<p>D is frugal but figuring out that her Northface Fleece is not going to be enough to get her through the Indiana winter. What do you midwesterners recommend? She wants something for everyday wear. She has a 15 minute walk each direction from her car to class. She has an old Northface Denali and a newer Northface Osito Fleece. She wants something warmer and something that is better against the wind. She is also frugal but I think she is going to have to get over it and spend some money on something warm.
She also has to figure out what she wants for her feet. She presently wears running shoes or the Ugg knockoffs from Costco. What is good when it gets icy? She doesn’t dress up unless she has to. Her everyday outfit is leggings or sweats or exercise pants. So she is not looking for anything fashionable.</p>
<p>S insisted on the Northface Windpro Denali. It doesn’t look warm enough to me, but he wanted something that would protect from the wind and be warm. I think he is going to have to layer a sweatshirt/jacket under it. He didn’t want anything bulky to walk around campus and he says that it is perfect. He did say that it does block the wind. He goes to school in Michigan. I would have liked him to get more of a ski jacket type coat, but what do I know!</p>
<p>We are in the same situation for boots. He has never worn them but realizes he needs something besides athletic shoes. He is looking at Timberland boots.</p>
<p>Uggs work perfectly fine when it’s icy…and they are warm. If your kiddo likes them, I would suggest Bearpaws. They are like Uggs and are about $60 a pair. I think they are more like Uggs than the Costco knockoffs.</p>
<p>If your kiddo has a Northface fleece, why not get the windbreaker that goes over THAT fleece? Doesn’t Norhtface make a windjacket that the fleece can hook into? My kiddo has an EMS fleece with windbreaker.</p>
<p>I grew up in the midwest…and my family all lives there. Everyone there wears something that is downlike. Again…Northface makes a lot of choices as do REI ane EMS.</p>
<p>We are in Ohio and my kids often prefer to just wear the NF Fleece with a hooded sweatshirt underneath. D does have a parka type jacket, but only wears it on the days that are bitterly cold or snowing (protects against wetness).</p>
<p>If she goes to a shoe store - or even Target if she is frugal, there will be plenty of choices. Something comfortable to her, probably not with heels and something that will also be ok for when it’s slushy.</p>
<p>They have cute puffy down jackets that a lot of the kids are wearing.</p>
<p>Wear what you’d have her wear if she were going to school in New England. It’s really no different IMO.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl- she grew up on the beach in Ca. No clue what one would wear in New England. The girl owns 20 pairs of flip flops and a dresser full of tank tops.
Today she wore leggings under sweats, ugg boots, silk tank top, regular tank top, long sleeve t shirt,sweatshirt and the north face fleece and was freezing.
For shoes she is finding the Ugg boots while warm don’t have any structure and are hard on her feet.
Also allergic to down.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl…New Englander here…DS went to college in Boston. Students just layered their hoodies and fleece tops. DS had a leather jacket that he wore when it was bitter cold. </p>
<p>DD had a down jacket from the Gap…a little longer than the average jacket as that was a little warmer.</p>
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<p>Lots of good synthetics that mimic down out there now. </p>
<p>Boots…ha ha ha…my New England kids NEVER owned a pair of boots when they were in New England for either high school or college wear. They had boots to wear while shoveling snow…but not to wear to school…not ever. They are both still alive to talk about it.</p>
<p>However, they DID both have scarves, gloves and hats. These things can make a huge differenc keeping you warm. They both said that wearing a scarf and gloves with a hoodie and fleece really kept them warm. If it was really cold…they layered a hoodie with the fleece.</p>
<p>They both were in the ski club so had really warm ski wear…but they didn’t wear that elsewhere.</p>
<p>I would suggest that the OP’s daughter look and see what others are wearing. She can use that and her own personal preference to keep warm. </p>
<p>P.S. I remember many very cold winter nights in Boston when I saw kids in pj pants and flip flops (no kidding) making their way from the dorm to the dining hall in the snow.</p>
<p>cotton isn’t very warm- if where she is, is damp at all- that will make her cold.
Wool is warm- she can also get insoles for the boots- but I like the north face for snow boots.
if the most she is outside is 15 minutes- she perhaps isn’t getting moving enough to * get warm*</p>
<p>she’ll adapt.</p>
<p>thumper I agree with the scarves and hats.
I am hoping my D will get a parka this year- she snowboards often and usually wears a hoodie with a shell.
makes me cold just to think about it.</p>
<p>I agree with alot of what Thumper says. </p>
<p>The right coat/boots is something that she is willing to wear. Doesn’t matter what we think is appropriate or warm or waterproof - they have to be willing to wear it. I’ll be the first to say, that myself, I hate the bulk of a coat and would rather freeze for a few minutes than be stuffed into a bulky coat.</p>
<p>But true, most kids are willing to do some hats, scarves or mittens/gloves. Some combination!</p>
<p>I love my North Face Denali, but it’s not warm enough for dead of winter…my kids layer up…the best “top” layer are the soft shellls. Not a “windbreaker” but a weatherproof, windproof, soft shell. There are many at all different pricepoints. They are not warm enough alone for the dead of winter but over a North Face Denali or a down vest or one of the new down equivalents might be warm enough. Mine also have down jackets for the zero degree weather.</p>
<p>She does need to get acclimated. And today was chilly, not cold. It will be 30 to 40 degrees colder in January and February. Midwest winters are infamous.
She needs long underwear (silk is good - no, you don’t change it every day), wool pants and sweaters, cashmere-blend socks, etc. Hoodies aren’t a jacket, they’re a layering piece. For coats and other outdoor gear, Canadian brands are usually very good. Coats should be water repellant and long enough to cover the tush. Down is by far the warmest material but… can she wear something that’s fur-lined?
Boots should have a good tread and cover the ankles, even the calves. Zippers are far easier than lace ups.</p>
<p>She is my kid who doesn’t care what she wears. She can dress up when the occasion calls for it but for school she is all about comfort not style. And at this point about being warm. She is seeing a lot of uggs and North Face and Columbia but many of the students who come from a colder climate are still in shorts and sweatshirts while she has every piece of clothing she owns on.
Her walk is pretty long. It is long enough that she has lost about 10 lbs just from walking back and forth several times a day.</p>
<p>I have always found Columbia to have warm jackets. LL Bean and Lands End have a good assortment. You have to go through a few pages online but you can find jackets that are warm to -20 that do not have down. As for boots, most kids at school run around in sneakers all winter (some even do flip flops!); but if she is going to play in the snow then she will need real winter boots. Just for ideas, take a look at the boots at Bergners. They have quite a few practical boots (ie- no high heel, not made of fabric). If she does get a suede boot, make sure she gets waterproofing spray; otherwise her feet will get wet and cold. And yes, good mitts (much warmer than gloves), hats and scarfs. I would own several pairs of mitts, gloves and hats as they tend to get left somewhere. Oh and smartsocks are lovely and warm.</p>
<p>Your D needs warmer clothes! I went to college in Michigan and my D went in Colorado, so we both learned to bundle up. I used to absolutely freeze in the winter walking on campus because I didn’t have the proper clothes.</p>
<p>My D wears a down-like ski jacket or her down jacket and always silk long underwear or Smartwool under jeans, or sometimes tights. REI has a sale right now on some Smartwool and silk items for women. They have Smartwool socks, hats, and scarves on sale too. </p>
<p>Maybe a wool pea coat if she doesn’t want down? I live in Seattle, and I’m already wearing my down jacket! I also wear thin wool socks all winter. Also, a silk turtleneck underneath or Smartwool shirt will help her keep warm.</p>
<p>She needs some boots with good traction soles and warm furry lining. How about Merrell? I have some that are like Uggs, but with good support and non-slip soles. There is a cute style now with button straps on the sides.</p>
<p>I think it’s really important to have warm enough clothes in college, or otherwise the whole winter is much harder.</p>
<p>I was working with a guy who moved from Minn to North Dakota and said Seattle was colder- cause in ND, you could go inside to get warm.
Here, everything is always damp.
wool is a lot warmer than down, cause the wind doesn’t go through.
but I have a down vest I wear underneath my wool jacket.</p>
<p>IMHO, you can get a lot more warmth (down jacket or otherwise) for your money by going with Lands’ End, LLBean, or Eddie Bauer, especially when they have a sale (Eddie Bauer was having their down sale last time I was in there a couple of weeks back, don’t know if it’s still going on). Then there’s Sierra Trading Company and CampMor.
North Face is crazy expensive (unless you can find last year’s models on clearance - and even still, you could probably do better with other brands’ sales) and seems to be for the “status-whore” types who pay extra bucks just because it’s the “in” brand. YMMV. They don’t even give temperature ratings for their outerwear, the way most other companies do, so it’s hard to know what you’re getting.</p>
<p>My daughter in Indiana wears a wool pea coat on all but the coldest winter days. She has, I think, 2-3 pairs of Uggs, one of which has a thick fairly structured sole. She is from southern California and complains about getting hot on her walks to classes.</p>
<p>I went to grad school there back in the day; it really doesn’t get that cold.</p>
<p>Californians are not primed for cold weather. I went to Disneyland recently on a cooler summer day. I literally saw some people wearing ski jackets! And West Coasters don’t know cold even when they are going down a hill. You have to be scraping a block of ice in Vermont, with horrid wind chill, to understand true pain while skiing. </p>
<p>If this DD grew up on a Cali beach, she will be colder than the average person IMHO.</p>
<p>Nordstrom Rack often carries very discounted Uggs. Last year I bought a knee-length, uber-warm down jacket from Land’s End for my DD. She never wore it. Instead she complained frequently about the cold while choosing her waist-length down jacket instead.</p>
<p>I think she might be better served by buying her clothes after she gets there. Who knows what she’ll prefer.</p>
<p>For my Chicago-college winter, I bought a long purple down coat that went almost to the ground (school color was purple). It was great for back then, but it wouldn’t be the look for today. Is there a store near her campus?</p>