Clothes for keeping warm

[plantathon]

Last winter we didn't have the heating on, and wore extra layers, culminating in oodies for all. Yesterday and earlier today, I was wearing a jumper over my t shirt and cotton trousers, which made me realise that the jumper wasn't particularly warm and no wonder I was freezing cold all winter. Even though I was covered in 17 gazillion layers they weren't particularly warm, except for the oodie.
Other than buying myself some wool and knitting vests to wear, what can I get so that I have some hope of surviving next winter? DD thinks I'm behaving like a victorian farmer, but I'm so sick of being cold and trussed up in so many layers, I have no workable elbows.

Thermal under layers and leggings
A long top that covers your back/longer socks ie no gaps where cold air can get in
Cashmere wrist warmers and snood/scarf
Beanie hat
Jumpers in natural fibres (wool or cashmere) fluffier knits trap (warm) air
Fleece over layers eg hoody

What Defiantlynot said. Thermal underwear and thin layers of natural fibres. No heating here last winter and there were times I had to take off my oodie as I was too hot.

Proper wool jumpers not crappy acrylic works for me. With a nice long sleeved base layer. Wool socks too.

Soft fleece like material is great. I find boring old fleece zip ups fantastic over the layers mentioned above. Then another boring padded gilet on top if it is icy. Easy to wash and very quick to dry too. I have about six of them, oldies but goodies.

Lambswool and merino jumpers can be bought cheaply second hand. I buy a men's small and have got them for £5 plus postage.

Turtledoves sell seconds of cashmere wrist warmers on ebay. I have Danish endurance wool blend hiking socks, about £7 a pair on Amazon. I find they last at least two days in winter so I could get by with a pack of three. I wear a cotton/polycotton hoodie on top of a t-shirt then wool jumper, it traps more air. When I go out I just switch hoodie for coat.

We wear several layers of m&s thermal long sleeved vests and long jonhs. I layer isn't enough.

Lambswool and cashmere are so warm… and I have never paid full price but hunt through the charity shops as soon as autumn hits.

Somebody gave a good tip on here last year to check the men’s section in the charity shops, I found 2 lovely, almost new wool jumpers.

Yes, like PP is saying: Wool, wool and more wool is the answer. That’s how we do it in Norway.

merino wool thermals underneath,
and thick 100% wool jumper on top.
maybe a nice wool shawl as well. And don’t forget wool socks.

Wool socks and slippers with soles. I like the Boden kids slippers with a fluffy lining; they’re so comfortable but sturdy enough to walk round in if you are in the house all day

Agree with the PPs saying no gaps as well; if bits of you get cold it’s much harder to warm them up than to just stay warm all along

Long cashmere cardigan

Old socks (when toes get holes) work very well as wrist warmers. Cheap as chips and machine washable, more durable than poncey cashmere wrist warmers.

OP: if you can't afford to turn heating on, can you afford all these expensive wool suggestions? And the costs of washing wool & trying to get it dry without it shrinking. Or is there another reason your house is cold, not because of high fuel cost I mean. Lycra insulates well & is more durable than wool.

My cashmere wrist warmers were about £7, they don't need much durability just sitting on my wrists and are much much warmer than random socks, though old woollen socks could work well. Second hand wool jumpers aren't expensive. They rarely need washing when worn over a t-shirt and then most can be washed on a delicates cycle at 30 these days. They are dry in a couple of days in my house, granted the heating is on for two or three hours a day in winter at 14 degrees so not quite the OP's situation. Lycra would need much more washing.

Just checked Vinted and there are many lambswool jumpers from £2, £5.10 with fees and postage.

OP: if you can't afford to turn heating on, can you afford all these expensive wool suggestions? And the costs of washing wool & trying to get it dry without it shrinking

I have never paid more than £5 for my jumpers from the charity shop and wash on a 30 in the machine and put on a hanger to dry - no shrinkage.

Be careful. I kept my body really comfortably warm with Uniqlo layers, blankets, hot water bottles etc, but months of breathing in cold air gave really ran my down. I hadn’t had so much as a cold for years but this winter I had a heavy cold/ ear infections and sinusitis one after the other from October- May. Can you fix your rate or get into credit now?

Charity shops will be putting out their winter clothes soon.
Very cheap way to layer up.

I used thin layers - a vest & long sleeved t-shirt under a thick, pure wool guernsey sweater. The wool is very heavy and VERY warm. I've just ordered a second one for this coming year.

But I know what you mean. Finding warm women's clothes that are also stylish is virtually impossible without spending £0,000s.

I have an extremely warm down jacket (expedition style with a huge hood) that I bought off Ebay. I get jokes about looking like I'm going to Everest haha. It keeps me toasty when I'm working from home in the winter without having the heating on.

Lycra is not insulating. Wool has scales which overlap, trapping air which gets warm and is the insulation. I bought a couple of superb long line lambswool vests from Amazon last year. On top there is a long sleeved thermal, then on top a merino wool jumper and cardigan. It's keeping the trapped warm air still by tucking things into waistbands that does the trick. Snug as a bug without feeling 'chunky'

Get on Vinted and look for St Michaels vintage wool jumpers. They're dead cheap and proper thick wool (though generally not very stylish! Also check they're actually 100% wool. If it's not listed I always flick the seller a message.

YYY to wool, merino wool, cashmere and down. Silk underwear (long John's and vests, bit slinky!). Bamboo bae layers are good too. Wooly hat, fingerless gloves.

Wool rich socks, sheepskin boots or sheepskin insoles.

Synthetic fabrics are not great for keeping you warm. The outdoorsy synthetics are not really for keeping you warm at home, more for keeping you warm and not-sweaty when active.

Get some fleece blankets that you can wrap around you. I got some from IKEA and also the supermarkets. I wore them like a long skirt wrapped around and as shawl. Also wear a hat made of fleece or knitted. Fingerless fleece gloves and those non slip big socks.

I use the Ikea fleece blankets too. if it's really cold, I sleep on top of one, and put another on top of the duvet.

Knitwear doesn't need to be 100 % wool - a bit of something else puts off moths.

If I could afford to buy a cashmere jumper, I’d just use the money to put the heating on. Is this really economising?