The Nation: Warm and Chic

Paris decreed several years ago that the layered look was In. Last year it was the lumberjack look (TIME, Nov. 29). Willy, or more probably nilly, the doyens of fashion were making warm, practical sense. In this winter of American discomfort, it is not only chic—for men as well as women—but positively de rigueur to be decked out like an able-bodied seaman on the Murmansk run.

Dressing warmly is mainly a matter of insulation—of trapping body heat. Loggers who work Maine's north woods wear up to ten layers of loose-fitting clothes. Next to themselves,...