Let’s talk underwear
Specifically thermal underwear.
Some years, it’s like God hits a light switch one day and makes summer turn to winter. Today has been such a day. Thank you, equinox.
I’m determined not to be cold this winter, so I’ve been shopping for some kind of longjohns. I find the world of fancy modern high-tech drawers very confusing. The new miracle fabrics are pitched to high performance winter athletes, who will be skiing or running and need something to wick sweat away.
That’s not me. I’m a sedentary old woman in a drafty 500 year old house and I just want to preserve all my precious body heat while I sit and shitpost. I don’t mind splashing out some money if the modern stuff is worth having.
Any underwear experts in the house? Am I just as well buying an old fashioned cotton union suit?
p.s. I know that’s a man in the picture, but it’s billed as unisex and it’s a woman in the main shot.
p.p.s. No, I do not want the zipper flap in the back, thank you.
p.p.p.s. Have a good weekend, everyone!
Posted: September 22nd, 2023 under personal.
Comments: 17
Comments
Comment from LesterIII
Time: September 22, 2023, 7:00 pm
Cotton does NOT equal warmth, Your Stoatliness.
Alpaca is miraculously warm. Socks, base-layers, etc. And it is very resistant to getting odiferous. I have to buy GOOD cold-weather gear ‘cuz as the weather got colder, my Borzoi (Russian Wolfhound) refused to go back inside when we went walking. We averaged 9miles a day in winter. He passed in February, but I now have his 10mo old grandson, so…
Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: September 22, 2023, 7:01 pm
Hunt around on sporting sites for military surplus cold weather gear.
Way cheaper, used by people who are out in crappy weather all day and won’t be nipping into the chalet for a toddy after a couple hours on the slopes.
I can recommend some of the Marine surplus which I wear, and Durnedson #3 wears while unloading planes out on the windswept plains of DFW airport when the temperatures drop into the too damned cold range.
Comment from QuasiModo
Time: September 22, 2023, 10:01 pm
Have a nice weekend everyone 🙂
Comment from Uncle Al
Time: September 22, 2023, 11:56 pm
I’m sorry I don’t have much to offer on this: I’ve been in sunny SW Florida for more than eleven years now.
But I do suggest you pay particular attention to keeping your head insulated with a decent cap or hat. Shitposting takes serious brain power and the increased cranial blood flow makes for rapid heat loss. Take a look at a good propellor beanie or an antique Royal Navy officer’s bicorn hat. (-:
edit: Forgot to also suggest a real classic: the bearskin Beefeater cap!
Comment from p2
Time: September 23, 2023, 1:01 am
Take it from a guy who lives where we have 4 seasons: June, July, August and winter. Temps in the -40s are common, it’ll be snowing in 2 weeks ans we won’t see grass again till late April. Merino wool if you’re gonna be outside and just add another layer of something if not. Anything too warm and you’ll overheat, then feel even colder when you step out. I get the Brit winters, I lived throught 8 or 10 of ‘em in a couple places about half as old as yours..and I’ll be honest…I was colder there at 30 above than I’ve ever been here in Alaska, even at -50. It’s DAMP there and that truly is miserable. At any rate, it’s just one day closer to summer,
Comment from Veeshir
Time: September 23, 2023, 1:04 am
I’ve used the old style long johns for over 40 years and they work great.
These days, for lounging around the house, I got a fluffy bathrobe and warm MyPillow slippers.
I live in AZ and rarely turn on the heat. It does hit the 40s and even the 30s.
Which might not sound cold, unless you get cold when it’s 60.
I use longjohns for going outside in the cold.
Comment from Mitch
Time: September 23, 2023, 3:29 am
I could knit y’all a pair of wool hats if you like! I’ve got more than a life’s worth of yarn on hand and plenty of time on my hands.
Comment from Deborah HH
Time: September 23, 2023, 3:31 am
My US Navy veteran JavaSon swears by Polypropylene long underwear. The Navy sent him to a lot of dangerously cold places. You can order via the internet from anywhere if you can’t find it locally in a sports shop.
Personally, I love long, ankle-length skirts in something heavy, especially corduroy. Soft wooly sweater on top, soft woolly socks on feets. And a woolly kerchief/bandana tied around head, which looks feminine and wifely, never frumpy. Gold earrings optional.
It was 97 degrees today in Amarillo (breaking the record for this date). JavaMan spent the day digging deep to install a freeze-proof water faucet in the back yard so we can water our trees this winter. The weatherman promises cooler temps soon.
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: September 23, 2023, 7:34 am
Why are alpaca panties and boxers such a thing?
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: September 23, 2023, 8:01 am
That’s a very kind offer, Mitch, but we’re kind of hat mad. My mother used to say her children were born wearing hats – which, if you ask me, sounds awfully painful for her.
p2 has the right of it – it doesn’t really get cold here, it gets miserable. It only dips below freezing a few times a year, but it’s damp and horrible much of the time. Because everyone in the organisation is terribly old, we keep the office toasty – lucky me. It’ only home I have to worry about.
Right. To start, I’ve ordered some milsurp. I should have thought of that. Cheap and sturdy.
Comment from steve
Time: September 23, 2023, 1:22 pm
OK, so no zipper in the back.
You looking for the tried and true 2 button drop seat?
Comment from Anonymous
Time: September 23, 2023, 6:57 pm
I bought this for Mrs. Pupster when we lived in MN, she said it was too hot and she hated that she had to take it all the way off to go potty:
https://www.amazon.com/Forever-Lazy-Adult-Onesie-Skulls/dp/B015QCBZEQ?ref_=ast_sto_dp
^I guess that would be an anti-recommendation.
I did grab a pair of her yoga pants once in an emergency, (the dog was making that hurka-hurka noise), they were very comfortable, warm, and made my butt look fantastic.
Comment from Some Vegetable
Time: September 25, 2023, 1:33 am
The best thing you can buy is an electrically heated toilet seat. You don’t need one with all the buttons and bidet – just heat. These changed my life one long winter when I lived in a place with no central heat.
Not a recommendation here; just an example
https://heatedtoiletseat.com/products/heated-elongated-toilet-seat
Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: September 25, 2023, 10:22 am
Tee hee – get the portable one and wear it around the house.
Seriously though.
https://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/us-military-surplus-level-7-primaloft-ecw-waterproof-pants-new?a=2059717
These are awesome, don’t let the sizing throw you. They’re kinda like ski mobile pants. They have Velcro adjusts for the waist band and zippers all over so you can put them on over regular clothes, without taking your footwear off. Surprisingly “soft” and warm without sweating you unless you are working in them. Easy to get on or off.
I’ve thrown them on when one of our hounds was making the “hurka hurka” noise too… A lovely sound at 2:00 AM.
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: September 25, 2023, 6:47 pm
Steve, it’s a female thing – you have to take them around your ankles to pee, so you might as well not bother with the back hatch.
Comment from steve
Time: September 25, 2023, 9:22 pm
@stoaty:
Women have a plumbing system that is incomprehensible to the male of the species.
Comment from MrKnowitall
Time: October 2, 2023, 11:46 pm
I’m rather late to the party, but I will second having a good hat.
Next up, warm feets! Look on Amazon for Camp Booties. Something like the Outdoor Research Women’s Tundra Aerogel Booties will make you Very Happy Indeed come chilly-time. Not for outdoors, but great for sitting/puttering around the house. Mrs Knowitall got some as a prezzie last year and was exclaiming all the cold months, “Best Present EVAR!”
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