<p>Coming from Southern California where everyday of the year is spring/summer, I have about one coat that could be considered appropriate for 'winter' weather. From what I heard, Pittsburgh can get really cold? So I was wondering, should I buy all my winter clothes now and bring it to Pittsburgh OR just buy everything when I get there? In terms of workload and stuff, do you think I'd have time to really go shopping for winter clothes?</p>
<p>Hi. Laguna Beach kid here.</p>
<p>For the love of god, buy a Northface jacket before you arrive. Any kind, coat or undercoat, it doesn’t matter, just get one. I suffered through my freshman year winter absolutely miserable, cold and wet and I thought that was just normal - that everyone was as cold as I was. Sophomore year my parents got me a Northface jacket, and my life changed. Winter was 50% less miserable.</p>
<p>You CAN go shopping for winter clothes, but to get any clothes that don’t look like absolute crap and are worth your money you’re gonna need to go either down to the Waterfront (~20 min bus ride) or South Side (~20 min bus ride). It’s not super easy to go shopping but it’s not too difficult, either. I’d just recommend having some stuff bought in advance if I were you.</p>
<p>Also: socks. And don’t bring more than a couple pairs of sandals. I love wearing cute sandals and Pittsburgh pretty much ruined all aspirations of wearing anything but waterproof sneakers/boots/super thick flats in the winter. </p>
<p>Gloves and hats are also good.</p>
<p>Hooray for So Cal’s lack of winter! If your parents are coming with you to help you move in, it might be good to arrive a few days before move-in day to go shopping for winter clothes. Based on the experiences of many of the people I know who go to college where it gets cold, it’s better to buy winter clothing in the same place that you plan to use it, i.e. Pittsburgh not Southern California.</p>
<p>NorCal kid here, buuuut I guess I could help anyway :p</p>
<p>I would echo what completelykate said in that you can definitely buy stuff when you get there, so no worries if you don’t have everything, but definitely bring some stuff with you. Make sure you have a really good coat - I have a North Face with a down filling, and it is so warm. I never needed anything more than that; it’s seriously perfect. So definitely make sure that you won’t freeze if you’re in a situation where you can’t go shopping right away, etc.</p>
<p>One thing I didn’t properly anticipate the need for was warm socks. This happened waaay before it even started snowing or anything; just when it started getting a lot colder than I was used to (e.g. in the 30s), I realized my feet were freezing in my “normal” socks. So my parents may have had to mail me some super warm socks…Smartwool ftw! They obviously were also super awesome to have when it actually started snowing and stuff.</p>
<p>In terms of price, are clothes more expensive in Pittsburgh than California?</p>
<p>Regarding North Faces: For the love of god do NOT get one of those fleece ones. North Face makes excellent serious winter wear but those nice-looking ones that all the girls seem to be wearing suck.</p>
<p>No, they’re not really more expensive, it’s just… if you are shopping for winter wear in California in August, it’s all on sale. Try going to Patagonia or something - there’s a lot of 50% off sales. even places like Volcom and Billabong tend to have some decent winter wear and it’s way cheap right now.</p>
<p>OK Mom talking here…I know I sent too much winter wear for S so I can tell what he actually used because of the stuff he brought home instead of going into storage. </p>
<p>Stayed:
- winter coat --patagonia-- with removable liner, hood and kind of long–he said he only used it on the coldest days but there were enough of them to be very, very thankful that he had it.
- north face jacket for almost every other day from November-March. Both coat and this jacket were bought in december on winter break but he was freezing in November at CMU with thick wool jacket only. That jacket is back home now.
- Windbreaker with hood–for rainy days and cover north face jacket.
- Cheap Target spin-off doc martin boots and really thick wooly socks…several pairs.<br>
- cheap spiderman nylon hat that covers his ears (see 6).
- 3 pairs of gloves including mini spiderman kid gloves (lost or in storage–jury is still out)–needed these by october and kid size/spiderman motif were the first available in CVS
- long underwear (lower half)–for the absolutely, freezing windy days.</p>
<p>Came back
- lovely wool hat and scarf (perhaps it was because they are “lovely” compared to crappy spiderman accessories)
- snow boots (not really necessary…doc martins and socks were sufficient)
3.long underwear top half (not necessary with good coat) - Lined wool coat/jacket–useless for the damp windy Pittsburgh weather</p>
<p>Asked for more:
hand and foot warmers to be sent in October in lieu of ramen/cereal/treat box.</p>
<p>OK Mom talking here…I know I sent too much winter wear for S so I can tell what he actually used because of the stuff he brought home instead of going into storage. </p>
<p>Stayed:
- winter coat --patagonia-- with removable liner, hood and kind of long–he said he only used it on the coldest days but there were enough of them to be very, very thankful that he had it.
- north face jacket for almost every other day from November-March. Both coat and this jacket were bought in december on winter break but he was freezing in November at CMU with thick wool jacket only. That jacket is back home now.
- Windbreaker with hood–for rainy days and cover north face jacket.
- Cheap Target spin-off doc martin boots and really thick wooly socks…several pairs.<br>
- cheap spiderman nylon hat that covers his ears (see 6).
- 3 pairs of gloves including mini spiderman kid gloves (lost or in storage–jury is still out)–needed these by october and kid size/spiderman motif were the first available in CVS
- long underwear (lower half)–for the absolutely, freezing windy days.</p>
<p>Came back
- lovely wool hat and scarf (perhaps it was because they are “lovely” compared to crappy spiderman accessories)
- snow boots (not really necessary…doc martins and socks were sufficient)
3.long underwear top half (not necessary with good coat) - Lined wool coat/jacket–useless for the damp windy Pittsburgh weather</p>
<p>Asked for more:
hand and foot warmers to be sent in October in lieu of ramen/cereal/treat box.</p>
<p>Oh, I should mention this here - if you’re a girl, wearing tights or leggings under your jeans is kind of the equivalent of long johns for guys. I got a bunch of cheap tights from Forever 21 for all of $20 and they’re wearable in the summer and fall, too. You can wear long johns too of course, but this is a less dorky way to stay warm under your jeans.</p>
<p>Edit: this is my 1000th post. If I estimate 2 minutes per post, that’s almost 1.4 days I’ve spent writing posts on college confidential. … I need more stuff to do.</p>
<p>S who lived in floppies 24/7 wore his toasty warm Sorrels/Northface (or whatever they were) snow boots like they were slippers most of the winter. A transplant to Pittsburgh and survived.</p>
<p>Try LL Bean, Lands End or Overstock – etc. NOW in August to get super wonderful deals on a great winter coat. Both my kids have a thinsulate liner and water proof outer layer that seems light enough for late fall and then warm enough with another sweater/sweatshirt during the frostiest (is that even a word) of winter days which seem to be February.</p>
<p>Buy a coat with a hood- the wind rips across campus and although neither s or d are “hat people”, they do wear their hoods (or at least tell me that so I don’t think they are freezing).</p>
<p>There’s a thread with the same info here last summer also showing some other shopping suggestions from many people and the link to the average annual temps throughout Pitt across the year.</p>
<p>Basically it’s hot in September.
60s/50s in October.
Then it drops to 40s/30s throughout November
30s in December – not mush snow- but lots of freezing rain. (you may even miss your flight on thanksgiving or getting home in winter break)
The serious winter stuff comes in January and February
It can linger into March.</p>
<p>If you have a beautiful leather bag-- or suede uggs - get some water proof spray and prepare to use it fairly regularly given all the rain and snow.</p>
<p>Our trip to CMU, from Central California, with our new students in coming up soon. Someone mentioned Waterfront our Southside for winter clothing shopping. But I can’t find the thread from last year with other suggestions.
Any idea? Also for general supplies, stationery, lamps, fans and such, what’s convenient. We will have a rental car but only a day or two.
Thanks!</p>
<p>Lamps and fans you’re probably going to find most easily at the waterfront Target. I recommend getting there as early as possible, because it can get pretty mobbed during the first day. </p>
<p>Unless your children are planning to get in their covered wagons and head for the gold rush, they probably won’t need stationary. If they’re going to write a fancy thank-you note, the campus post office offers some nice card assortments for those purposes.</p>
<p>Thanks!
Sorry, what I meant by stationery was “office supplies”, composition books and such. At my daughter’s big public university the campus bookstore is overpriced. But Walmart sets up shop in the campus bookstore the first days. I’ll never forget that traumatic move-in!
So the waterfront sounds like a convenient location. I need a map, and will get one!</p>
<p>Buy those at home. If you can’t fit a few composition notebooks,pencils,pens and such with your luggage, you have packed too much.</p>
<p>^Personally, I disagree. Coming from California, I tried to buy as much as possible as I could when I got there in order to save on the costs of checking bags, etc. It’s super easy to run down to the waterfront and buy it there, so why add one more thing to your suitcases? Easy if you’re driving there, but if you’re flying, even the little things add up.</p>
<p>You could always buy that stuff online at Staples, Office Max, Amazon, etc and just have it shipped directly. Get it set up in your shopping cart, wait until they arrive for orientation and find out their exact mailing address, then place the order. Even with slow shipping it should get there by the first day or two of classes.</p>
<p>I’d recommend getting most stuff at the waterfront Target. They have school supplies, and clothes. Just bring some basics, and go shopping on the first day/week you’re there or so.</p>