Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Winter fashionwear

I drove through a blizzard and an ice storm and am lived to tell the tale. Above is an artists wedding from a number of years ago, the bride is on the right. The marriage was, however, never consummated, due to an equipment failure.

One artist on the trip was surprised to find out how many layers of clothing some of us were wearing. We were all sitting around and counting how many layers of clothing we had on. Layering is the trick to staying warm when painting outside. T.M. on the right, said he had on eight layers of clothing . I am marching along in my handsome new pantsuit on the right. I have on a set of Cabela's polar weight long underwear, a shirt, bluejeans, the pantsuit, a heavy plaid fleece jacket, a down vest and three hats.

Over top of that I have an arctic weight jacket. That weighs about five pounds it has so much insulation in it. The hats are a brimmed baseball cap, a "Turtlefur" ( a proprietary synthetic) hat and the peculiarly warm orange stocking cap that looks so good on me. I am wearing a pair of ski gloves with a chemical handwarmer packet in each.


Here is Suzy wearing an overall style work suit. When she paints she adds a jacket to the ensemble. The hat has special ears, I don't know exactly why. I have no idea what she has on underneath. Notice the boots on the guy to the right of her, those are the Cabela's trans Alaskas. T.M. is wearing a Carhart winter insulated worksuit with all those layers beneath. As I said yesterday, it was 13 degrees below zero when this shot was taken.

Lucia is modeling a more restrained outfit with snowboard style pants and lots of layers underneath. She is actually a rather small person, but all of those clothes give her a stylish and enlarged appearance. There are lots of modern synthetics that are really warm, Polar fleece and underarmor to name a few. Any outdoor shop can sell you lots of different varieties, even Walmart has a selection. They don't need to be expensive or fancy to work well. My orange hat cost three dollars and is the warmest hat I have ever owned, other than a bomber hat.


Here is Barrett wearing a set of insulated overalls and a bomber hat. Those are real good when there is a wind, the flaps protect your face from freezing, somewhat.

Here are a pair of the Cabelas "superboots" modeled by the lovely Lucia.

It is possible to be completely comfortable if you have enough layers on and good boots, providing you are out of the wind. The wind will freeze any exposed flesh and put you out of business, so you have to set up facing away from it, or paint down in the woods or in the lee of a building for shelter.

20 comments:

mariandioguardi.com said...

I think I'm ready for Snow Camp. Bill and Will gave me some layering tips last year and my husband contributed his arctic blue down jacket that I love because I look like a giant blueberry from Willy Wonka's candy factory. But the problem I am still trying to solve is cold hands.

Any ideas out there!? Will you please say more about the chemical hand warmers? thank you.

The wind... No solution for that except to get out of it when possible.

Sandra Galda said...

I really enjoyed your well written article and your humor again this morning while I sipped my steaming hot fresh ground Starbucks.

barbara b. land of boz said...

Hats on to ya Stape! You guys are a force to be reckoned with....
I use to live in Minot ND. There is nothing like a good 50 below zero to hurry you up while outdoors. I don't like spiders and snakes either. Your painting has a good start to it. Which in that weather is a feat on its own.
Stay safe, the wind chills can be tough on a body. Thank you for coming in out the cold long enough to post....hope you didn't miss a good nocturne with warming your fingers typing(;~}

Michael Chesley Johnson, Artist / Writer said...

Question for you Stape - how do you all avoid snowblindness? There's so much light bouncing around out there with all that snow. I've always found it to be an issue. What do you suggest?

Mary Bullock said...

Bathroom breaks must be a nightmare with all those layers to shed!

billspaintingmn said...

Marian! Cold hands is a sign of a warm heart!
When it gets really cold moving around helps some. The wind chill is what gets dangerous. Frost bite
is nothing to experience.
You don't want to sweat, staying dry is an important part of keeping warm.
I've got to check into those chemical hand warmers.

Mary Byrom said...

I love it ! This is real Vermont weather. I know that weather & temps well. I lived on the top of Burke Hill Rd in West Burke...

Deborah Paris said...

So, we'll be seeing you all on the next edition of Project Runway, right? So chic!

Lucia deLeiris said...

Funny fashion show! In the picture you see only the top layer, but I also have on merino wool long underwear, expedition weight poly pro pants, then work coverall windbreaking paints over that, merino wool top, part wool shirt, fleece jacket, down vest, then two jackets over that. wool scarf, and two hats, and heat packs inside gloves and in my trans-Alaska III Cabella boots! No wonder I look like a Goodyear blimp!

Stapleton Kearns said...

Marian;
More about those handwarmers tonight.
................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Sanra:
Thanks.
Was it a Venti or a Grande? When I order there and they ask me what size? "average".

Stapleton Kearns said...

barbara:
Snakes are never a problem in the cold. I seldom see spiders either, come to think of it.
.........Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Michael;
I went after that tonight.
...........Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Mary;
The whole world is my bathroom.
...................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

bill"
I tell you in tonight's blog where you can get them.
..........Stape

Debra Norton said...

Stape, just gotta ask: Is your orange hat two layers with a very thin layer of foam stuff inside? Looks like the three dollar hat my husband wore and loved when we lived in Minnesota. It stood up by itself, kind of like your hat does.

Stapleton Kearns said...

Deborah;
That must be a TV show? Maybe I will appear in Vogue.
..........Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Mary;
I would like to live in Vermont too.
...................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Lucia;
You are a blog star now!
..................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Debra:
Yes it is.
.................Stape