It’s January. And despite the fact that winter has been a bit fickle this year, there have been a few very cold days already. Just like last year, our winter so far has been very mild. But January & February pose plenty of opportunities for extremely cold days.  In any case, I thought it might be nice to share with you what I do to stay warm when temperatures drop and the wind adds a nice chill to the mix.

1.) Layer up

Black long sleeved shirt (H&M)
Grey cardigan (C&A)
Faux fur vest (H&M)

The first thing I do when it gets cold is where layers. The combination you see up here is one of my standard combos. The only reason I even own a faux fur vest is to have something to wear on those super cold days. This is three layers, but you can easily add more layers to this by adding a t-shirt and a vest top underneath all of this. It’s pretty much what I did when me and my family visited the Winter Efteling a few weeks ago. That day, I wore a vest top, t-shirt, long sleeved shirt, a thick stretchy bodycon dress, a fuzzy sweater on top and for bottoms I wore two pairs of fleece lined tights. It was the first time we did that and I wasn’t cold.

2.) The scarf

Houndstooth scarf (Pieces)

Currently, my go to scarf is this houndstooth number which I picked up last July (!). For some reason I’ve been finding the best winter items in the middle of summer these past few years. I love this because it is huge. This way you can use it as an extra layer not just to protect your neck, but also the rest of the upper half of your body. This scarf is super warm (because it’s made of wool) but it’s a fairly thin knit which makes it pliable and thus easy to wear.

3.) Winter coat

Teddy winter coat (ZARA)

I love coats! I showed you my coat collection last week. But the one pictures here is my warmest coat. It’s made with 80% wool, is fully lined. It’s a great coat, but sometimes, when it’s particularly windy, it can get a little bit cold. But other than that I love this. I bought this last year from ZARA and it’s been my go to winter coat ever since. I love it because it is long (essential if you’re trying to stay warm), has nice deep pockets, a high neckline, a hood and made of super warm materials. You’ll notice I haven’t featured any gloves in this post and that’s because I haven’t really been wearing them since I bought this.

4.) The hat

100% beret hat (I Am)

Before I always wore beanie type hats and I even had a fully lined Nordic style hat for a while too. I didn’t like those much anymore, and when I ran into this, I knew I had a perfect replacement. This 100% wool beret is super warm, yet a little bit more stylish than a Thinsulate outdoor style beanie (which I still have, who knows when it will come in handy again).

5.) The shoes

Dr. Marten’s 1461 in black

Holland isn’t a country where you necessarily need a pair of snow boots. However, I have a pair by Dr. Marten’s that comes close. Lately, I’ve been finding myself gravitating to this other pair I own. I bought them in London last year and by now have fully broken these puppies in and they are insanely comfortable. Despite the fact that they are low, the soles are thick and the leather keeps your feet insulated from the cold. Especially this past week, my feet were getting quite cold on my walks to and from the station when I wore other shoes, so I guess I’ll just have to stick with these for the next few weeks.

6.) The socks

Woolen socks (H&M)

Now, I don’t wear these to work or outside the house, but inside my house it gets quite cold too. I live in an old house with bad insulating and single glazed windows which are enormous. I can put on the heat as much as I want when it gets truly cold, but I still have to wear multiple layers of clothing to keep warm. I remember a few years ago, when a real winter hit us, I even wore fingerless gloves inside! My feet are the first to go cold though and instead of slippers I’ve been really enjoying wearing this thick woolen socks. All I need are these socks, my couch and a cup of tea and I’m pretty good.

I did another one of these posts almost 3 years ago. At the time the items I used to stay warm looked a lot different though. Click here if you’d like to see how I kept warm when winters were indeed filled with snow and blistering cold a few years ago.

What do you do to stay warm?