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I love wearing my skirts. But damn it was much easier in the summer. Just get up throw on a skirt and head out the door. But with the cold weather you have to worry about trying to keep warm. Heck I am going out to buy another lottery ticket. and if I win I moving some place warm.

JeffB1959 wrote: I've been out in a miniskirt and tights when temps were in the low 40's and was perfectly comfortable. No big deal really.

Same here. And I've sat through choir practices in a chilly church thus attired, feeling no cooler than several trousered people looked. Last night the outside temperature was below 40 so a bit chilly for a mini - I decided to go for a fairly heavy black knee-length needlecord skirt. With my red tights, which are really thick, to brighten things up a bit. Fine and cosy!

ACCLIMATION - if you only wear your unbifrucated gear infrequently you are going to have some problems when the weather turns on the serious side
of "COLD" ! "Serious side of COLD aka 'WINDCHILL FACTOR'" Sub-Zero temps and aggressive winds result in freeze dried flesh !
On a warmer note a body can take the cold up to a point and shrug it off if one has been gradually adjusted to it. Being out of the winds vortex helps a great deal !
Dampness can accelerate the cold feeling - so most of the level headed folk here at SC don't come out of a Viking Fjord and gather in kilts in the knave of church and
say How Cold Is It ? Suffice to say wearing a wee bit more clothing (of any type) can mitigate the frigid conditions to one's favor.
So don't be that person demonstrating the wearing of the Emperor's New Wardrobe in the eye of the storm !
Otherwise we will be missing another SC member to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" that funny farm with basket weaving and chirping Penguins ! ROFLOL !

r.m.anderson wrote:[...] On a warmer note a body can take the cold up to a point and shrug it off if one has been gradually adjusted to it. [...]

Spoken like a true Minnesotan! I generally view being out and about when it's cold -- and especially if it's cold and wet -- as being the purview of the masochist.

Fortunately, it hasn't gotten mind-numbingly cold here yet. (Blast it, give me an honest cold of about -5 F and 10% RH instead of 31 F and 90% RH with a breeze. The former is at least dangerous; the latter only feels like it and one wants to die from it, but won't.)

I've lived where it snows heavily and temperatures sometimes run below 0° F (Chicago).

I've also lived where it never snows and temperatures, even during the middle of the night in winter, never go below freezing (Phoenix, Arizona).

Warmer is better.

Even though daytime temperatures in summer sometimes exceed 110° F.

At least you don't have to shovel 110° F.

Ok so you have lived for a period of time in both extremes. All being said it has to be easier to try to stay cool than it is to try to stay warm

oldsalt1 wrote:Ok so you have lived for a period of time in both extremes. All being said it has to be easier to try to stay cool than it is to try to stay warm

Trying to be COOL - it easier to stay cool by removing layers of clothing until ala natural but then one is exposed to the dangers of HEAT ala Sun Burn !
But then enter the factor of WIND BURN in combination - strange how that works - cool on the inside and toasting on the outside skin.

And the opposing try to stay WARM is a matter of layering until one is like a Michelin Man in a space suit.
But then the internal cooling system evaporation of sweat perspiration may introduce other factors of boiling (or drowning) in one's own humidity *.
*Think of the space suits that if the hydration is not reduced the wearer could drown - such is the case of the space suit cooling and heating.

Fortunate we don't live at the poles nor in a parched desert - in either place wearing unbifurcated clothing would be a life threatening disaster !
In those extremes not suitably covering up exposed skin is the act of fashion suicide.

So be COOL and WARM in moderation !

I've found that if I keep my lower legs warm, it doesn't really matter what I have on above them. Case in point, 34 deg F, filtered sun, so there wasn't much effect on body temperature.



Lightweight cotton summer dress. What was keeping me warm was the wool kilt socks.

If you go onto the lookbook.nu site and look at the outfits worn by the women there who live in colder climates, that can give some ideas. Sometimes, they wear PH with either OTK or knee-high socks with their skirts and dresses. Or, they might just wear OTK or thigh-high socks and forego the PH, depending on the thickness of the layers of clothing they're wearing on the torso area of their bodies. Other women do what I do. Then, some do the thick tights and leggings...

-J

oldsalt1 wrote:Ok so you have lived for a period of time in both extremes. All being said it has to be easier to try to stay cool than it is to try to stay warm

I guess in NC you could say we have either the best or the worst of both worlds, as to temperature, since we can get a good dose of both extremes. The plus side is that neither extreme lasts in seeming infinitum. Now if we could just do something about the humidity...

I have an old friend who lived in Phoenix for a while, and spoke often about the extreme heat - his job kept him in and out of a vehicle all day - but I often poo-pooed his complaints bu telling him that it was, after all, "dry heat" so it was bearable. He once retorted "So is your oven. Try spending a day in there."

I am currently in Texas visiting my son. The weather has been sunny and around 80F. If it's this hot in late November, I dont think I'd care to be here in July.

dillon wrote:...I have an old friend who lived in Phoenix for a while, and spoke often about the extreme heat - his job kept him in and out of a vehicle all day - but I often poo-pooed his complaints bu telling him that it was, after all, "dry heat" so it was bearable. He once retorted "So is your oven. Try spending a day in there..."

I've lived in Phoenix for 30 years now and while you never get used to the summer heat, you do get resigned to it and you do learn to cope.

And in return you get to live in one of the most scenic places on Earth: the pine forests, the painted desert, Monument Valley, the red rock of Sedona, mountains up to 13,000 feet, the Sonoran Desert, Indian ruins and petroglyphs, ghost towns, abandoned mines, abandoned ranches, the Grand Canyon...

And while 100 days a year over 100°F may be a nuisance, al least you don't have to shovel it.

I found that ballet tights for men are a good compromise between excessively hot leggings, and insufficiently warm hose. And they offer good coverage for us with less than aesthetic legs.

How thick are they? I find 100 denier are pretty good at keeping the legs warm.

skirtyscot wrote:How thick are they? I find 100 denier are pretty good at keeping the legs warm.

LOL, no idea. Just search Discount Dance. Denier? They aren't required to state that here. What country do you think I live in? LOL!

Most pantyhose and tights sold in the US don't have a denier rating. Instead, pantyhose are sold as ultra-sheer, super-sheer, sheer, and so forth with no definition of those terms.

Tights are heavier and usually colored, but still not sold by denier. I wish they were. It would certainly reduce confusion when buying.

Leggings, unlike both pantyhose and tights, are mostly cotton, made from a fabric similar to a t-shirt plus some Lycra. In addition, for some reason leggings are usually footless. Maybe that's because they don't stretch as much as, say, tights.

I mostly wear leggings for cold temperatures where (of course) you also want some foot covering. So I also wear socks, either under or over the leggings.

By the way, for those of us who have trouble finding legwear that fits longer/more muscular legs and/or embarrassingly out-of-shape beer bellies, I stumbled across a very roomy yet affordable brand last week: Lissele plus size women's tights. Some buyers complained that they are too long, both in the leg and in the waist ("I am 5'4" and the waist comes up to my neck") so I thought I'd give them a try. Sure enough it's the first brand I've found that wasn't too short in the legs, which means there's no worry about them sagging down when I'm active or knotting up around the family jewels or stretching to tear every time I bend my legs. I'd prefer a more sheer fabric for warmer weather or a cable knit weave for colder weather, but the cotton works well enough and the opacity covers my yeti-hairy legs nicely.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YT8RBRE