My D swears by Under Armour - the long sleeved turtlenecks saved her when she was doing crew in MA at 5 am! They’re lightweight and do a good job with layering.
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I have lots of different base layers. Some have a wool/nylon blend (they have a mock neck with a zipper) and. @HImom I think back in the day I got them in Costco! To be honest, almost anything that lists as base layer will be fine. I now use 32degrees mock neck long sleeved shirts and bottoms for skiing.
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Silk. There are long sleeve and pant style silk under layers. Believe it or not, they can be very warm. I can’t wear wool, and had silk long underwear. It was great for things like cross country skiing.
Since you want to wear these under other clothes, I’d try them.
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@HImom scroll down on this link and you will see something like shop by fabric. It explains the warmth of each fabric LLBean sells.
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I saw a women’s Spyder long sleeve base layer at Costco that might work for you. It had a crew neck…and came in black and light blue.
Actually I still use those blend base layers as well as the 32degrees. I like the zipper in the neck
I like the flexibility of a zip neck. Alas, some of them are rather scratchy and bothersome. Tis good if you can try the item on.
I have a bunch of base layer wool shirts from Costco. Plus I have wool tanks and some icebreaker wool items. I have found it too much to have too many layers of clothing and feel like a mummy. This last trip, after the 1st few days I just stuck with a wool tank plus the very warm icebreaker 1/4 zip sweater and rotated long sleeved shirts over that.
I felt silly for having brought the base layer tops because I was too cold with them over the tank plus a button down over shirt. I even wore a omniheat vest over whatever shirt I had on as a top layer and if we were going outdoors, a heavy jacket.
The good thing is that I rarely ever perspire and was pretty cozy with what I settled on.
Is this how people really dress or just me as a tourist? I ended up wearing the icebreaker sweater every day from the day after we arrived until just before we left to return home.
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Sounds like you have a history of just being a cold person. I wonder if you would spring for one nice SmartWool Base layer maybe you would find the quality of one = to 2 or 3 layers of an inexpensive base layer - for your exceptional cold!
Another suggestion is a primaloft
Jacket that looks like a shirt jacket - you could
Wear that over the SmartWool base layer and look nice and be warm without bulk. I’ll try and find an example.
Not the best example but this line is a nice line and provides warmth without bulk
https://www.eddiebauer.com/p/D5656426/womens-microlight-down-jacket
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I was perfectly toasty and cozy dressing as I did. My icebreaker is nice enough to be worn without being covered by a shirt. Just thought it might be nice to have one more similar garment to trade off with instead of wearing the same sweater under the shirt so many days in a row.
I do have a “down sweater” too. Just prefer to slim down the travel wardrobe a bit.
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Sorry it sounded like you were wearing many layers of clothing and were looking for a solution not to do that!
Why not then just buy a second one of the one that you found yourself wearing daily? Buy a different color?
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Sorry if I’m unclear. I just find layering and cold weather daunting, considering the narrow temperature band in Oahu we live in. One problem with buying things is knowing what they feel and look like when we are unable to see the garments in person. The sweater I have was purchased a very long time ago and likely there is a new supplier and different fabric. Really hard to know as we have few warm clothing stores around here.
I get cold pretty easily. I keep thin dollar store gloves in my jacket pockets (even windbreakers in summer). It can really take the chill off. Wore them today (and a hood and headband) when outside for a volunteer gig, 50 degrees and cloudy/breezy.
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Well, I looked at Wirecutter and bought minus33 midweight top in emerald green. The reviews from WIrecutter and also on Amazon were very compelling. I’m looking forward to having another warm top so that I can adapt to colder temperatures better and not need my coat so much.
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Thanks for that thought. I have gloves and an omniheat hat zipped into my omniheat jacket so if we are going to be walking around, I have those all at hand. I find I’m pretty good with a wool tank plus a warm layer plus a nice shirt and then a omniheat vest. Haha! If it’s really warm, I don’t even need the vest! If it’s REALLY warm, don’t need the warm midweight wool shirt.
We keep our home around 80 degrees and at night turn the thermostat down to brrrr 75!
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@HImom I am again going to suggest the silk I suggested upthread. Silk remarkably is cozy but not bulky. Plus it’s so NOT bulky that you can actually layer something like your sweater or shirt over it, and then wear something over that and not feel like a stuffed sausage.
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I love the Stio base layers. They wick, and for me, that’s key. Like you, I am always cold, but if I do get warm – even for a few minutes – I then feel chilled. These are thin and regulate well. Also very compact for packing. [I also love the one with the zip neck - Athleta has them too.)
I bought these to ski in and now wear them regularly thru the winter.
Do you have any suggestions on where to buy machine washable silk? I’m interested in giving it a try.
I know the silk undershirts I wear for skiing from LL Bean are machine washable.
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