Having grown up in the subtropics all my life, I never really needed to wear gloves. So when I went the States, I got really excited and thought, "Yes! Now I can finally wear all those cute woolen gloves with the matching hats that they sell from Ralph Lauren!" I even bought a matching pink cable knit beanie, scarf and gloves in preparation! Unfortunately, when I finally got to the windy city, I realized that the measley protection that my woolen mittens were not enough. Not only were my fingers numbed from the cold, but the gloves got WET (from the snow) and made my hands even colder! (Above: RL)
And so I finally decided to invest in a pair of more serious gloves. My attention turned to leather gloves, because they were waterproof and they looked fitted enough that I'd be able to kinda utilize my fingers. I finally settled on a pair from Marshall Field's with serious looking lambswool lining (it was fluffy looking). They've served me well for the last three years. Recently, I also bought a pair of leather gloves with faux fur lining from Milan cause it was on sale, it looked so sleek and the fur lining inside felt soo nice and divine (almost real like!). Though they've both served their purpose for me so far, but I have to admit, on occasions when I'm outdoors in the negative degrees for too long, my hands and fingers still get numb from the cold afterwards! (Above: RL)
This made me wonder how people survived wearing those thin lined leather gloves of cashmere, silk and fleece when my very serious fluffy ones don't quite do the job! My friend who owns a pair that is lined with cashmere, claims that the warming properties of cashmere does the trick- even better than faux fur. She let me tried her gloves for 10 seconds and it felt warm enough, but I'm still skeptical. It just doesn't make logical sense for me! I know cashmere is extra warm, but ultimately it is still really really thin. Can it possibly top the job of many many layers of fluff? (Left: RL, Right: Saks)
Oh and if you like to build snowmans, go skiing or have a snowball fight i.e. anything that involves direct contact with snow, a pair of very very serious waterproof super fluffed up North Face style gloves is probably a good idea. I made the mistake of going skiing with my first pair of leather gloves and the leather was positively ruined (in my defense, it was my first time skiing and I didn't see the point of getting a pair just for half a day of skiing). After that, since they were ruined anyway, I tried to build a snowman with those gloves (snowman building is SO much harder than it looks on tv!). After an hour not only did my snowman looked pathetic (the snow just wouldn't pack!), but my fingers were beyond frozen and numb- it was burning! How I wish I had a pair of these at that moment........(Above: North Face)Image Source: Saks, Ralph Lauren and Nordstrom
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