As an outsider to Canada’s capital, I quickly found Ottawa winters to be my personal hell. The temperature is unpredictable, and the wind is often so strong it feels as if it could swoop you up and take you for a ride at any point. Salted roads are my number one enemy—and don’t even get me started on snow and how much of a buzzkill it is.
The only beneficial part of winter can be easily summarized in a single alliteration: The Lovely Life of Layering. So sit back, relax, and let’s take a ride down the list of the three essentials you need in your closet to bear the Ottawa winter.
The perfect winter jacket
The first would be a fairly obvious choice and that would in fact be a jacket. Balancing the scale between warmth and fashion can be a hard one—but there are two easy choices.
As seen above, a puffer jacket is a great option for a streetwear aesthetic (as well as classic Canadiana). Puffer jackets are stuffed with down—feathers from ducks or geese. Not all puffer jackets contain genuine down, and there are plenty of cruelty free companies to choose from that use some sort of substitute.
In the photograph below, I’m wearing a shiny black puffer from Aritzia. Yes gentlemen, Aritizia makes men’s jackets—and you need one. The jacket is rated to retain heat up to -30 degrees Celsius and ensures style is not compromised.
If money is no object for you, then puffers from Moncler or Canada Goose are also great (though non-vegan) options. They provide high-quality pieces that certainly match the price point, but for many, breaking the bank can be worth it. The jackets are also carefully quality controlled, so you can expect to have the jacket for upwards of 10 years.
If you’re looking for something a little more sustainable, brands such as Superdry and Matt & Nat offer 100 per cent cruelty-free jackets for a fraction of the cost of authentic down ones.
If you’re looking for a more stylish, formal look, a peacoat is your best option. Peacoats give you the same layered, draped look as a trench coat but are thick enough to keep you warm when popping in from store to store. They’re not my first recommendation, but definitely a great choice for those more bearable days.
The prototypical toque
The second highly-recommended staple is a toque. I don’t care if you have long or short hair, a man bun or a buzz cut; investing in a toque is a necessity.
While the common assumption that most of your body heat leaves through the head and neck is scientifically false, it’s still important to ensure every part of your body that can be covered is covered during the winter.
As for fashion, it’s also a great way to flex your creative muscles.
The most important part of a toque is not necessarily the brand, but simply the way it fits on your head. Purchasing a rather cheap toque from wholesale brands such as Fruit of the Loom or Gildan is certainly a great option. They’re affordable and often made a little bit too long, allowing you to roll and cuff them to your liking.
Colour blocking could be a whole blog in itself, but understanding how to style seemingly-opposite colours together is actually quite easy. In the photograph, I’m not exactly showing you an array of colours, but the black toque compliments the rest of the outfit.
Colour blocking is the idea of wearing an outfit that has complementary colours from the colour wheel. It can also include wearing bright with dark, as well as contrasting shades and tones. Colour blocking can make the difference between a dud and a runway-ready outfit.
This outfit is centred around the bright blue colour pop from my crewneck and is complemented by black garments. My Lacoste toque also complements the black pieces, while still providing a bijou pop of green from the Alligator.
My personal favourite toque material is wool due to its warmth and ability to mould to your head.
A statement piece
Last but certainly not least, the most important garment for the Ottawa winter is, simply put, a statement piece. This is a super vague final idea, but hear me out.
A statement piece can come in the form of a fun pattern, brand, or unique colour. I am a sucker for jackets with interesting lining and subtle brand flexes.
In this outfit, I am wearing a crewneck from Massimo Osti and CP Company. A passerby would not know that the garment is designer until they passed my left arm, exposing the notorious lens sewn onto the sleeve.
This is what I love: pieces that are subtle, but will break the necks of those who know the brand. Designers such as Stone Island, Burberry and All Saints are in my personal recommended list of quality pieces that may break the bank but have the quality to withstand the test of time, without subjecting yourself and others to the tackiness that is an assault of designer logos.
Nonetheless, vintage pieces from Polo Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger provide great options for a lover of patterns. And the search—whether it be in the small-town thrift store to massive online vintage warehouses—yields a fun experience.
While cold-weather fashion is often restricted to what’s possible to flex in below-zero temperatures (especially in Canada’s capital), there’s no reason why you shouldn’t make the most of what’s weather appropriate to wear this time of year. So get creative, get out there, and show those poorly-plowed Ottawa streets what you’ve got.
Featured image provided by Manuel Baechlin.
