- Whenever I do bundle up, I have a hard time dressing correctly. I might start out warm and then get hot and sticky, or start warm and get cold. This is my least favorite part about winter! I know you're supposed to layer up, but what do you do with layers you peel off as you're walking around?
It can be really tough to dress for the weather spot-on, and I usually get it wrong too. Taking off or adding extra layers is only absolutely necessary if your activity level changes, otherwise it is theoretically possible to dial it in spot-on.
Start by looking at the weather. Make sure you're considering air temperature, sunny vs cloudy vs dark, and wind. Then think about your activity level: are you going to be running, biking, hiking on hilly terrain, walking around nonstop, wandering slowly around an area (zoo, botanical garden, sculpture garden), or sitting still? That list is roughly ordered from maximum metabolic output to minimum, and the difference in how much clothing you need changes significantly at each step. Remember that if you're dressing to go biking in the cold or some other intense activity, when you walk outside it should feel slightly uncomfortably cold, then you will warm up a lot. It seems like some people's metabolisms make this a harder task than for others.
One way to improve is to keep a log each day. What was the weather like, what was the activity, and what did you wear? Were you too hot, too cold, or just right? The recordkeeping may help you get a handle on how each of these many variables need to affect your decisions.
