Weather and Clothing

canuck01
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:45:00 +0000

Okay, a little late, been busy working and golfing the summer away, but here is the male perspective.

Shorts and Pants: Jeans and Khakis will suffice for almost any day of the year. If you’re not used to a humid climate (I grew up in a city that gets less precipitation that Phoenix), the humidity can make the winter feel really cold. There was one night during rush that the temperature dropped below 0, so invest in some flannel lined khaki pants. During the warmer months, regular khaki shorts will suffice.

Shirts: Polos, tees, or button down oxfords will do you just about any day of the week. After 2 weeks, ironing will be a thing of the past. Even as a neat freak, I just couldn’t bring myself to iron anymore. If you really care about your shirts being nicely cleaned and pressed, the dry cleaner down alderman will launder and press men’s shirts for $0.99 each.

Sweaters: For the chillier days, invest in a lightweight wool or cashmere sweater, and one heavier wool sweater. You can usually find good prices at the Polo outlet.

Jackets: The North Face fleece is the most common, especially in black. After having lost a fleece jacket at a frat party, you can’t get particularly attached to them. I personally prefer Patagonia over North Face, but it all comes down to personal preference. I brought a down jacket, didn’t really wear it much as a fleece was enough most nights. An alternative to a down jacket is a Barbour Quilt or Wax cotton coat. A good Gore Tex or rain jacket is essential since it can rain cats and dogs quite frequently - ie. also bring an unbrella. I’d also recommend a light party jacket, mine is from Lululemon that’s good for the cooler nights of the fall (or when you might not feel the cold on the way home ;)).

Shoes: In the summer I live in Rainbows, they’re so comfortable, and definitely worth the $50. On other days, I usually wear Sperry’s, loafers, or Asics sneakers. Having grown up in somewhat of a hick town (of 1 million people) out west, people wearing cowboy boots was not uncommon to me, and I continued to wear my cowboy boots frequently in C’Ville. I think lots of northerners are initially quite surprised to see cowboy boots on a daily basis, but many even get some by the end of the year. Frye makes some good ones, and so do Nocona and the Alberta Boot Company. When it starts raining, Bean Boots or Hunter Wellies are the best investment a guy can make. The 6" Bean boots are probably your best bet for all around use.

Gym wear: I can’t stand wearing cotton shorts to the gym, so if you’re looking for some high end “athletic fibre” clothes, check out Lululemon in Tysons Corner or wherever is nearest to you.

Sunglasses: Costas and Croakies or Ray Bans and Croakies are the most common.

Formal Wear: In general (and especially in the greek system), you’ll need at least on navy blazer, lots of ties (Vineyard Vines, Brooks Brothers, J Crew and Southern Proper are great), and a tux. My thoughts on a tuxedo are: if you intend to rent one more than twice, just buy one. It will fit you better, cost the same amount, and wont be completely sh***y quality.

Backpack: I really like my Mountain Equipment Co-op backpack, high quality, and more than big enough for my 15" MacBook Pro (or the perfect size for a case of Natty). [MEC Adventurer Daypack - Mountain Equipment Co-op](<a href=“http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT<>prd_id=845524441771827&FOLDER<>folder_id=2534374302699687&bmUID=1246390251252]MEC”>http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT<>prd_id=845524441771827&FOLDER<>folder_id=2534374302699687&bmUID=1246390251252)

Phone: I was a die hard BlackBerry guy until I got the first gen iPhone. It does so much, and it’s really nice to always have an iPod on you. I got an email a couple weeks ago from AT&T saying that they’re adding towers to JPJ and Scott Stadium for enhanced coverage during Football games (when texts and calls sometimes didn’t go through), and they’re going to have 3G active in C’Ville by the end of the summer, so I’m definitely going to upgrade to the 3G S now. The cell phone service on the first floor or basement of dorms was occasionally bad, I think Alltel generally had the best coverage, but AT&T was more than sufficient.

db, ebags.com sells that North Face Recon SE.

And please don’t wear Ecko.