FashBlog.com

By Brandi M. Seals

I am originally from Michigan, but I have been living in Arkansas for a year and a half and something has really been bothering me. In fact, I have noticed this same thing is several southern states I have visited during the winter months.

The thing is that everyone overreacts to cold weather. It could be 30 degrees out and people are going nuts saying the pipes are going to burst and warning about hypothermia. The news will suggest dripping your pipes to prevent freezing (which apparently means turn them on close to full force, not actually dripping them like people with bad plumping do in Michigan). Anyway, there is a big who-ha about the weather. They start predicting snow months before it will show up. Since they do not have snowplows it is understandable that they do not like to drive in the stuff. Most places go nuts throwing heaps of sand or sometime salt on the roads (which actually makes them harder to drive on, since the 1/8 of an inch of snow they received was not actually a problem).

I understand everyone's experience is different. What I think of as a lot of snow, is to many southerners a blizzard. I get that. What I do not get, is that with all the worry that goes on that I mention, a large majority of these people do not wear warm coats, rarely where hats and gloves and NEVER wear scarves. That is what I do not get. If it is so cold out, why not dress for it?

My husband and I went for a walk the other night. It was pretty nice out. It was clear and the temperatures were somewhere in the low 30s or high 20s. I put on one of my lighter winter coats (yes, most of us from the north have more than one), a hat, a pair of gloves and a scarf. Upon going outside I noticed that my husband and I were the only ones with more than a coat on and yet everyone was moaning about how cold it was. Umm, if you are cold, dress for the occasion and you will not be cold anymore. It is not that hard.

I know these people have access to winter accessories. They sell them in the stores. I imagine someone must buy them. I must admit that last year I did see people with gloves and a hat once in awhile, but I have never seen a southerner wearing a scarf.

My husband is originally from Louisiana and I had to teach him about scarves when he moved up to Michigan. He thought they were useless (as I suspect many people from warmer climates believe) until I made him wear one on a cold and windy night. He was quickly convinced that scarves were the greatest thing ever.

Let me explain why people should wear scarves:

They are warm and are used to keep cold air and snow from going down in your jacket. That means you have a warm neck and a warm torso.

Scarves can be used to dress up any jacket or provide a cute accent and they still keep you warm.

On very cold or windy days, you can wrap your scarf differently to protect your face. First wrap it around the neck several times and tuck the ends in your jacket. Now carefully pull up one layer so that it covers your face up to your nose. Ta-da, now your face is kept nice and warm.

I think one of the biggest problems people have with scarves is they do not know how to tie them so that they stay put. If all you want to do is warm the neck, take a scarf and fold it in two so that it is half the length it used to be. Now wrap the folded scarf around your neck, making sure the ends are in the front. Open up the folded end a little and stuff the loose ends through. Tug the scarf until it is as snug as you would like.

The scarf may not be used a lot in warmer climates, but if it gets cold for even a month or so each year, it is a very valuable piece to have around.