Weather and Clothing

db123
Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:30:19 +0000

I remember canuck and I had a big discussion on this last year ahahaha. Basically listed everything we were bringing. :)

Follow shoe’s advice. Leave your big winter clothes at home and get them during Fall Break, have them shipped to you, or go on a little shopping trip. I’m from NOVA so it was relatively easy for me to switch out clothes during the year. I brought all my jackets after Fall Break.

So, I can more accurately comment on what to bring if your a girl, since I am one. Hopefully, canuck will browse through here soon and give you a male perspective.


I would definitely invest in a few pairs of boots. Get a pair of rainboots and you’ll be really happy you did; During second semester, I feel like it rained every week. Rainboots make your life SO much easier. just throw on some tights, a tshirt/sweatshirt, and those boots and you’ll be ready to go! I would also get a pair of flat boots, brown or black (or both :D). I actually have a couple of pairs; one for parties and nicer ones for other occasions. My party boots had so much crap spilled on them, and I don’t mind because I got them pretty cheap. But if I spilled all of that on my nicer boots, I would have flipped a ____. Boots are great all year round, especially during the winter/fall.
gloves, scarves. love them. great accessories to have. Over the years, I’ve accumulated a mass amount of these, and it was nice during the year to have options. For gloves, you really only need one pair. Scarves: it’s always nice to have more.
Jackets. My jacket count varied over the year, but the number was usually around 5. (Are my shopping tendencies starting to show yet? ;)) **1. Down jacket/heavy duty jacket. For colder days, this saved my life. Look straight down. Those things you see (your feet) will be your mode of transportation as a first year. And so, a down jacket keeps you toasty during the freezing weeks. Shoe is right. We had this 2 week period where it was butt cold. My wool pea coat is great, but not thick enough. ** 2. Wool pea coat. (lol) This is great when it’s cold, but not freezing. It’s classy and an essential. Long or short will do. It depends upon your preference. I have both lol. I tend to use the short one when I’m wearing jeans/sweatshirt and the longer one when I want to look more put together. ** 3. ** Raincoat. It rains like hell sometimes. Bring one and you won’t be soaked through. 4. Light fleece. A light fleece is great for the in between weather. Too hot for a bigger jacket, too cold for a tshirt. I used my light fleece for most of fall, and the beginning parts of spring. I also took it to the library year round. My heavier jacket came with the fleece inside, so I just took the fleece out and wore that. During the colder months, I put them together. (I had a Northface.) and last but not least, 5. Party jacket haha. I love the clothes I buy and didn’t want to ruin any of the nicer jackets I have. So, I got a cheaper wool pea coat that I wore to parties. When you get to a frat house, people just throw their jackets onto a couch and you have to find it later. Sometimes stuff gets spilled on there and I didn’t want to worry about it, hence my party jacket. These are the jackets I had. Essentials: Heavier coat and light jacket/fleece. Recommended: party jacket.
Jeans. It’s ridiculous how many pairs I have. They’ll get you through thick and thin. They also last a long time, so I would definitely bring a couple of pairs. Definitely a pair of darkwash.
Hoodies. I pretty much lived in them during finals week. Most of my hoodies are UVa ones, so just buy them here. My favorite one is a grey one that says Virginia is white letters and I wear it ALL the time. It’s kind of ridiculous.
umbrella!! Life saver. I have a small one I carry in my tote/backpack at all times and it’s definitely gotten me through. I also have a sturdier umbrella for the unfortunate rain + wind combination.


It’s only really, really hot for the first few weeks, at most. After that, the weather settles in to nice 65-80 degree weather for the next couple of months. Tshirts, jeans, shorts, capris, nice tops, cardigans, long sleeve etc etc. will get you through. Since your international, I wouldn’t worry about buying winter clothing until Fall Break. You’ll get by with the clothes you have for the first month or two. After that, take a little shopping trip.

Hope that helps! I had an excess of clothes during the year so I’m not the best example of packing only necessities. But there’s a little info. If you have anymore questions, let me know! Also, if your flying in to the DC area and your roommate lives in NOVA, see if you could visit them before moving in and go on a shopping trip to Tyson’s together; it would be a nice bonding activity and you would be able to buy a lot of new clothes without having to worry about fitting them into your suitcase/going over weight limits. There’s a mall in cville, but not as much selection.