3 Base Layers That Trap Warmth and Don’t Chafe
New kinds of fabric make for long underwear that keep you warmer and more comfortable than ever….
Patagonia Capilene Air Hoody
Patagonia blended merino wool with a recycled polyester called Capilene to create an ultrafine 18.5-micron-gauge yarn. The material is then woven into a uniform pattern of tiny little heat-trapping fabric pyramids. The garment is snug—it expands and contracts as satisfyingly as a Slinky—but is also entirely seamless.
Smartwool Intraknit Merino 200 Crew
This light, soft thermal layer is knit so finely you almost can’t detect its three-dimensional texture, until you stretch the fabric and see how it’s thicker in some places and thinner in others. For example, the crew shirt has gender-specific ventilation and articulation zones—in the women’s version, there’s a ventilated criss-cross pattern over the belly and across the clavicle—that help cool down my core, even when I work hard.
Columbia Omni Heat Crew
Columbia’s proprietary Omni Heat material lines the inside of this stretchy polyester shirt, where it works like a silver space blanket by reflecting thermal radiation back to the wearer’s body. The lining is patterned into thousands of domelike puffs that lie on the surface of your skin, where it traps the warmth that’s being reflected back. It looks like it might be itchy, but it’s surprisingly soft. Allergic to wool? No problem. This fabric is made from a hypoallergenic polyester-elastane blend.
Stylist: Heather Rosner
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