in similarly extreme climates keep warm outside whilst looking good. How do you keep warm? I bought earlier this year a C150 Swedish naval overcoat (C49 pictured, similar but shorter than mine) that I'm quite happy with but it just isn't going to be enough come December/January.
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though mine came with the military insignia, I demiled mine to pretty much what's shown except brass buttons.
I have no experience with this kind of cold, but are you maxxed out on layers under the big coat.
one of the wamest fits i have is big coat over a heavy sweater+long sleve shirt
Wore that a couple days ago with a three piece suit and, I was fine. But it was like -5C. And being from here I just know it isn't going to be enough. I have warmer jackets, but stuff that just would not look right with a 3 piece.
Got a puffer-ish style jacket and that'll be fine enough to wear closer to -30/-40, but just... how do I remain looking my best.
When it's that cold it's not about looking fly it's about not dying.
Wear a cool hat or scarf or something
I was the other day, but still. It gets into your bones. The thing is that in many other places you can get away with not looking as fly in such conditions... where it's rare. But when it's like 60-90 days out of the year, I ideally need to have a real solution.
Wore that, a scarf, muskrat hat, and overcoat. Was comfy minus wearing more regular dress shoes and the uncleared 6 inches of snow dump getting into my shoes, but that's a rare instance since it hadn't been cleared yet, has since.
I'm happy with it and it's nice... at -10C.
I just know it ain't gonna be when it gets colder which it will.
I live in Toronto, so grain of salt when it comers to snow and cold. But we do get the odd -30 day in the winter with windchill. And for me it's wearing heattech under my pants, layering and wearing my big huge puffer with its gigantic hood.
long johns and thermal base layers may help for sure
When I was in Montreal one winter I layered a similar coat (west german milsurp not swedish idk the model) under my puffer because I sorta accepted I wouldn't look cool outside but at least inside I could still look cool lmao
kept me very warm too
Yeah, and that's fine when there you get that once a year and no one is gonna look at your twice when it's that the case. Just it's a couple months here, so... yeah.
I'm not sure people are looking at you bundled or whatever and thinking "man, he isn't dressed well" though.
I think I did heattech -> sweater -> wool coat -> parka for the worst of it
Been thinking about this for a while and not coming to any good solutions so thought I'd ask for some help.
cold goals
Perhaps I needa be looking for a nice parka.
big ass coat and a cool scarf to spice up the neckline
I think you could also consider a down liner jacket under that jacket, it won't show much but will really help keep the heat in
Good idea
Yeah as long as I have some kind of windbreak around my neck it's fine, just thinking moreso my chest and torso.
for torso what ler said
just more layers under the coat
Just hoping to not turn into the stay puft marshmallow man.
I think what I'll end up doing is wearing said puffer-ish (not too puffy) jacket underneat that swedish overcoat, till I can track down a nice warm parka. In which case, if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.
Especially for something like that.
those are coats not parkas
something like this underneath is what i mean, the vneck surplus-y liner
yeah what I got is similar to that.
but kinda want just one layer that I can heave on and off
if u want one coat heavy enough for those temps it's gonna be like a 10lb coat
parka-wise you can't go wrong with a karakoram style parka IMO
been working out kek, though that swedish coat aint the lightest thing either. Honestly that doesn't bother me, am used to it here.
you can get decent parkas that aren't puffy mine just happens to be puffy
fjallraven and canada goose come immediately to mind
canada goose are so expensive but they really are absurdly warm jackets
indeed
i did laugh at all the rich kids with canada geese in stl fall but you can't argue with results lol
that shit keeps you warm
Had my tailor recommend me some goretex boots the other day, didn't really care for them. They do suits well but not a whole lot else as it seems.
goretex boots will make your feet sweat and stink imo
Something I had been thinking about in the extreme long term is hunting myself and getting made a big bear overcloak.
but I think that thought deserves to be put into the fantasy memory box.
Can go full parka but if you want to go with wool or other coats you can throw on underlayers
Tech undershirts and pants, ultra light down jackets, etc
Helps open up some styling options
Yeah think ideally what I want is a wool overcoat with some modern north face-esque insulation inside.
About 30mins ago I tried on my three piece, the aforementioned puffer-ish jacket and the overcoat and was more puffy than I'd like but not noticeable.
Yup. That's what I used to do
I live in MN. When I want to dress well in the severe cold I just add a wool baselayer to an already warm layered outfit. But sometimes you just have to dress to stay alive. If I had to be outside for more than 15 minutes at a time in -40 I'd have snowpants and a true winter tech jacket. At that point wind blockage can be a literal lifesaver.
Did some experimenting with my wardrobe, writing this atm wearing 9 layers as a test.
* The C150
* A north face vest I forgot I had
* Aforementioned north face jacket,
* suit jacket
* suit vest
* dress shirt
* a thermal long johns-esque jacket/shirt.
* 2x undershirts
I think this is the kind of protection that would likely do me well at -40, but would need those temps to confirm. Though I think the thermal jacket/shirt is adding more bulk vs the benefit, tried before without it and only 1 undershirt and my movement was much less restricted with a similar amount of warmth.
I'll try and report here later as the temp continues to dip.
When I picked up this, I asked my tailor, being a local himself, his thoughts on this subject of when it gets quite far down, and his answer was essentially...
🤷♂️
Just deal with it.
It is what it is and we're all kinda used to it.
Mentioning that he ends up wearing a overcoat that was thinner than what I was wearing at the time, the C150.