CLOTHES FOR UK ERASMUS

Hello again my lovely Erasmus people!

How are you? Well, a better question would be where are you? At the moment, the large majority of you if you haven't already set off for your destination, will be finalising your preparation in order to leave in the next couple of days.

Today I am going to write a post about fashion. Well, more about practicality rather than Erasmus style... we haven't started any trends... yet. During my Erasmus, I packed my suitcase four times: once in September, again in December, April and June. Because I am going to divide up my advice into two time-frames, we are going to call them WINTER Erasmus and SPRING Erasmus because I went to England and there aren't more seasons than those two.

Let's go.

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WINTER ERASMUS

This time-frame is between September-December. Our location: central England, Autumn-Winter, between 9℃ and 1℃, quite fresh. It is cold, guys. Really cold. I am quite a cold-blooded person, and my God this is cold! But oh well, lets prepare our suitcases to fight these 1℃ days..!

We need to bring clothes for:

• Inside

Here comes the OH MY GOD I'M BOILING HOT. Yes, yes my friends. It is hilarious because the only times I was hot in the UK was during the middle of winter. Why? Because I dressed like a human onion. Layers of tights underneath trousers and the biggest jumpers in the world became my favourite allies to battle the wintery war outside. What happened was that nobody told me that every single one of the buildings in the University of Birmingham had the heating put on 28℃. I had prepared for the cold walk to uni and once I started walking I began sweating like a chicken. Thick tights and thermal vests are amazing if you're going to be outside in the freezing cold for a long time. They keep you warm. I also added woolly socks to this. My advice is not to wrap up too much if you know that you are going to uni because it is very warm there. In the same way, the walk is not pleasant with thermal shirts on, but its best for you to have a good coat over your top that you can take off. Here is the best advice: wear very warm clothes but ones that you can layer and take off: coats, scarves, earmuffs, gloves, etc... All items that you can take off when you arrive and then you can stay at a good temperature.

Then we have the other type of building that us students visit a lot: pubs, clubs, bars etc. All types of places like this where the music makes us want to move our arses and dance a little. CAREFUL! The heat is tremendous. Imagine heating of the highest level along with all the people inside = summer. The temperature can be almost similar to that of any balcony in the middle of the Spanish summer. Yep. Do not make the same error I did and go to the first party wearing long trousers and a long-sleeved top that tied at the neck with a bow. It was a monumental error. It is normal to see people wearing dresses as if it were summer and any crop-top is justified (I've been almost judging their normal outfits but they're totally justified). THE CLUB IS ON FIRE! In all aspects... The worst thing about this season is the abrupt (really abrupt) change in temperature entering and leaving the club. Especially leaving. In the time it takes for you to hail a taxi to go home, you are already shivering. But it's worth it because we always do it again. There are some brave people that risk the temperature change and go out without a coat as if it were nothing, you are also included in this crazy people group if you're not cold!

• Outside

So, we have clearly covered the topic of light clothing for inside. But, outside in December in Birmingham was equal to: "Elena, please don't forget the gloves! ". I am quite sensitive, but my lips and hands were cut and dry every time I forgot the gloves or the lip balm. I would recommend you pack all kinds of protection against low temperatures and rain like umbrellas for torrential rain or a raincoat. Wellie boots aren't necessary - I never used mine and my feet never got wet. That being said, I always wore big shoes. I recommend you wear a sports coat because if you spend time outdoors in the winter it will usually be to do some sport or go somewhere to walk and you will be a thousand times more comfortable. Especially because they are normally waterproof... I think this is one of the bits of clothing that I used the most because my that I used to wear daily before was made of little hair, so it was fluffy and if it got wet then... you can imagine.

So, what should I pack?

I would recommend you to pack:

• An every-day coat
• Sports coat
• Waterproof coat
• Warm thermal trousers
• Tops
• Boots
• Heels
• -Scarf, wooly hats and earmuffs
• GLOVES

Right, now we shall start on our second suitcase that I prepared in Spain in April. For the four months after December until April it is the same as winter, it stays cold or even gets a bit colder.

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SPRING ERASMUS

This is more the time during which you can enjoy more outside activities. England during these months is beautiful, full of flowers and greenery. I loved it. As well during this time, without a ray of sun for the past 6 months the people took advantage and had barbecues, read in the grassy parks, had picnics, ate in gardens, went running... Before I went back to England I left all of my biggest coats behind and changed them for jackets and lighter jumpers, I also left my scarves in Spain and that was a great decision.

• Inside and Outside

There was no longer a difference between the temperatures on the street and the temperature inside therefore you do not need to think of so many things to take with you to put on or to take off. The outfits, except a coat that I took around with me just in case (the weather in England is crazy), are generally the same inside and outside places. But you cannot go with a suitcase that is packed with clothes for spring/summer in Spain. To give you an idea, I packed one pair of shorts and I put them on one day at the end of June. Before then I was wearing jeans and thin, but long trousers. During the night it was still quite cold. The jumpers, if you are a cold person, they are already very thin. I, for example, kept on taking my leather jacket putting it on a lot from day to day. And summer pyjamas did not exist for me.

So, what should I pack?

• Jackets: denim, leather, suede
• Long and short sleeve tops
• Jeans and long trousers
• One pair of shorts
• Closed shoes, I never wore sandals
• Crop-tops
• Cool tops to wear under your jackets

To make it clearer for you, I have created an OOTD (outfit of the day) collection for you so that you can see what to wear on a day to day basis in England:

Pyjamas

From September all the way through to June I was wearing winter pyjamas, thermal trousers that I wore around the house as well as sleeping.

Going out clothes

For boys to go out, a short or long sleeve top/shirt and long trousers. For girls, anything you want except for really wintery things like (velvet dresses, high-collared garments, very warm pants). Opt for more jumpsuits or playsuits or shorts, cool dresses and combinations of short bottoms and short tops. Of course, do not forget the coat for later. Or take a taxi really quickly.

Going to uni

My choice in winter: Coat, thick sweater with nothing underneath, pants and boots. Accessories; Winter hat, scarf and gloves.

My choice for spring: Denim jacket, long sleeve shirt, jeans and sports shoes.

Gym clothes

In the gym I didn't see very many short shorts, they usually wear sports leggings and a sports bra and loose top. In winter just add a coat.

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I hope that my article has helped you and as usual I hope you enjoyed it!

Kisses,

Elena.

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