By OSI EDGE Team member: Christina Han
Chicago is infamous for below freezing temperatures and piercing cold winds.
Coming from someone who absolutely hates the cold, here are some tips on how to keep warm.
- Get a good quality jacket that includes the following:
- Down fur- fur from birds that traps air and helps insulate
- Hood- protects you from the wind
- Waterproof features
At DePaul, you will notice that a majority of the students will wear jackets from brand names such as North Face, Canada Goose, and Patagonia.
Since these jackets come with these big brand names, they tend to be a lot pricier. Although these jackets are definitely pricier, they often come with good warranties and guaranties if something were to happen to them. In addition, they do come with lots of features and are supposed to keep you very warm which is why people think they are worth it.
These types of coats can be found at: northface.com, canadagoose.com. Patagonia.com
- Wear lots of layers:
- The more layers you wear, the more heat you will trap
- Better to have more layers than none at all
- Easy to take off and put on when you get to class
- For the top half: wear a long sleeved shirt under a sweater, and maybe even another on top of that
- For the bottom half: wear leggings under jeans, long wool socks, long underwear
- Highly recommend fleece lined leggings!
Most people that have not experienced the freezing temperatures of Chicago don’t necessarily understand the concept of layering and see it as unnecessary. However each layer does count and makes a huge difference on how warm you will be. It is better to be safe than sorry.
Can be found at: Amazon.com
- Gloves/mittens:
- Invest in a quality pair of gloves
- Hands get cold very easily especially when exposed to freezing temperatures
- Nowadays most gloves are designed with a feature that allows you to text instead of having to take off your gloves to use your phone
- Make sure the elastic at the wrist is tight
- Polyester, spandex, and fleece offer good warmth
In the society we live in today, people can barely go 2 minutes without their phone, even during freezing temperatures. Now with gloves that are phone friendly, people are able to use their phone accordingly without having their fingers and hands freeze off.
Can be found at: Northface.com, target.com, eddiebauer.com
- Scarves:
- Usually knitted or wool
- Put on before your jacket
- Wear around your face as well to act almost as a mask
- Large variety of styles
Scarves are a great way to accessorize while also keeping warm. At DePaul, you can find a large variety of styles when it comes to scarves. The most popular style is the blanket style scarf. They are large, knitted scarves that are big enough to be a blanket but instead worn around the neck. They often come in patterns such as plaid, tartan, and basic colors
Can be found at: Zara.com, Zappos.com, H&M.com
- Hats:
- Knitted
- Fleece
- Fur trimmed
- Ear flaps (prevents frost bites on the ears)
Hats are also an easy and a fashionable way to accessorize. They come in very handy on bad hair days as well. At DePaul you will find a wide variety of different hats. Most of the time you can find students wearing beanies, DePaul knitted beanies especially and hats with earflaps.
Can be found at: DePaul bookstore, Amazon.com
Chicago is mostly known for its monochromatic and minimalistic style. Especially in the wintertime, there are not a lot of vivid colors that can be seen. People will most of the time wear black on black more than anything else. Because Chicago is such a fast paced city it is also difficult to keep up with all the latest trends and styles. But with the help of the Internet, there are hundreds of fashion blogs that exist for the sole purpose of keeping up with all the latest fashions.
Now that you know how to keep yourself warm, here are some tips and trends to help you stay fashion forward during this winter:
For girls:
- “Athleisure”- clothes that are appropriate for either leisure or athletic activities
- Cozy statement Coats
- Winter white sweaters
- Knee high boots
- Black turtle necks
- Tuxedo blazer
- Sweater dress
- Camel coat
- Shearling Coat
For guys:
- Corduroy pants
- Striped sweaters
- Bomber Jackets
- Slim fitted pants
- Camel coat
- Plaid
- Turtleneck sweaters
- Corduroy trousers
…Christina Han is currently in her first year at DePaul and is interested in communications and marketing. Christina is also a member of the OSI EDGE Team, where she will be planning an event with other members for Earth Week at DePaul!
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