Layering Smart in the Winter

Brrr! Winter sports are here, which means spending hours in those cold bleachers while rooting for your son or daughter's hockey team. That's parental devotion! Thankfully you prepare yourself by adding every layer known to mankind to keep you warm. The problem, however, is that now you look like a puffed-up helium balloon ready for a parade. Tie a rope around yourself and you might even float away.

"I feel like I've been battling this fashion dilemma for years," says Milford hockey mom Mary Kate Sullivan, whose son Colin, 18, plays for Avon Old Farms. "The truth is you cannot deny your style for the sake of warmth." It's just the opposite, she says, "You have to incorporate warmth into your style."

MAKING IT WORK

Welcome to layering, ladies! It's great for function, with fashion impact, too. "The key to layering is to keep them thin," says Rowayton-based style consultant Trish McQuillen, also a sports mom. "The other day at my son's game I wore a white Under Armour turtleneck under a white fur vest, but I put a thinner jacket over it so it looked like a big furry scarf coming down the middle."

Couple your outfit with a cute hat and gloves and now you're warm and fashion-forward, says McQuillen, who spent most of her career at Giorgio Armani and now runs her own company, Style Design Inc. Your accessories -- scarves, hats and gloves, and sunglasses and earrings -- all help add an extra oomph to the end result. And wouldn't you rather look as if you just stepped out of a Vanity Fair photo shoot meticulously styled by Rachel Zoe than a walking sleeping bag?

Whether it's for the rink or a chilly office, start with a good base piece such as a T-shirt. If it's really cold, use a T-shirt made of high-tech fabric designed to keep you warm. Then pair it up with a cotton cardigan or a cashmere sweater, and pop a vest over it. To avoid that puffy look, stick to thinner fabrics and don't layer more than three items, especially if you are throwing a coat over everything.

Add a belt to cinch it all in -- a great slimming feature for all body types. That way when you shed your coat, you can be ready to go from the rink to the restaurant. You can even layer in different ways so it looks as if you never wear the same thing twice. Also "play with proportions," suggests Jennifer Sauer, Milford fashion and handbag designer and founder of Vessel Couture. "Things look more fashionable when they are peeking out -- the longer pieces under shorter pieces and long sleeves under sweaters."

Add a faux fur collar to your five-year-old cardigan or drape a beautiful scarf around your neck to create something more sophisticated. "You can change up a whole outfit with a scarf," says Sauer, also department chairwoman of fashion and merchandising at Sanford-Brown College, formerly Gibbs College in Norwalk. And it'll keep you warm.

"Textural dimension in outfits is important," says Andrew Mitchell-Namdar, vice president and creative director of the Mitchells Family of Stores in Westport, Greenwich and Huntington, N.Y. "Think wool sweater or think cashmere underneath." Or trying paring corduroy with cotton or a tweed jacket with a T-shirt and suede riding pants, topped off with a pair of riding boots -- Sullivan's favorite look for the rink. Or substitute that pant for a pencil skirt, that jacket for a cable knit sweater. Then throw a coat over it, or a beautiful poncho, with yummy hot chocolate for a hand warmer, and you are ready for the bleachers -- minus that puffy coat. HL

Cold weather workout gear

When you are layering for winter exercise such as running, skiing or skating, think in threes: base, mid and outer. The most important thing is to avoid hypothermia. So you want light, flexible fabrics such as Thinsulate that repel perspiration, trap heat and allow movement. Consider this your base layer.

Style consultant Trish McQuillen recommends synthetic turtlenecks and leggings that are made especially for cold weather. Many brands such as Nike, Under Armour and Spyder are available in most sporting goods stores.

Cover it up with a fleece, and you have your mid layer - a lightweight fabric perfect for mobility and warmth. For your outer layer, add a waterproof shell to block the wind. Look for Gore-tex, a durable fabric that can hold up to tears on the slopes or the ice.

Don't forget to cover your hands, head and ears. The options there are plentiful, but choose one with the same wind-blocking material.

Layer 1: A T-shirt that wicks sweat away from your body is a good choice for a base layer and a fitted shirt minimizes bulk.

Layer 2: The next layer should also wick sweat and be light enough to move in but warm enough to insulate. The sleeves on this pullover are long to cover the hands if needed and the collar stands up for added warmth.

Layer 3: The outer layer can block wind and rain but should have mesh panels for ventilation and range of motion.

For your legs: Choose a pant made of lightweight thermal fabric that wicks sweat away from the skin to keep you dry while keeping you warm.