Switzerland | Clothing Items You Need For Winter!

hey guys welcome back to how to Switzerland it's Sarah here today and in today's video I'm gonna be sharing with you some must-have clothing items that you will need in order to get through the Swiss winter so I really wanted to make this video today because I get a lot of messages on Instagram or people comment on my Instagram saying that they are moving to Switzerland and they have no idea what they should bring with them in terms of winter clothing because let's be honest normal winter clothing varies so greatly what is a winter clothing for one person could not be appropriate winter clothing for the next person and if you have never been to Switzerland before I understand that it can be a bit confusing to find out exactly what you need to bring with you whether you're moving here or traveling here but basically what you need to bring with you to be comfortable in Switzerland in the winter and I definitely need to point out that in today's video I am focusing on your everyday clothing for you know urban city living focusing on that just because most of the people that watch these videos that are relocating to Switzerland a lot of them are moving to maybe Zurich Geneva or something like that so I want to kind of focus on those situations what to wear in an urban environment in the winter because going to the Alps is a whole other different thing if you aren't going up into the Alps for a winter holiday you're skiing and all of this kind of stuff that's basically completely different clothing items so I'm definitely going to have to make a separate video to go over what to pack or what to bring with you for Swiss winter in the Alps now a very common misconception about the weather in Switzerland is that the weather is extreme this is a this is not true at all we are not in the Nordics here we are not in the Midwest the weather here is very very mild I guess you could call it quite moderate because in the summer you don't really get excessive heat and in the winter you do not typically get excessive cold so I personally think the weather here is very very comfortable you guys have heard me mention I grew up in Wisconsin in the Midwest and we have some very extreme winters there so the winters here are so easy for me coming from Wisconsin so to give you a general idea of the temperature in January and February the average temperature in Switzerland ranges from 28 degrees Fahrenheit up to 45 degrees Fahrenheit I will put the Celsius right here on the screen I'm sorry I still work with Fahrenheit I have a hard time learning Celsius but yes of course they use Celsius in Switzerland but of course you need to keep in mind that this temperature range does vary depending on your altitude but you can expect it to be right at or right above freezing if you are moving to a big city and I don't have any data handy when it comes to how much snow we actually get in the cities but I know that last winter in Zurich I think we had a big snowstorm twice possibly three times so most of the time during winter you are not dealing with actually snow on the ground and snow on the sidewalks and on the roads that's not like a normal day-to-day thing that may happen a few times each winter when you get kind of a snowstorm coming in but that is actually more rare than it is common so I hope that background information is a bit helpful at putting things in perspective but now we'll get into the specific clothing items that I would recommend that you need to have the first one sounds a bit obvious but you're going to need a warm winter coat now for most people I would recommend that you have two different warm winter coats one for daytime that is a bit more casual and then one more nighttime dressy coat now please keep in mind in like Geneva and Zurich it is extremely hard to be over dressed in fact I would argue it is quite impossible to be over dressed in a city like Zurich so keep that in mind when we're talking about different styles of coats so this here is an example of a daytime coat that I recently got and this is what you will see most people wearing in the cities during the day this kind of puffer style jacket is extremely extremely popular this puffer coat that I have I would definitely say is closer to the dressy side I mean it's still a very casual coat but I think this faux fur hood trim and you know feel the details on the coat make it appear a bit more dressy and there are a lot more sporty versions of this puffer coat and those would work in the city during the day as well just fine you will see so many people in these kinds of puffer coats in every style now I do have to point out the colors I would recommend for the coat I know this is not a fashion channel and this is more about being practical but I do want to point out that if you are interested in fitting in and looking more like local looking more like somebody who is here living here as opposed to somebody who looks like you know they're new around here or they're a tourist you might want to consider getting a coat in a dark color in general and I am generalizing but you don't typically see Swiss people wearing brighter colors on natural colors and this is especially true in the wintertime now at nighttime I would recommend a more formal coat maybe a pea coat or a trench coat something like this one that I have as you can see this is a lot dressier it's definitely not as warm but you can make it work in the winter with some layering of course you can wear the puffer jacket or the daytime kind of style jacket at night but once again I think if you kind of want to fit in dressing it up a little bit more and just being a little bit more formal at night will definitely help you kind of integrate now for context I want to give an example of a jacket that is probably not so appropriate for city living in the wintertime and anything that kind of looks like a ski jacket or a sport jacket you will not really see a whole lot of that in cities like you know Zurich and Geneva you're not gonna see people walking around and like a spider ski coat in the city the Swiss tend to save those ultra sporty styles that have more color and are a bit more relaxed they save those for when they're in the Alps so you're definitely gonna need one of those coats I can definitely talk about that in my next video about packing for the Alps but when you're in the city that's probably not the right coat next thing you're gonna need sounds pretty obvious to you but I'm just gonna put it out here once again and that is you're gonna need some cold weather accessories so I would definitely recommend that you get a headband or a hat a scarf and some gloves so here are two examples of hats that I am reaching for on a day to day basis now that it has cooled down a whole lot and this one is just like a simple knit kind of hat nothing crazy warm you don't need like a full four thick NYX hat just something simple to keep your ears warm and to keep the heat in something like this would work for daytime or nighttime and then I really like headbands because I find that they just don't mess up my hair as much as a happy still mess up my hair a whole lot but something like this does the job at keeping your ears warm it doesn't stand out as much as like a white hat so I'd like to wear this mainly with my blue puffer jacket that I showed you so scarves are pretty self-explanatory this is one that I'm throwing on all the time it's just a simple scarf not too thick not too bulky because again we are in the city it is not too freezing cold around here but you definitely need something to keep your neck and face warm so just something light like this will do the trick and it can fit in any coat without adding too much bulk like a very thick knit scarf would and then for gloves these are the gloves that I have been wearing around town lately they're just like this faux leather gloves that I got at the thrift shop and I really really like them they work to keep my hands warm obviously they are not super super warm though like some fleece gloves or ski gloves or things like that so these wouldn't again these wouldn't work in the Alps or in the mountains but for just walking around the city getting in and out of public transportation and maybe taking a short bike ride okay the next thing you are definitely going to need are some nice layering pieces now dressing in layers is super super important in the winter in the city because it's actually quite easy to get too hot in the winter if you're wearing a thick sweater and a scarf and a thick coat you're probably actually gonna get hot walking around going shopping going in and out of trams and trains and public transportation it's quite easy to get too hot so you're gonna need to figure out how to master layering so you have that easy solution of if you're too hot take something off if you're too cold put something on now this vest is actually a good example of a nice little layering piece I've almost said Swit layering piece but again this is something you will see a lot of in Switzerland people wearing this kind of like thin lightweight puffer vest you can just throw it over this is obviously a very thick sweater but if you're wearing a thinner sweater and you get cold you can throw this over and it's really gonna do a good job at keeping that Ketan and keeping you warm and you can still fit a coat on top of it so right now I have a pretty thick knit sweater on as you can see so I don't really need any layers beyond this in the winter this with a coat is basically all that I'm going to need but if I want a little bit more flexibility you know you could wear like a thinner sweater or something like this and you could put like a tight long-sleeve shirt underneath and then throw this on top and then we throw a vest over the top or whatever there are so many different ways you could layer clothing but I want to make it clear you don't need to wear a thick knit sweater every single day in the winter in Switzerland sometimes just a lightweight turtleneck like this one might be enough and then you're just gonna have to layer it up okay now let's move on to talking about Footwear I will show you my basically everyday city living winter shoes as you can see they are just like a water-resistant very simple little boot but what I like about these is that they do have a nice thick it's not super thick but they have a rubber sole on there which is really nice to have in the winter so it's not slippery and this will work on most winter days but it will not work on very cold days or days when we have snow and ice and slush and muck and all that kind of stuff so beyond your everyday kind of simple boot I would recommend that you get something that's a bit heavier duty like this as you can see this has a really thick sole with the heel these are also like lined with some sort of faux sheep for kind of thing so I reserved these for when I'm walking my dog through the mud when there's been snow coming down in the city when the city has a lot of slush or things like that going on or it's just a cold extra cold day and you want to keep your feet extra warm this is the kind of boot I would wear for that so now if I need to look a bit more dressed up say I have a nighttime event or occasion or going out for cocktails or whatever this is my go-to shoe right now it is just a simple black boot it's a little bit more formal because it does have the heel on it and you probably are not gonna be wearing any sort of stiletto or open anything on your feet in the wintertime it's just gonna be too cold to be wearing kind of open heels or things like that so I like to wear this for winter dressy occasions but overall when it comes to winter shoes what I think is the most important is that one your whole foot is covered and to that it comes up higher you know a sneaker a tennis shoe and here and that's probably just not gonna cut it in the winter I would say this is really the lowest cut shoe you can go with and I would probably even recommend that you get something that's cut a bit higher because this can sometimes really not be warm enough depending on the temperature that day but that kind of leads me into my next point which is socks it's definitely important that you get some thicker socks in the winter typically all year round I wear quite thin like cotton black socks and I have in the winter it is just not warm enough we don't have a car here in Zurich we are walking a lot we are outdoors a lot it's not like our lifestyle in the US where we basically went from heated house to heated car to heated wherever sometimes we are out a bit longer you know where you're at a Christmas market or we just spend more time outside living here so having a warmer sock is definitely an essential so your feet stay warm and the last thing that I'm going to mention just for people out there that have pets is you may want to consider getting your dog a sweater as well for the Swiss winter and I know people probably think this sounds funny and ridiculous and unnecessary but our dog is very tiny his legs are about this long so he's basically on the ground on the cold concrete in the snow and everything and it's easy for him to get cold in the winter again keep in mind we are walking more we're outdoors we are not going from heated apartment heated car heated whatever so it is quite necessary for us to have a dog sweater to put on him when we are walking to town in winter and things like that but perhaps you do not need this if you have a dog that has long legs and is high up off the ground you of course know your dog best you know if they get cold in the winter but we find personally that this really helps keep little Winston warm and it keeps the snow and the you know gunk off of his stomach because he's basically his stomach and hair is basically on the ground when he's walking he's very low to the ground so that is it for today's video I really hope you guys found it helpful if you are moving here or if you are coming here and you don't know what you're going to need in the winter we are going up to the Alps two or three times this winter so I will 100% be making a video about what to pack for the Alps or showing you guys what we packed I haven't exactly figured that out yet but that will be coming that is it for today's video guys I guess and I'll talk to you very very soon in the next one ciao bye [Music]

Channel: How To Switzerland

Views: 27,913

Rating: 4.8937759 out of 5

Keywords: switzerland, swiss, how to, life in switzerland, move to switzerland, moving to switzerland, sarah nourse, sarah nurse, sara nourse, swiss life

Id: UPvtp5BMU_U

Length: 15min 30sec (930 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 21 2019