Adults who don't dress properly for winter

[Bearpawk]

Driving me mad.
I work in an office where must people have a commute or a decent walk to get to work . I'd say about 90% can't dress themselves properly.
Young woman next to me ankle trainer socks. Midriff showing. Pissing and moaning about being cold. It's 1 degree outside and it's December.
It's raining and they come in wearing canvas shoes and a fluffy coat. No umbrella or waterproofs. Then expect to have the heating on full whack all day to dry their coats and shoes out.
In a training room all day where the lead trainer (middle aged, old enough to know better) insisted on having the heating cranked up all day because she's wearing a thin acrylic jumper and got cold to the bones on the way to work and can't warm up.
Everyone without exception has access to the weather forecast via their phones. It shouldn't be a shock when it's raining or cold. Yet they dress like it's May, all year round.
They earn decent money and aren't hard up so it's not a financial issue (maybe with some of the VERY junior/ young ones fair enough )

AIBU to fed up of people moaning about being cold or wet but making zero attempt to dress appropriately for the weather ?

I was just about to say the same thing! I am not sure why, but there is this strange cultural opposition to being warm in Britain - not wearing proper winter clothes, not having beating on even if you can afford it, etc.

And it’s nothing to do with not having enough money for warm clothes, because in other poorer European countries people do dress for the weather.

I don't understand the canvas shoe things in winter.

Of course not. I wear a thick coat and gloves outside. But indoors shouldn't be 25+ It's like tshirt and shorts weather!

Hmm I'm on the fence on this. I get your point and I can see why it would be maybe annoying. But I'm autistic, in my 40s and have sensory issues. Most people who I have worked with either have no idea I'm autistic or love to say things like: you'd never know you're autistic/you don't look, act, sound autistic etc etc. My point being maybe it's the same for some of your colleagues and don't be too quick to say "oh they're not autistic" cos honestly you can't always know that for sure.
I wear canvas shoes cos they feel right on me, I don't like scarves or gloves cos I feel less in control and stifled by them, I dislike the feeling of anything woollen it just feels ick to me and I only like short sleeves. I am absolutely frozen a lot of the time and am well aware it's my own doing! Sitting right now in bare feet even though it's cold cos I dislike the way socks feel and slippers are just as bad.
I don't ever moan to anyone else about being cold though, I do know it's a me issue! So for that reason ok, YANB entirely U.

Urgh Op, you were young once you know!!

@Bearpawk

It can depend on the office heating system. Ours is set to 22 but when it reaches that temp it puts out cold air so hot & cold all day. It generally feels pretty cold. I drive to work so surely shouldn't need thermals and layers to feel comfortable during a work day in the office.

I wonder if this is the result of years spent in school uniforms that would have been inappropriate for the weather 80% of the time.

But surely you'd grasped the concept of feeling cold and putting on a jumper by age ten tops? Or feeling hot and taking it off?

Or do you mean you were 30 when you gave up suffering for style (as many young women do!) and started dressing for comfort?

I live in a "deprived area" and honestly, the only people I see out in inadequate clothing right now are young women, muscle Marys and postmen. There are plenty of us paupers in coats and jumpers.

When the postman wears long trousers I know it's cold outside!

Just bought an experimental pair of fleece lined leggings from the PDSA charity shop new range. Black, incredibly soft inside. About £7. Very pleased so far.

Yes this - Central Line and Victoria Line the worst. One minute you're in six to eight degrees and the next you're in an inferno.

I am with PP who grew up not really understanding waterproof actually existed. The best I had was regatta type stuff which leaves you soaking in 10 minutes.

It took me until mid 20s to discover actually waterproof shoes and clothes; and I worked outside!!! It’s really not that simple to find actually waterproof stuff. Even 90% of north face stuff now is pants. In recent years they have removed taping on their products. Even Gore-Tex is awful unless you look after it every 5 minutes and get it relaminated.

So whilst I appreciate the sentiment - if you going to get wet wearing ‘waterproofs’ anyway then you may as well get wet wearing something more fashionable.

I don't get this either, it's a very strange phenomena.

My workplace is similar in being too warm at the moment, which stinks since it was -8C when I woke up and I am always careful to dress warmly in case my car brakes down on the way, but it's because the heating/cooling system is completely bonkers. When it was summer, I had to bring a blanket to wrap around me when I was in my office, while the outer room was so hot the staff were just sitting around like zombies half the time. We can't really get ahead no matter what we wear, but I manage too hot better than too cold.

You don't have to buy expensive clothes to be warm - you layer your clothing. Why would people who don't have much money only own summer type clothes anyway?

I'm the first to admit that in my youth I wore inappropriate clothing in winter - but I'm pretty sure I didn't moan about it as I really didn't feel cold.

I think it's the moaning which is annoying OP - as it should.

I presume by "underwear" the poster meant singlet or cami tops, or a light long sleeved top - and no, they don't need washing more than that. Merino can be worn for days or even weeks without being washed - I know, I live in a country awash with merino in winter.

All my 20 sometime colleagues are stylish and dress appropriately for the weather. Yours do sound annoying. It's always like an oven in our office despite that!

20 something*

I felt very snug & toasty.

Don’t you mean you felt smug?

I wouldn’t wear North Face or Timbaland stuff if they gave it to me for free.

You don’t need brand names to be warm.

I remember when I lived in the UK, people would be wearing those ballet flats with bare feet doing their shopping on Christmas Eve. I was just starting my career back then and only wore cheat clothes because it was all I could afford. I layered up!

Tights under trousers, two pairs of socks, vest, long sleeved t shirt, jumper, coat, hat, scarf, gloves...I was aware this was an issue and had no no idea why any adult would do this!

Now I live in Italy where people take the cold seriously. I have doubled down on my efforts to stay warm but even I, as someone who believes in wrapping up, would get stopped by old ladies telling me off that my kids didn't look warm enough. I ended up putting extra layers on my kids so I wouldn't get accosted by the elderly, and it just became habit. Now I wouldn't dream of dressing them in anything less!

Every time I go home to the UK for the summer, I end up having to buy warmer clothes. Through the years I've picked up boots, thick cardigans , and tights and often have to borrow some kind of light coat. I always forget how cold it is, and yet people go around dressed for the summer even though its 14 degrees. One day in August I popped in a shopping centre for a few warmer bits and was so sad to see a toddler in shorts and a t shirt, while my own toddler was in thick tights and a coat.

I do feel that children are chronically underdressed in the UK and I really do shiver looking at them in various seasons when I go home.

I do remember being younger and telling someone that you can't catch a cold from being cold. While the cold is a virus, I now realise how important it is to stay warm and that being cold leaves you open to falling sick. Nobody is saying you have to wear Eiderdown to work, but layering up for your commute and wear socks should be common sense.

I wear a merino base layer for about four months of the year, and am happier than most in the winter. I've noticed that people hate it when I mention it though.

I'd be so sweaty with a base layer underneath my clothes. Colleague's definitely sound silly to be wearing crop tops though. There's a happy medium surely.

People not dressing their children appropriately is what really annoys me. We went out with friends last weekend - afternoon walk outside- it was MINUS 3 !

she had tights and a dress on her 4 year old with just wellies with a ‘fashion’ coat. child was freezing and started whinging (understandably) after 30 minutes. Wellies are not warm! Put some thick socks or liners in them! Even newspaper or cardboard made into insoles if money is tight. (It’s not, they are wealthy).

I have to wear layers as the office is warm enough for normal office wear, the train is as hot as hell, but I do need warm clothes for my 15 minute walk to the station first thing.

I find Italians ridiculous about the cold, students wearing puffer jackets in the summer here!

It comes down to what you are used to, and how much you feel the cold.

There was a Canadian woman in a shop in London yesterday laughing at the shop assistant's suggestion that it was cold.

The problem in the U.K. though is it’s a wet country.

most clothes lose their thermal properties when they get wet.

so all these people not dressing for British wet weather when it’s 5c or lower on an average day are just daft imo.

a long water resistant coat with a decent sized hood is a great investment whatever age you are if you live in the U.K.!

same with shoes and boots. Plus many workplaces these days are relaxed enough to let you change out of wellies or snow pots you wore into work into more office appropriate shoes.

hell many office workers could even leave some office suitable shoes in their desk along with a jumper for the cooler days and not worry about having to lug them home every day.

a good friend of mine has some office shoes, spare dry leggings, a jumper and indoor scarf/shawl in her bottom desk drawer for winter weather. She walks to work.