As someone who runs cold, one reason I don’t like summer dressing is A/C…If i’m going to be going somewhere i can’t go out without something that i can put on over what I’m wearing….and than what do you do with that item when you are actually outside?
another reason, I think more about what’s appropriate in the summer than in the winter, where jeans just seem to be ok in 90% of situations. Maybe i just understand winter dressing better.

Kkards, I might be fooling myself, but it seems to me that I understand what to wear in Florida summers now better than I did when I lived there.

But all this discussion of being too hot or too cold reminds me of the maxiim “there’s no bad gear, just bad weather”. The one exception to that, I think, is spending extended amounts of time outside in very hot weather because, as Janet noted, eventually there isn’t anything else you can take off. But there are few of us here who are required to stay out in the heat.

Well , as a real fan of fall and winter dressing and NOT a fan of summer dressing at all , I’ll explain what goes through my mind : 99% of summer dresses make me look atrocious . Don’t even talk to me about skirts - they never fit and I find it really difficult to find tops to work with them . So my summer wardrobe consists of shorts , cropped pants , joggers and athletic gear . I have a far bigger range of options for fall with layers , luxurious knits , jeans , leather pants and leggings , blazers , coats coats coats ( I love coats ) , boots , scarves etc. I can find dresses that work because I can wear tights with them in the winter , and overall I feel far more “dressed” . I don’t like having to be self conscious about my arms , my legs , whether my bra is creating back fat rolls etc that show through light weight tops - UGH . None of this happens with cold weather clothing . I’m 10x your size though so you may not relate Summer fabrics wrinkle , look super casual , are often in colours I don’t wear - and at the end of the day I feel like a hot mess : literally .

Just a matter of personal preference.

I'm not a creature of hot weather - my heart sinks as the thermometer goes up. I just don't function well in temps above a certain level.

I had a nice summer office wardrobe, when I worked and could be cocooned in air conditioning. But the moment I had to go outside - sweating, makeup stains, discomfort all around (not the clothes - me!!!).

How about this turnaround - just for good spirited fun:

I am honestly confused why most people here prefer summer dressing. I prefer winter dressing by lot. There is so much more variety in winter dressing - there are knit skirts, kilts, sweater dresses, culottes, corduroys, flannels, blouses, sweaters (and more sweaters oh my!!), brogues, boots short and tall, loafers, tweed jackets, velvet blazers, denim upon denim, silk scarves, wooly scarves, leather jackets, big coats, anything shearling, all kinds of fun hats, gloves and much more… And so much more rich and luxurious colors. I have planned so many winter outfits to wear and will not have enough time to wear all before the spring. Summer dressing is so boring. It is shorts/tees/sandals/rumpled linen (most of which I don't wear anyway). And mostly complexion draining pastels. And hiding in air conditioning. I get tired of everything usually half way through.

Sloper, you forgot sundresses and silk and technical fabrics, bright colors, whites, graphic patterns, black or navy and white contrasts, simple loafers or sneakers, Bobby Sox—or no socks at all, swishy skirts, capris/pedal pushers/clamdiggers/whatever you call them, vests as shorts, floaty tops/dresses, and hats.

Sloper, LOL @ the turnaround.

I was dressed for the day today when I realized I had not yet watered the garden. I went outside and basically held a hose for 20 minutes, and came in drenched with sweat.

I suspect that the people who love dressing for summer define summer differently than we have it here. This is not lovely 75 and sunny summer. It reached 105 "real feel" here today and I had to crank the AC in my car to keep from melting. I'm really glad I got the model of my car that has built in seat cooling/heating.

One thing I like for sure in summer- many different tops/tees/tanks and some skirts for quick update on the style. Winter dressing is the same things all over again without much update ( I can find much less options for myself in pants/sweaters or dresses- since I need 0% of polyester in my clothing/ except some hiking gear ).
So - summer is better for me . Even though busses could feel like freezer on wheels, AC requires layering and hot weather lasts a long time..

Fashintern - you missed the point of my hopefully well-intentioned "turnaround."

Anchie likes summer because of all the things in her original post (and no doubt the things you mentioned as well). For her, winter means, in contrast, a limited choice of clothing in a limited choice of colors that for her, quickly becomes boring.

I'm gently, and in a friendly manner, making a light point that for this winter-lover, I enjoy the plethora of cold weather colors, fabrics, and clothing choices. For me, summer clothes and colors (that I personally enjoy wearing and CAN wear, given some health limitations that no one wants to hear about) are limited.

It's all in fun, get it?

Janet - I hear you! I'm a true mole person and only creep out when the sun has sunk to within a few degrees of the horizon.

Janet, the weather you describe sounds much more like Tampa than like Fairfax, where I lived for 3 years around the time my son was born. Has it changed that much in less than 2 decades, or was it always hotter where you are than in the West side of DC?

Sloper, glad you meant it in fun. I’m laughing at your “mole person” description—this is how much sun we have right now. The response for how many hours of dark makes me giggle.

Well, I said it before - summer dressing all the way.
It comes to two things - high/low temperatures tolerance and lifestyle.
I can’t stand cold but it must be at least +28 before I would consider turning AC on.
May be for some winter means they can wear fancy boots, nice coat and a light scarf but not for me. I’m too cold once it’s below -5C.
I don’t drive, so I can’t wear any of my wool coat from December to March with only a few occasional warm days or when going to events. No to dresses, I wear midi dresses and just below a knee puffy. So, this “layered “ look is not for me. I haven’t found a midi puffer that would not swallow my 5’3 (160 cm on a good day) frame. Winter pants, oh please... no to cords or tweedy fabrics, they are a shapeless mess after sitting for hours behind a desk in the office. What else? A flat hair after wearing a hat? Day after day wearing either a sweater or a cardigan - I don’t find comfortable wearing a blazer under puffers. I have too many sweaters because I got so bored with them. And don’t let me started on ugly boots.

To be honest, when I say that I prefer winter dressing I mean Fall, those beautiful cool months of Fall when wool coats ,layers, scarves and beautiful boots come to play.( I live in Toronto)
As some of the posters mentioned before comfort is a big part of it. Although I like the more relaxed vibe of summer clothes( at least for me) going outside in the hot and humid weather just makes me wilted, uncomfortable and not very fabulous.

I am a summer person, which is fortunate as I live in a summer heavy climate. Our winters are mild, and I do enjoy wearing my large assortment of jackets and coats, but my body only truly relaxes when I am warm. Summer dressing means showing off my shoes too.

I am with Irina here 100%. I also don’t drive, so I can wear wool coats and short jackets for only a few weeks of transitional weather. Cropped pants, culottes, skirts, dresses and blouses are completely out of question - it is not just cold here but very windy, and cold wind is getting to the bones. My office is also not warm enough in the winter, even with all the layers I became completely miserable sitting behind my desk, watching my fingers turning purple. When I became too cold in the office in summer because of AC, I take a quick walk outside in the sun to get warm, but it is not an option in winter.
And another point- I am mostly outside in early morning and late afternoon which is the nicest part of summer day, but the worst part of winter day when it is still/already dark.

I suppose the thing for me is being in a place built before a/c, when it gets hot … well, you just take a long siesta and hide. Everything is a trial. Nothing works. And even if it wouldn’t get you arrested, going naked isn’t an option either ‘cuz: sunburn.

I prefer summer dressing over winter - and for me this is why:

- I suit spring/summer colours and am drawn to dresses and sandals
- whilst neither summer or winter here is extreme, the winter here is often wet (especially this year - not at all last year!)
- NZ lifestyles, homes, buildings are built around summer. And with Christmas and the end of the year being in summer - winter is a long drag with no holidays to look forward to. Whereas summer is all about the beach, long evenings, end of year parties etc..
- air con is not as prevalent here

I can totally understand why others prefer winter, or fall, or spring dressing though.

Irina/Anchie, what’s the wool coat/car disconnect about? I don’t drive or have a car here, but I wear my wool coat a lot.

Not warm enough to be outside a lot.

Well I am with Anchie, and Sal above put everything exactly right for me since we both live in cities under 2 hours drive away from each other. What’s best about our country is built around summer.
( Apart from skiing, but I am not much of a skier and last skied in 2008).
Winter is cold, dark and rainy. I don’t mind autumn and spring.

I L O V E winter dressing. For me it's the dark tones, the layers, the heavy often textured fabrics. Oh and don't forget the boots! I wear boots every single day in winter. To a point I feel winter dressing lends itself to some serious creativity because you can layer more and play more

High five, Deborah!

From your responses I gather that climate and heat/cold tolerance plays somewhat bigger role than style preferences with notable exceptions like lisap

Seems to me that heat/cold tolerance beats out climate--maybe your wool coats aren't as warm as mine, but it might just be that I have more "natural insulation" against the cold. As Janet pointed out, she and Suntiger live in the same area and have opposite responses to the weather there. I'd love to hear more than one person's style preferences for one season over the other.

Style wise, I really like Bijou glam winter style, with pleated skirts, capes, dresses, short jackets, wool coats and fur. But that would work for me only maybe in October.

Haha - yes, I am that odd person who doesn't mind the cold. I can warm up a lot faster than I can cool down. Maybe it's all my extra body fat The forecast is for +30C all week and I'm trying not to cry. All it means is that the AC comes on, and everyone is driven indoors with windows and blinds shut. What fun is that?

“ AC comes on, and everyone is driven indoors with windows and blinds shut. What fun is that?”
Sounds just like my life in Florida, with a kid who didn’t like the beach! For a few days, I’m fine with the heat, but there needs to be an end.

Stylewise, there’s one thing about my moniker Quirky Waif - the waif comes from ‘spooky waif.’ That is, I’m overly fond of punk and spooky poetness. Summer clothing is really neither, except for the truly awful gas station t-shirt…

I am on Team Fall and Winter 100%! This has been a fascinating thread to read. It seems like how we commute (by car or on foot) is really important too, along with color preferences, layering preferences, and how hot or cold we run. Here is my story, to add another data point!

I live in the Great Lakes region of the US, so winter temps are quite cold (e.g., in January, average daytime temp is 31 F/-1 C, nighttime temp is 17 F/-8 C). I like the cold--much prefer it to hot, humid weather--and temperatures around freezing, especially if it's sunny and not windy, feel very mild to me.

We are outside for extended periods every day, even when it's frigid, because we walk our dog three times per day (my SO and I alternate this duty). I do have a puffer, but will wear it only when I walk our dog in very cold temps (e.g., well below freezing, so something like 5 F/-15 C). For work, I typically wear a wool coat (I prefer how they look compared to a puffer), and I commute to work by car.

I love, love, love fall and winter clothes: The colors, the textures (tweed! corduroy! wool and cashmere!), the layering possibilities, the JACKETS, and most of all, the BOOTS! My favorite footwear are boots and booties, and so I don't quite feel like myself in the summer when I can't wear them to finish off my look.

Another factor is my work: I am an academic, so I am on an academic year calendar. The fall reminds me of new beginnings (I still think fondly of the annual J. Crew fall catalog in all of its tweedy, bright, patterned glory), and I teach during the academic year and give talks, attend meetings, etc. For all of these, I wear professional clothes. But during the summer I am home, doing my own research (and meeting virtually with colleagues), so my style is very casual and to me, quite boring relative to my fall/winter style.

I read this NYT article recently, about acclimating to cold weather, and I thought I would share in the spirit of camaraderie :). The winter is your friend!!

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/1.....covid.html

Here's an excerpt:

You can condition your body to adjust to cold temperatures in as little as three to seven days. “Practice” spending time in the cold by going out for a few minutes at first, then stay for longer stretches on subsequent days. Researchers know it works because they’ve studied cold habituation in soldiers in arctic climates and deep sea divers in freezing ocean waters.

“You can’t stay housebound and expect to go outside in the cold and feel OK,” Dr. Castellani said. “Make a foray outside multiple times to start adapting to the cold.”

ETA: A really cold office is terrible! I have used a space heater in those kinds of circumstances, because if you are sitting still in the cold trying to work, that is NOT pleasant! For winter to be enjoyable, there has to be a nice contrast between the crisp, biting cold and the warm, toasty inside.

Seattleite here. Dressing, like most everything else, has been very difficult over the past few days with 100 degree plus temps. I had to go into the office yesterday since my condo was simply too hot for WFH. Surprisingly, I really did not care what I wore yesterday or how I even looked just as long as my clothes didn't stick to my skin as walked from my car to my hoteling space. Normally, I really like the ease of summer dressing and pulling out my sandals on a daily basis. Right now, dressing is a chore on which I don't feel like expending much energy.

Have you met these stylin’ puffers?

The Swedes say there is no bad weather, only bad clothing. I wouldn’t go that far…but a uniqlo packable puff is wonderful under cloth coats