The Plymouth Ice Festival started in 1982, when a group of local business people put one together, and it grew from there. It is now the oldest ice festival in North America and it brings a considerable crowd into downtown in the coldest part of the year, which creates a clothing problem that a warmer town never faces.
The problem is transitions
An afternoon outdoors in January followed by going inside somewhere warm, repeatedly, over several hours. Dress for the cold and you spend every indoor stretch overheated; dress for the room and the walk between is miserable.
The answer is layers, not a heavier suit
People instinctively buy a thicker suit for winter and it’s the wrong lever. The suit should be chosen for the rooms, which are heated all year, and the cold handled by a coat that comes off.
What that asks of the jacket
Only that it survive being squashed under one for twenty minutes and still hang clean when the coat comes off. That is decided by how well it sits through the shoulders, and Roman, master tailor at Lincoln Tailor, on site in our store, is who to ask about it.
Also for Plymouth: A Town Square, and What Actually Happens in One. More on style consulting, or plan your visit to our Oak Park showroom.
