All the Things We’re Buying to Feel Cozy, Warm, and Safe Right Now

A must as we slide into fall are wrist warmers from Gypsy & LoLo.  I lost one at SFO on my way to Jackson Hole. After going through airport security, I exited back into the main terminal just to find that wrist warmer. They feel and look that good. The husband-and-wife designer team behind this brand support local manufacturers. All items are made in the USA from upcycled materials. Buy one item and they plant one tree, too. And no, I didn’t find the wrist warmer. Next time I’ll fly with two pairs—just in case. 

—Christine Bobbish, photo editor

One of my favorite things about staying in a five-star hotel is the luxurious robe––and this one from Parachute Home is as good as it gets. Needless to say, I take most Zoom calls while wearing it.

—Jasmin Perez, director of digital strategy

Flannels are de rigueur in the fall and winter, but I’ve found old-school fabrics to be scratchy and stuffy. California Cowboy’s modern reinvention features a soft thermal lining and even softer cotton on the outside. Plus, smart touches like a sunglass holder on the lapel and rear pockets for stashing smaller items and even a beer make it my go-to on a daily basis. People call it the “lumber-sexual” trend, but I’m hell-bent on swinging an axe in this newfangled frontiersman get-up.

—Matt Bean, editor-in-chief

These Smartwool base layer bottoms are perfect for brisk mornings on my patio watching documentaries from my zero-gravity lounge chair. I can even hop on my bike and brave sunrise timing at Venice Beach. If you’re not sure what base layers you need, Smartwool’s site has a quick Q&A survey to help you land on a perfect match.  Mine is this 250 in Alpine Blue Heather. 

—Christine Bobbish, photo editor

I love cold-weather season because I finally have an excuse to break out all things shearling. I just got these calf-hair-and-shearling slippers from Freda Salvador, and I swear if they didn’t have suede soles, I’d wear them out.

—Jasmin Perez, director of digital strategy

My bedroom is often cold at night, being located almost as far as it could be from the WWII-era wall heater that is the only official source of warmth in my home. Luckily, my wife and I got hip to the game-changing Sunbeam heated mattress pad, which might be the coziest thing we’ve ever purchased. The pad is thick enough that I don’t feel the wires inside. The heat is subtle and even, and I never wake up feeling overheated. At low settings, I barely know it’s on. (Our model has separate controllers for each side, handy when the SoCal girl I married wants it warmer than I do.) Pro tip: Switch the pad on a half-hour before retiring and no matter how cold the room is, your bed will be a warm, cozy cocoon. Yes, it’s an expensive mattress topper, but it spares us the cost (and the noise) of running a space heater all night. 

—Nicole Clausing, web producer

Growing up in the Midwest, I routinely braved double-digit subzero temperatures come winter, but now that I’ve lived in Los Angeles for nearly two decades I’ve become a thermal wimp. So when it hits, oh, 60 degrees Fahrenheit outside and my drafty, century-old bungalow lets in the crisp-ish air, I happily put on a cashmere-and-wool A.P.C. duffle coat I bought years ago when I was routinely flying to New York for work in the winter. Unstructured, mid-length, with a capacious hood, it’s as much sweater as outerwear and has seen me through 10 years of autumns, winters, and cozy cross-country business flights, which, oddly, I nostalgically long for. (Never thought I’d say that!) I recently searched for a replacement but nothing came close so I had it re-lined. A.P.C. doesn’t make the exact style anymore, but this comes close.

—Hugh Garvey, executive editor

This cashmere pillow from Aiayu screams hygge––it’s cozy and unbelievably plush. But why I really love it is it’s ethically sourced from Tibetan and Mongolian goats and responsibility crafted in Nepal. 

—Jasmin Perez, director of digital strategy

We’re not shy about our love for Rumpl, the maker of stuff-sack blankets using both synthetic, recycled, and natural fibers. Same goes for Snow Peak, the leading Japanese outdoor brand. But now the Portland-based brands have joined forces to create a fire-resistant blanket using Rumpl’s NanoLoft interiors and Snow Peak’s ripstop, fire-beating Takibi fabric.

The fetching green and black blanket rolls up for stashing inside of a pair of straps, a retro touch that represents a shift from Rumpl’s traditional stuff sack model. Inside, the NanoLoft insulation is 100 percent post-consumer, so you can feel warm inside as well as outside.

Why you should invest in a ton of warm, high-performance socks right now.