Here's a trick that's worked for me: I keep a hat and gloves in EACH of the coats that I wear during cold weather. I match the weight (and style!) of the hat and gloves to the weight (and style!) of the coat.*Now, I may be a bit of an outerwear enthusiast--and that enthusiasm might also extend to gloves**--and I think that some people will say "wow, so many sets of gloves, that's expensive!" but here's my argument:
- I'm grown up, so my hands ain't changing size. The gloves I bought ten years ago still fit.
- Since I have a system for keeping track of my gloves and hats, I've developed clear habits: my gloves ALWAYS go in my left coat pocket, and my hat ALWAYS goes in my right pocket. The result? I never lose my hat or gloves.
- Since I never lose my hat or gloves, I never have to replace them... and that saves me money in the long run.
- Since I can wear my "never lost" gloves until they wear out, I'm sure to get every single dollar's worth of value out of them.
I have a couple other posts related to this one if you're up for surfing these sort of oddly simple but oddly freeing life decisions: check out the bits about investing in your points of contact, dressing in layers, the post about socks, the one about not buying cheap crap... and look for a future piece on buying multiple copies of things.*I also consciously and definitively categorize my coats into ten-degree windows of utility, but I won't mention that because I'd sound crazy. For me though, it's something I can decide once and never worry about again; it frees my mind and reduces my worries. ** ... and bags, and vacuums...