Cowboy1968

Your ski jacket may be a bit too warm in Rome or Paris. But you want to have it in Switzerland. So, take two jackets. Or buy one lighter jacket when in Italy.

I live in Munich, and we get MANY Italian tourists in winter.

Clothing-wise they come in two groups:

Group A is wearing their michelin man style Helly Hansen down jackets (even when it's way above freezing and not an inch of snow) as if they have been skiing downhill right into the Hofbräuhaus. So, please, don't try to tell me that Italians don't wear ski jackets. Maybe not at home.

Group B is wearing "elegant" clothes and leather slippers (even when there is half a meter of snow and temps below -10C). But hospitals are ready to offer accomodation for those fashion victims with broken ankles.

crefloors

When I was planning to go to Copenhagen and Stockholm right after Christmas, a few years ago, I had to buy a coat. I found a very inexpensive mid-weight, black wool, ankle length wool coat, on line. It was at JC Penney, a sort of "middle road" department store here in the states. It was only about 75.00.

I loved that coat. I could layer under it, which I did, it was not too heavy to carry around in the stores, and the length kept my legs warm when we were out walking. The high's were in the low 20's during the day. My brother had a short jacket and his legs were always freezing. Maybe you could find something fairly inexpensive like that. If not, they will NOT throw you out of the country, so the ski jacket would work.

noe847

A few years ago I took a hip-length black down jacket to Europe. The next trip I went for a black pea coat. Neither covered my torso/legs enough. Now I travel with a knee length black wool coat and LOVE it. Not too long, not too short, just right. I can layer it with merino or cashmere sweaters (lightweight, compact and warm), silk turtlenecks, long undies, and be perfectly warm even in very cold weather.

(sorry, in my first reply above, I thought your mother was traveling with you!)

lucygirl

If you were leaning towards buying a new coat, you could check out used and vintage stores -- I buy my coats used all the time. At a fraction of the cost of new, I can afford my addiction.

StCirq

I agree with luciegirl. Go to a nice consignment store or vintage place and get an inexpensive good-looking mid-length warm coat. I'm not particularly interested in being elegant when I'm traveling, but personally I wouldn't be caught dead in a red and white ski parka anywhere but on the slopes. Nor is the only other option the wool/cashmere long winter coat. There are MANY options in between those two extremes.

I agree that Europeans aren't necessarily going to care what you have on, and if you don't care either, well, wear what you want. My own personal comfort zone wouldn't allow me to walk around major European capitals in a red and white parka, though.

kerouac

Plenty of Parisians wear their ski gear if it gets really cold, which is extremely rare (during many winters it never even gets down to freezing a single time in Paris -- I think last winter we got down below 0° just two nights, and it was maybe just -2°). And since it normally doesn't get cold, most people don't even own extreme cold weather gear except what they already have for skiing.

Proenza_Preschooler

Nobody cares what you wear.

Do you honestly think Anna Piaggi is going to be hiding in the Uffizi ready to snap your picture for Italian Vogue?

Wear what you normally wear at home.

Why do people think that when they go on holiday that they suddenly have to become a different person?

That's called being FAKE!

Thingorjus,
who was born in Europe and laughs his ass off when Europeans are described as "elegant."

drjem

I LOVE all these replies - thank you all heaps!
No, Mum isn't coming with me.
I agree it is probably the red and white that bothers me a bit.
I don't particularly worry what others think about me, but I don't like sticking out either. I always choose comfort over fashion.
My coat isn't down, and doesn't scrunch that well. It has an inner zipped-in coat that can be worn on its own which is a sand colour.
So, as others have suggested - maybe pick up a coat in the sales (winter coats in Brisbane when heading into summer should probably be cheap), or get one over there if I need to.
Thanks heaps and have a great day!

quokka

Wear your ski jacket. You need something warm, wind- and rainproof. A wool coat is about the most unpractical clothing in bad weather, these things are heavy and take forever to dry after a walk in the rain. I don't understand how people recommend them for travelling.
You're a tourist anyway, no one cares how 'elegant' you are or aren't. Wear what you feel most comfortable in.

travelgourmet

How to put this nicely? Your mother is wrong. Europeans are not especially well-dressed. Just wear what is comfortable and warm.

MademoiselleFifi

Doesn't have to be a choice between the two-- a down coat in a subtle color would be both warm AND elegant.

hanl

I think a ski jacket would probably be too warm, perhaps even uncomfortably so.
I'd bring a longish coat instead, and possibly pack a fleece that you can layer if it gets very cold or take off if it's too warm.

Barbara_in_CT

To heck with elegant.

To stay comfortably warm in all circumstances you need two items of apparel: a rain jacket/windbreaker and a polartec (fleece) jacket. If it rains, wear the rain jacket, if it is cool, wear the fleece. In Switzerland, wear them both. You can probably get them both in black. The bonus is that you can probably get some use from them once you are home in Brisbane. An additional bonus is that the fleece can double as a pillow when in transit. The raincoat can also be very useful because when in transit, you can keep heavy things in the pockets (well, not liquids) and come in under the weight allowances.



Confine the rest of your wardrobe to items that look okay poking out from under the raincoat.

eigasuki

drjem, I'm from perth so i understand your dilemma - I agonised over this ery question before I visited these places in January '05.

in the end, I just took a Rainbird jacket (mid thigh) and a black blazer that I already had (synthetic fabric but like a brushed wool - reasonably warm for a Perth winter). My intention was to buy a coat in the sales but I never did. Too busy to shop or the most part.

Most of the time I layered with thermal, jumpers etc underneath and felt like the Michelin man but was warm enough. Rome was actually quite warm, like a cold Perth winter day.

Paris was freezing, but it was the cold winds that got to me. Most of the time you are walking briskly or inside highly heated buildings, so you might need to shed the coat. I guess it partly would depend on the activities you are planning to do. I know I did feel better for being a little more dressed up, but I am probably more the age of your mother! In Rome I felt like I was the only woman my age without stilettos and a long fur coat (and they looked real), with a cigarette in one hand and a tny dog in the other.

The Europeans seem to be able to rug up to the max and then they can sit in heated public transport and go into shops etc without taking off the coats, scarves etc but I'd be getting all hot and bothered.
And the Italian children were all rugged up like for a day in the snow on a day when Aussie kids would be fighting against putting on a jumper of any kind!

eigasuki

drjem, I'm from perth so i understand your dilemma - I agonised over this very question before I visited these places in January '05.

in the end, I just took a Rainbird jacket (mid thigh) and a black blazer that I already had (synthetic fabric but like a brushed wool - reasonably warm for a Perth winter). My intention was to buy a coat in the sales but I never did. Too busy to shop or the most part.

Most of the time I layered with thermal, jumpers etc underneath and felt like the Michelin man but was warm enough. Rome was actually quite warm, like a cold Perth winter day.

Paris was freezing, but it was the cold winds that got to me. Most of the time you are walking briskly or inside highly heated buildings, so you might need to shed the coat. I guess it partly would depend on the activities you are planning to do. I know I did feel better for being a little more dressed up, but I am probably more the age of your mother! In Rome I felt like I was the only woman my age without stilettos and a long fur coat (and they looked real), with a cigarette in one hand and a tny dog in the other.

The Europeans seem to be able to rug up to the max and then they can sit in heated public transport and go into shops etc without taking off the coats, scarves etc but I'd be getting all hot and bothered.
And the Italian children were all rugged up like for a day in the snow on a day when Aussie kids would be fighting against putting on a jumper of any kind!

amp322

I would say bring whatever coat you are comfortable in, and travels well. If it's the ski jacket, and that is your style, and it matches your lifestyle, you are probably safe in 90% of situations you will encounter. As long as black tie functions, or 5 star restaurants are not on your agenda, take it. As others have said, you can always shop over there. You could also pack a heavy sweater and maybe layer it with a down vest. Or, if you had a ski jacket with removable sleeves, that converts to a vest, that might solve some of the climate issues...

drjem

Just thought I'd send an update to my original post. I opted for practicality over fashion and took the red ski jacket - and boy am I glad I did. It was fairly mild in Rome, but hovering around and below freezing point in Florence, Venice and Paris. Switzerland was -16.5 degrees C at one part. So, I may have looked like I was about to hit the slopes but I was warm most of the time. And yes, no-one else seemed to care what I was wearing, even in a posh restaurant in Paris, and yes I did look like a tourist - but that is what I was!! The only time I remember seeing someone "looking down on me", as it were, was when my friend and I were tucking into our delicious pastries on the street, rather than sitting down somewhere - but boy were we enjoying them!!!

nona1

Thanks for coming back with an update!

This just goes to show that the many of us who say that tourists are not expected to dress the same as locals (who are on their way to the office) have it right!

cathies

Hi drjem, I live in Sydney and found a lovely wool/cashmere knee length coat in a "salvos" op shop last winter - $30 and almost vintage!! Not sure how old it is but it's in fabulous condition. Do you think you might find one in an op shop in Brisbane, or is the need for coats not so great, given your lovely climate (bet it's humid there now though. The weather in Sydney is evil at the moment - I wish I was in the European winter right now!!

I agree with those who say that you will be self-conscious in the major cities if you aren't reasonably dressed. Mind you it's not the end of the world, you probably will never see most of those people again

Polymerpig

Every time we go to Europe I read threads about what to wear. My favorites have been the ones where people insist that NO ONE in London or Paris wears jeans, and that Americans ALWAYS stand out because they wear white tennis shoes. So I make a point of looking at jeans and tennis shoes. I'm officially reporting that in a line of about 50 people boarding an Aerlingus flight to Dublin, the only people in line with bright white tennis shoes were the Irish family in front of us. The Americans had on mostly grey, black, or brown shoes. And standing in a large group of mostly locals crossing the street in Paris, I counted and over 75% of the people were wearing jeans. My conclusion: questions and answers about what to wear for the temperature or weather conditions can be helpful. But when it comes to fashion people simply project their own fashion ideas into the situation. Some insist that you are elegant whether you are at home or on vacation. Others insist you be comfortable and yourself at home or on vacation. The only fashion sterotype I've read about on these boards that I've actually found to be true is that it is rare to see an adult male in Italy wearing shorts.