<p>as my name suggests, I'm from the south, and I honestly have no idea what to get for the northeast winters. I could really use some suggestions as to what to buy before I go. </p>
<p>I'm a girl, jysk, and I guess I'm a little preppy style wise, but definitley not over the top. I'd appreciate any help! Here for the winter we mainly wear jeans/uggs or just normal shoes/fleece coats or raincoats. but it never gets colder than about 30-40 degrees where I live, which is a lot different than up there. </p>
<p>I did hear these boots from LL Bean called bean boots? I might get some, but have no idea which ones and what I'd wear them with. Do girls even wear them? A few guys at my school wear them just for the heck of it (it never snows here) but I've never seen a girl. </p>
<p>Get a really good warm winter jacket. I’d recommend something with down. Go for functionality over fashion. Good snow boots if you expect to walk a lot. Invest in some nice mittens, hats and scarves.</p>
<p>My kid brought his down coat home for Christmas and said he didn’t need it at school. Unless you’re planning on downhill skiing or an activity that involves spending hours outside, a fleece and a good rain shell that you can layer will see you through the winter just fine–you’ll mostly just need them to walk between buildings or have a snow fight outside your dorm. Your UGGS should be fine too, but for the rain you might want a pair of Bean boots. The best advice is to wait until you get there, see what the other kids are wearing, assess how cold you are, and have your parents send you stuff directly from L.L. Bean. </p>
<p>Some good non-itchy wool socks (SmartWool), a warm wool hat that you like and some warm mittens or gloves are good investments to look for now though–where we live, it’s in the 50’s right now, and I’ve got my wool hat and socks on to keep warm inside! Some thin long underwear–silk or capilene–are great to, if you tend to get cold–you can wear them under your jeans and they don’t get too hot when you’re inside. I wear mine all winter long.</p>
<p>Keeping your head, hands and feet warm are key to happily surviving winter. Don’t spend a ton of money on a big winter coat you may not ever wear.</p>
<p>You’ll want a scarf. Sweaters should be wool or fleece. In college, I had a classmate from Hawaii whose mother had carefully packed sweaters made of light cotton. She was cold until she found wool sweaters. </p>
<p>Look for clothing you can layer–think like an onion! Fleece (or wool) vests are useful, if you like the style. </p>
<p>Many prep school kids seem to like North Face jackets, but you can wait until you arrive on campus to find out what sort of coat is popular at your school. Uggs seem very popular for girls. (Maybe this fashion will die out?) At any rate, thank heavens, flip-flops are not worn in snowstorms!</p>
<p>Two thing to consider are the campus layout and how much time you’ll be spending outdoors between classes. In some cases, you may find that you have relatively short walks from dorm to a main school building and that it’s all sidewalk. If so, you’ll probably want to spend most of your time in your shoes rather than boots. On the other hand, some campuses are more spread out and involving walking on paths that may not be paved.</p>
<p>I second some boot comments here- UGGS are fine, but there will be slushy days, muddy days, sleet days, etc. You can easily ruin a pair of UGGS and I sincerely recommend a pair of Bean Boots [or something comparable]. Most people have the 6 or 8-inch bean boots. Other than that, people have them in all the [really limited] range of colors and options available. </p>
<p>as for coats…if you’re on the fence about a down [or comparable] coat versus something else purely based on usability, go with the down. You can always layer other things [things you probably already have, if it gets into the 30’s where you live] if it’s too warm for down, but there will be colder days and days when you’re going to be outside for longer [sledding, ice skating, nature walks, just plain being outside] and down is more appropriate. be prepared!</p>
<p>other than that, have a lot of sweaters. and maybe snow pants, if sledding and snowman/igloo building is your thing.</p>
<p>That thin long underwear is great & can be worn under blue jeans, especially on days with the temperature in the single digits. Target is good for those and no one will know you have it on. Neck warmers, scarves, hats, mittens/gloves. Agree, North Face seems to be popular, Columbia, Lands End, L.L. Bean, etc. Down vests are quite popular too.</p>
<p>I agree with pittsburgher on the boots. I don’t know which style you are refering to in the Bogs but around here for all those really yucky wet days the girls have tall rubber rain boots (like Hunter boots but they are made by lots of manufacturers at different price points) I don’t know what they do in the winter to keep their feet warm but they seem to wear these boots all year long when it rains or snows. I know Hunter and Bogs make liners for the boots.</p>
<p>If this is the style at your school you will surely know before the snow comes because they will come out of the closet the minute it rains. So, you could wait until you are on campus to order them.</p>
<p>You can see temperature and precipitation averages. The one thing you can’t really tell is wind chill which will make things feel a lot colder than the actual air temperature.</p>