How to wear a Gilet

Ah! Crossed wires, Riverwalk! I meant those polo necks you can get which just pull on over your head and only go as far as the collar bone...
DH would look a b***er in one of those in your link!

gracesmum, that gilet - silet rhyme is in the Ogden Nash style! Keep on writing and we could soon have a rival to ON.

I used to have a couple of those sleeveless polo-neck jumpers. One was in a horrid Beecham's pills green.

I'm wearing the gilet now sitting in this rather cold house reading (well on Gransnet obviously just at this very moment).

I do think I could find a use for it but maybe not going out in very cold weather for a long walk because of frostbite of the arms.

Probably quite good for washing up when the house is cold. I sometimes put on a thick long sleeved hoody but then there's trouble with the sleeves getting wet.

Ana this is what I was referring to

sleeveless polo-neck

DH sometimes wears one of those when he goes out, Riverwalk, because he refuses to wear a scarf and doesn't want to be committed to a polo-necked jumper all day.

I tend to feel the cold across the top of my back and shoulders so wearing a gilet/bodywarmer suits me fine I have two,one is fleece and nice and cosy the other is quilted forest green with loads of pockets I think maybe better on some outdoor type rather than me but it is stylish when worn with jeans and long sleeved wool jumpers.

That made me chuckle gracesmum . Very creative.

petallus I'm like you in not quite knowing what to do with a gilet - it seems a contradiction to have a garment that keeps you warm but is sleeveless! Now having read the posts of wearers I will dig out mine and experiment.

Another 'contradictory' piece of clothing is a sleeveless polo-neck .... an American friend wears them, one day I'll ask her why

It took me a while to catch on to silet.

Like it!

Collect them and publish them gracesmum
PS love the poetic licence with silet

You should only wear a gilet
If the weather's turning cold
cos a gilet can look silet
And also very old.
If the weather you can't hack it
You could always wear a jacket
Or if you're young and tough
a big scarf might be enough
But to be sure you don't get chills
You must take your Vit C pills
So ditch those floaty frocks
In favour of thick socks
And you know you'll come out best
If you don't forget your vest

I can see how a lightish gilet would be useful.

The one I am thinking of not sending back to B*d*n is warm enough for a trip to the Antarctic with a big fleecey hood (though this is unclippable).

I'm veering towards keeping it anyway because it is such a nicely made item and such a bargain (£120 to £33).

At least it would be good for cleaning out the rabbit hutch

It's a lovely misty-blue morning here - I'm going to put my gilet on over an Aran jumper and go for a walk! (I'd better get a move on before the mood wears off)!

I love mine too - can't bear to drive in a coat. I like the freedom for my arms, but only wear them outside, with a warm jumpers, on a not too cold day.

I have two and I love them. I wear them with gloves and a woolly scarf and love the freedom they allow whilst keeping me warm. Mine are quilted landsend ones that I bought in the sale. They need to be tumble dried with tennis balls!!

I had a black fine gilet and have left it somewhere and you would not believe how much I miss it, I have looked to replace it but nothing I have seen comes close to it.

Just before Christmas we were invited to Sunday lunch at a friend's house which is always freezing. I am prone to getting a stiff neck if I'm cold so I sat at the table wearing a fur lined body warmer and a scarf. I had to endure quite a few sarcastic comments but she should think herself lucky I left my fingerless gloves at home.

Oh no. In the evening it's my legs that get cold. But if I put a blanket over them I go into bed mode and fall asleep.

You see, this is what I can't understand. If I feel cold after the heating's gone off, I put a cardigan on, because it's my upper arms that feel cold, not my body. It just goes to show how different we all are!

I go along with Merlot and gracesmum in preferring to call them "body warmers". Much more descriptive, British and - anyway, I can't pronounce "gilet". Is it a hard or soft "g"
I like mine, all three of them for varying occasions. Sometimes worn under a coat for walking the dog when it's really cold, sometimes just to give extra warmth when you don't want the bulk of sleeves. I often put one on in the evening after the heating has gone off, the fire is dying down and I'm not yet ready for bed.

I can't wear a gilet outside either, if my arms get cold then my joints hurt!

If it's too mild for a jacket - why bother - it's summer?

If it's too mild to wear a jacket I don't go for a mini duvet, more a fleecy throw look.

But...why would you want a mini-duvet around your upper body (but not arms!) if it was too mild to wear a jacket?

I just go with what it says on the tin - body warmer - and I like mine for driving when an extra layer is welcome but don't want thick sleeves , or on a mild day, again when a coat or jacket might be too much.

At the very least.