That is my age: I'd rather be warm than cool

You may remember my friend Caroline, she bravely appeared on the blog - in control pants and very little else - the December before last.  We thanked her for her services to womankind and Caroline generously agreed to do some more modelling. Here she is with her clothes on, road-testing the Women's Luxe Down Parka from Lands' End:

One freezing morning last month, waiting for a bus, I was transfixed by a girl ahead of me in the queue. She was setting off for work wearing – as you do in mid-December - a lightweight leather jacket, miniskirt and ballet flats. No tights, of course, no hat, no gloves – in fact, no concession at all to the fact that it was around 0 degrees out and completely Nordic. From the way she was holding the edges of her jacket together, it was obvious she was frozen, but I suppose she figured it was worth it. After all, if she’d worn a coat like a normal person, the rest of us in the queue wouldn’t have been able to admire her beauteous 21-year-old form.

Underdressing in winter is one of those youth things that makes me glad I’m old. Young women evidently believe that if they wrap up in a scarf, hat and down jacket (ie, what I was wearing), they’ll look frumpy. Well, maybe they would. But guess what? They’d feel so much better, because nothing beats the feeling of not freezing your butt off. I know she wouldn’t have believed that, though. It’s something you don’t discover till you’re 40.

And therein the dividing line between youth and middle age. When I was young, my winter coat was an unlined linen swing coat, under which, in really cold weather,  I might wear a cardigan. Looking stylish was the goal, and if I froze, well, it was in the service of fashion. But now, twenty-odd years later, I’d never leave the house on a cold day without a down jacket, gloves, scarf and hat. (For especially Arctic conditions, I also have little glove-warmers – plastic sachets you pre-heat in the microwave and then wear inside your gloves. Though talking about them is making me feel a bit orthopaedic, so forget I mentioned them).

Basically – and the 20-year-old me would be aghast by this – when the temperature plummets, I  care more about comfort than glamour: I’d just rather be warm than cool. Maybe this is a point all of us reach eventually, when we realise that it’s okay to let go of certain ideas about how we should look. I appreciate that it’s the thin end of the wedge, but sometimes you have to bow to the demands of your inner thermostat.

Which brings me to the coat I’ve been road-testing. That's Not My Age asked me to try out a Lands’ End down parka, and the thing has been a near-revelation. I’d been getting through the last few winters in a Gap down jacket, which was fine, but this jacket is something else. Not only is it much warmer, it has the kind of little touches that make me groan with pleasure: a fleecy neck and cuffs (think how chilly your neck gets), soft, deep pockets so you can thrust your hands in up to your forearms and three additional buttoned/zipped pockets for carrying things. There’s also a detachable hood and a belt, neither of which I use (the belt might make me look more hourglassy, but I prefer the extra waist-room). I’m delighted by this jacket as I haven’t been by an piece of clothing since…I can’t even remember. I may never be cool again. But, dammit, I’ll be warm.


Has your wardrobe changed over the years? Do you care more about comfort than glamour?



PS The parka's in the sale!