Ladies, you need to start bundling up

Ladies, we have reached a point in the year where we face a very difficult time with establishing our relationship with the weather. Summer has left us in the cold, bleak and dark mood swings of the upcoming winter.

There are ways to try to make the most of it: by getting Holiday-inspired lattes, eating warm desserts or curling up in that super fluffy blanket. But once the weekend rolls around and it is time to go out, we face a difficult task. What I mean is, unless you have skin that’s thicker than a walrus’s, our hopes of showing off our legs in super short dresses may and can lead to failure with this cold weather.

Before I get into this, let me clear some things up. I not am here to criticize your choice of clothing attire based on aesthetics. We are all grown ups and are capable of dressing ourselves. This is an issue that I tend to face every weekend because, I too, want to ignore the cold weather so that I can wear whatever makes me feel confident while going out.

Unfortunately we live in Canada, not California, and there are consequences when wishing to expose skin when it is time to go out.

Now normally when I see so many girls standing in line patiently for the Fox or Chainsaw or Starlight, doing the best “curl-up-into-a-ball-to-preserve-heat” position that I have ever seen, I give my sympathetic looks and continue marching down the street.

However when an incident happened, that caused me to get sick because I did not feel it was necessary to cover up properly and listen to the warnings that the reliable weather channel gave me, I learned my lesson the hard way.
With the lines getting longer, trying to get into the bars and clubs and the temperatures dropping, the cute little American Apparel-esque dresses everyone likes to show off do not make the cut for keeping our body heat at a comfortable temperature.

As tight as they cling to your body, if anything, they do a great job of riding up your legs and exposing more skin.

Waterloo is exploding with students, which means longer lines at the bars. What used to be waiting outside for a couple of minutes has turned into 30 to 45 minutes of standing outside. This is where the problem occurs.

There is no place to hide from the wind and who wants curl up next to that idiot who is trying to get ahead of you in line? That solution is non-applicable.
It is time to embrace your jackets (not blazers, your actual winter coats), your cute jeans that make your butt look good and use the excuse of covering up so that health problems do not arise and your skin will not be chopped up and dry from the temperature.

There are hiding places you can stash away your coat if you do not wish to fork over the two dollars and do coat check.

Also now that your torso is protected by the heat of your warm jacket, this also means bringing along your scarves and mitts. We stash them all the time in our sleeves when sitting down in class — you can still do it at the bars.
I know it is difficult to retire the cutest summer outfits that you have managed to put together and, by all means, show them off to as many people as you want.

However, I think regardless of what choice of clothing you choose to wear, being proactive about your health should be a main priority. Bundling up does take more effort, but you never know how long you will be outside.

That extra warmth could save you from getting extremely ill. Besides, nursing hangovers is already a difficult task — why would you want to add on the flu? So, next time, let’s all give ourselves a nice warm hug by embracing jeans, tights and proper winter accessories.

I know personally by doing so, it will motivate me to actually go outside and have a social life in the midst of the upcoming harsh winter temperatures.