<p>My daughter went from southern CA to CT last year and I spent a lot of time worrying about it as she got cold here if it went below 70. Here's what I found: I found a fabulous store a block from campus full of camping and outdoor gear. At Parents Weekend we spent an hour with the most knowledgable guy there and she was set. I also went to a local shoe store and had the most helpful person in the world help out. I found the local businesses there understood about these kids who grew up in warm climates and were incredibly supportive and helpful. I almost cried when the owner of the shoe store told my daughter to come back if she had any concerns about acclimating to the weather. As a result my daughter ended up with the perfect jacket that had all the right features and other gear. I also found that my kid's physiology changed. The kid who was cold below 70 now finds 55 "a little warm for me". The only time she complained was when it was below zero with a very bitter wind and that was because it hurt her face. After all the time I agonized about shoes, she ended up returning them in favor of her sneakers. When it was above 33, she wore flip-flops. Anyone going for Parents Weekend can spend a few hours getting set. And if you're not going to Parents Weekend, there are bound to be kids from the Northeast who will be happy to share their expertise. It's amazing how quickly the kids adapt to the climate change.</p>
<p>"When it was above 33, she wore flip-flops." Yes, they all do, and they walk miles and miles in them. I think a growing field for their generation is going to be geriatric podiatry, because they are all going to end up with awful feet. </p>
<p>Somebody asked for discount North Face: <a href="http://www.backcountryoutlet.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.backcountryoutlet.com/</a>
<a href="http://www.sierratradingpost.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.sierratradingpost.com</a>
<a href="http://www.sportsbasement.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.sportsbasement.com</a>
<a href="http://www.campmor.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.campmor.com</a>
Check your local outlet center. And Ebay, although you have to beware of some of the stuff coming from China.</p>
<p>Personally I am not into big-name brands and I find The North Face at full price to be outrageously expensive. Having said that, their "system" that allows you to fit together various layers of clothing -- a fleece, a shell, etc. -- is actually quite ingenious and seems to work perfectly for college. We bought it once and our son has not had to replace anything for four years; it still looks new although he wears it constantly.</p>
<p>Despite the weather the students often do seem to dress less warmly than one might expect. A fleece is definitely my kids' most useful item of clothing. </p>
<p>An umbrella helps, too.</p>
<p>My son comments that whoever said "warm socks warm socks" is dead on. He treasures his alpaca/wool socks (those puppies are thick!) and wears them with his sandals. (He wears Tivas, not flipflops. Maybe it's a guy thing.)</p>
<p>Unless your kids are going to be taking up skiing or snowboarding and spending hours at a time outdoors, don't spend a ton of money on special winter gear. </p>
<p>My kids are like jmmom's-no logical winter clothing worn even though we live in NH. Hooded sweatshirts and on really cold days, what I consider a fall jacket layered on top. They will wear hats-more a fashion statement, but gloves are only used for snow shoveling duties (also the only times kids seem to complain about being cold) and an occasional snowball fight. Sneakers or hiking boots if they have them are the norm and flip-flops are not out of the question. They do not want to carry a lot of bulky clothing around when they get inside. They get wet occasionally but then they dry off. They don't really seem to care.</p>
<p>There is plenty of cold weather clothing available all winter in New England and you will have a much larger selection here. My best advice is to wait and see what they want as winter approaches. Our winters are long, but the kids won't freeze to death before November.</p>
<p>May I suggest that your son take along a personal smudgepot? They're a bit on the heavy side, a bit smoky, but they work.</p>
<p>May I suggest that your son take along a personal smudgepot? </p>
<p>What is a smudgepot?</p>
<p>I had in mind (in jest, of course) the first definition below, but there are others. Anybody from Florida or California is likely to be familiar with smudgepots as devices to keep the citrus fruit from freezing on the trees during a cold spell.</p>
<p>Smudgepot.com would be a great url to register for the purpose of marketing cold weather gear to students from the citrus belts. :)</p>
<p>Anybody from Florida or California is likely to be familiar with smudgepots as devices to keep the citrus fruit from freezing on the trees during a cold spell.</p>
<p>Thanks. I guess you can live in California your whole life and still have more to learn!</p>
<p>^Agreed, and I even live in the Sacramento valley, heh.</p>
<p>I guess my own experience was specific, since I grew up in southern California in an area where suburbia was just spreading into nearby orange groves. Imagine a scene from Roman Polansky's "Chinatown" in the orange groves of the S.F. Valley. That would be like the place where I grew up. The L.A. River wasn't yet paved into concrete.</p>