<p>If any of you have a list made up, can you please post it? I have a pretty good idea of what I think is required, but let’s just say there are some disagreements here about whether one needs more than layering piece total in a cold climate. I don’t mean more than one extra layer. I mean one piece that will never ever be lost, wet, dirty, or in the wash.</p>
<p>Is it a cold and wet climate? Do you mean something like a dressier wool coat?</p>
<p>" I mean one piece that will never ever be lost, wet, dirty, or in the wash."</p>
<p>Sorry, I think such piece only exists in science fiction. 
or do you mean having duplicates of a coat, parka, whatever?</p>
<p>My D is heading to a cold climate from a warm climate and is bringing:
Rain boots
Snow boots
Lightweight (cotton) zip pullover
Sweatshirts
Fleece jacket
Quilted vest
Lightweight (field type) jacket
Rain coat
Wool pea coat
Various weight sweaters for layering
Long underwear
Scarf and gloves</p>
<p>I’m debating adding a ski jacket or longer heavy weight coat. </p>
<p>My daughter did well in the winter in Boston with a long hooded parka (ended just below her behind). She also brought a lighter weight wool coat with her and a heavier hoodie style jacket. The wool coat worked with her dressier outfits (if she wore a skirt) and the hoodie with her jeans. She had three pairs of boots - snow, rain, and leather. She never really layered - just wore a sweater and the parka. For business attire she wore pants with tights underneath and a sweater with the parka. Classrooms are generally kept warm, as were the dorms, although when my daughter is cold she just leaves her jacket on inside.</p>
<p>She has more than enough. Let her decide when there. I saw girls in Cambridge wearing an assortment of cold weather coats/jackets. My son shifted from his Northface to a pea coat. When taking his friends out for dinner, several had pea coats on. They are grad students though.</p>
<p>Rain boots??? Didn’t know anyone wore those since I was a kid. Son in WI did not wear snow boots from HS on- his running shoes worked fine for him even when they hadn’t had a chance to clear sidewalks/steps/stairs.</p>
<p>Winter clothing and outerwear can usually be delayed until after Thanksgiving or even winter break. What you get also depends on where up north you will be. Coastal areas are not as cold as the upper Midwest. You can wait until you are at your school to find out what the locals wear. You will also be able to find the most appropriate clothing/hats/gloves et al later in the fall locally. Your clothes could get wet if you go sledding or participate in a snowball fight- common at UW-Madison. But by the time you need such stuff your friends on campus will clue you in as to what works in your area. Fashions as well as climate differ across the north.</p>
<p>@wis75 offers good advice about waiting until your kid is on campus. Easy enough to order gear online if local stores are too expensive or don’t have what you need. </p>
<p>Rain boots are de rigueur on D’s campus. May be a “girl thing”. She made it through two winters in Virginia before this past year’s polar vortex made her decide she really did need that L.L. Bean long hooded parka after all 
Now that she has it, I’m quite certain her senior year will be a record warm winter.</p>
<p>I don’t think I was clear enough. I am not talking about winter coats, although she needs one of those as well. </p>
<p>Years ago, when I lived in several different colder areas, it was normal in the winter to wear a layering piece–a sweater, sweatshirt, whatever over a shirt in winter and you would keep it on inside. The layer also helps keep cold air at bay under a winter coat. Do people not do this anymore? They just wear a shirt, a single layer, and turn up the heat? </p>
<p>As far as buying clothes on campus, I don’t want her to spend money on duplicating clothes she already owns because she was too stubborn to bring them. It’s not about fashion either. She honestly isn’t into that and she hates to shop.</p>
<p>Rain boots (those colorful galoshes) are all the rage - we saw them on every college campus we visited (different times of year) and so it was the first thing my daughter bought for college!</p>
<p>I’m big on layers. The expensive arctic down coat it overkill. A good Northface mid-weight and some layers plus hat and gloves–esp. Head/ears and hands feel cold more than core. </p>
<p>Yes, one of the things we still have to get for D is rain boots!</p>
<p>Layering is still key and pretty much “in”. </p>
<p>Rainboots were very popular in Boston 2 years ago when D was a student there. I still see plenty of UW students in rainboots on the main campus (I personally only wear mine for gardening). </p>
<p>My daughter is a rising sophomore at Wellesley. Last winter, which was one of the most miserable I can remember, she needed LL Bean snow boots, leather boots (because they look good, but they aren’t great when the snow is piled high), a North Face fleece coat, and a down parka from LL Bean. For not so frigid days, or when she had to go out to a dressier event, she wore a lined wool coat. In the spring, she used her rain boots. Everyone wears these, especially the kind that have a cute design.</p>
<p>I know she has a lot of layering clothes, such as thin fleece, wool or cashmere sweaters, and thermal shirts. At most schools, the dorms are overheated, but walking across campus can be brutal. And don’t forget a fleece hat and warm gloves!</p>
<p>I think it would be helpful if the location from and location to was identified. No need to mention the school. For instance–moving from California to Mass. or Georgia to Penn. or Utah to North Carolina. After all, there is cold and there is COLD.</p>
<p>Boots have been in for a long time. Uggs, leather, rain, whatever. We bought our D2 rain boots when she was a first year 6 years ago.</p>
<p>No need to bring all the cold weather clothes in Sept. Send a package if needed with more items later. </p>
<p>Again, I am asking about layering pieces such as sweaters, sweatshirts or fleece. She is proposing to bring only a single item for everyday wear. This seems completely irrational to me. Would anyone send their child to college in a cold climate with only one sweatshirt/sweater/fleece for everyday wear? I am asking about quantity here.</p>
<p>“I know she has a lot of layering clothes, such as thin fleece, wool or cashmere sweaters, and thermal shirts.” This is exactly the items and the kind of cold I am talking about. If anything my daughter needs a lot more of these but she is refusing to bring even the 6 or so items she already owns. She says she doesn’t want clothes taking up space in her room. </p>
<p>I don’t want the expense and trouble of shipping bulky clothes. We will be driving her there and it is far more convenient to bring with us the clothes which she already owns. She will probably need them by Oct anyhow. </p>
<p>For outerwear, as opposed to layering pieces, she has a midweight down jacket that is really too short and she says it’s not even warm enough for our moderate climate. She also has a nice pea coat which isn’t too warm either. I don’t even know if she owns a pair of useable snow boots and the pair she had was more fashion than function. She does have hiking boots but I don’t think they go high enough for serious snow. I am planning to buy her a warm parka but that isn’t so easy to find. I didn’t find anything suitable this winter so maybe will mail order.</p>
<p>mathyone, look at smartwool for some layering pieces. You can find cute fitted tops at REI that aren’t bulky. And make sure she has some wool socks. They are the warmest but they don’t get wet or stinky like cotton and she could likely get a couple days’ wearing out of them in a pinch. Scarves (even cotton ones) are great as part of a layering scheme because you can use them to keep out the cold while walking on campus but quickly whip them off in stuffy classrooms. </p>
<p>delete</p>
<p>OP, my D grew up in sunny California and went to school in Indiana, and here’s what she learned:</p>
<p>There is no need to buy a bunch of winter clothes right now. Your D should wait until she gets there and see how the natives deal with the cold. She doesn’t want to get there and find she has the wrong kind of boots. Her one fleece/sweatshirt is fine to start out with. </p>
<p>Layers, layers, layers. On a really cold day, my D might wear something like this: Long underwear, topped by t-shirt, topped by hoodie, topped by parka. Long underwear topped by jeans. Wool socks, topped by snow boots. Gloves. One or more scarves (see below). When she got to class she could take alot of that off if the room was overheated.</p>
<p>Scarves of course keep the neck warm, but can also be worn as head/ear covering, or to cover the face in sub-freezing temps. D had about 20 of them in various weights, colors and textures. She’d wear them two at a time on really cold windy days.</p>
<p>Long underwear. Invest in some [silk</a> long underwear](<a href=“http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/503056?nav=bc&subrnd=0&page=long-underwear#/llb/shop/510371?nav=ln-503056&page=silk]silk”>http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/503056?nav=bc&subrnd=0&page=long-underwear#/llb/shop/510371?nav=ln-503056&page=silk), both tops and bottoms. Not bulky and works amazingly well for warmth.</p>
<p>Did I mention layers?</p>