Conquering the Cold -1-Dressing the Part
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Conquering the Cold: Dressing the Part
Cold weather happens to be part of my DNA - I was raised in Michigan & northern Germany. Before moving to New York, I endured many brutal Chicago winters, experiencing the famed Snowpocalypse AND the Snowmaggedon.
Skiing, snowshoeing, snowball fights & making snow angels are all firmly in my winter roster of fun. But braving the extreme elements is an entirely different beast when you are on location for a photo shoot. I’ve found myself producing shoots in a range of cold weather situations - endured brutal snowstorms in the Alps, face-freezing winds on the Swedish archipelago, hiked through icy footpath & forests in Japan, created a backyard hockey rink with young children on mountaintops in Colorado and kept underwear models alive in almost-arctic northern Wisconsin.
Be prepared with your own person and have the right gear to keep yourself warm! If you’re cold, it’s going to be miserable.
Some of my favorites are:
Patagonia Tres 3-in-1 jacket -
This coat is seriously warm & has helped me survive a Colorado blizzard. Not only does the waterproof breathable outer shell come in handy when it’s snowing, this also has a handy down-feather base layer than can be worn separately. Patagonia’s excellent warranty makes their slightly heftier price-tags worth it. Case in point, the pocket zipper on my 5-year old coat wore out, and I walked out of the Patagonia store with a brand new replacement 20 minutes later, warm as could be.
Smartwool socks and tights-
Remember: base layer, mid layer and outer layer!
Wool gets a bad rap, but I find that Smartwool makes excellent tights that are not at all itchy and socks that are breathable, padded & don’t get smelly!
Nothing is more miserable than cold wet feet! These boots are waterproof and they have an industrial wool felt liner that gets softer over time.
I generally prefer mittens over gloves, but with my iPhone becoming an extension of my production brain, I’ve recently adopted wearing a pair of tech-smart glove liners inside of my mittens, so I can still type away in the cold.
This green hat from my mom!
After a failed attempt at knitting, I sent my mom a lumpy uneven scarf, which she unraveled and transformed into this creation. No, you can't have it!
Traction cleats for over my snowboots to prevent slipping on ice. I like the Yaktrax ones because they're light & flexible.
Words by Annika Howe
Landscape Image by Adrian Alston