Merino Clothing (base layers, etc)

a good camping shop will have icebreaker stuff

Anyway, anyone got Central London top tips for shops stocking girls merino long johns? Is there anything girls especially want from their thermal underwear? And what is a very "warm" weight for merino, but still able to fit under very tight bottoms?

Howies, on Carnaby Street.

TK MAXX has a good range of merino sweaters. I just bought two (really nice looking) sweaters and a new belt for under £40. Well worth the search around the rails.

Cheers. I'm heading into town tomorrow so I'll check Howies or Cotswold.

dont forget your plastic in Howies, youll need it

Stedlocks, they're right. See my mini review of the BSpoke stuff in the Raphael thread here:

http://www.lfgss.com/post1850362-4640.html

If you want a merino top for gardening or walking they're great. As a baselayer, not even worth a look.

Anyway, anyone got Central London top tips for shops stocking girls merino long johns? Is there anything girls especially want from their thermal underwear? And what is a very "warm" weight for merino, but still able to fit under very tight bottoms?

Ah....
Oh well, I've paid 30 quid for a couple of tops then!!
Is the also stuff any good? I did a couple of hours off road tonight and I was fooking cold on the upper chest despite 3 layers.....

That was meant to say 'aldi' not 'also'....

Not sure re aldi but see my comments at post 263, good quality merino is quite amazing.

@ Stedlocks. Aldi stuff is decent although you can only get short-sleeved tops for men and the long-johns.

The oldest ones of mine have lasted 3 years now with little sign of stretch (maybe bit around the neck). I think they are well worth the money - quality & fit are both good.

btw - the bag I bought from you arrived safe & sound. I meant to PM you ages ago to say thanks but forgot. So thanks!! I love it btw.

Just get the HH stuff, it's quality.

they get a bit stinky after a few days though. on my season my mate had to wash his HH every other day pretty much while i only washed my patagonia merino jobby about 3 times.

nylon does not compare to merino, its horrible nasty stinky synthetic nonsense.

@ Stedlocks. Aldi stuff is decent although you can only get short-sleeved tops for men and the long-johns.

The oldest ones of mine have lasted 3 years now with little sign of stretch (maybe bit around the neck). I think they are well worth the money - quality & fit are both good.

btw - the bag I bought from you arrived safe & sound. I meant to PM you ages ago to say thanks but forgot. So thanks!! I love it btw.

Cool....glad you like it :o)

I'm down my mum's today as I have been working all over Chrimbo and there is an Aldi near her so I'll pop in and see if they have any left.....
I should have just bought a Rapha one and be done with it!.....I might do yet, if I can fly it under the wife's radar........I was cold on last nights blat

No smelly Hellys for me......and I keep my skins compression gear for football.....that stinks as well

Likewise, skins for fencing/recovery - stink so badly.

All the nylon cycling jerseys pick up perma-stench after a couple of uses.

I have tried all the mumsnet suggestions - bicarbonate of soda, vinegar etc as a pre wash or in the machine, drying clothes in direct sunlight. None of them kill the bacteria.

Merino makes you smell like a wet sheep the first few uses but then goes quite neutral.

DJ on mumsnet? Good lord. :-)

milffinder

Bollocks..... Its a fucking lidl, not aldi......
I knew it was one chav shop or the other, I always get them confused!

What about Smartwool? Have some of their socks and they're super-nice.

Im on the "Uni qlo" Heatwave stuff-buy top and bottom for bout £18....very warm

cheap merino from on-one

http://www.on-one.co.uk/news/products/q/date/2011/01/20/merino-baselayer-3-for-65?utm_source=Planet+X+and+On+One&utm_campaign=86f5200598-20th_January_2011_Block_Version1_20_2011&utm_medium=email

^ good deal there. May have to hit that.

My only issue with merino as a baselayer is that it stretches, a lot. It tends to return to shape after a wash, but never quite right.

I quite like compression baselayers, I have Nike ones for football - they are great for that and short, quick rides, but on longer rides I always end up freezing. Merino may get wet but at least you're warm and wet.

stretches? none of my merino stretches at all

what makes do you use?

Rapha darling

^ good deal there. May have to hit that.

My only issue with merino as a baselayer is that it stretches, a lot. It tends to return to shape after a wash, but never quite right.

I quite like compression baselayers, I have Nike ones for football - they are great for that and short, quick rides, but on longer rides I always end up freezing. Merino may get wet but at least you're warm and wet.

I think that the difficulty with merino is that, as with most things in life, there is merino and there is merino: all bales of wool, yarns, knits and finally the finished products are not created equal. I think that someone had mentioned earlier in the thread a seller in Australia. This one, for example, offers products at excellent price (and excellent service), but the quality is really not something that one would recommend to a friend.

John Smedley make high quality merino products that are made in England. For their 225th anniversary, they revived a collection of underwear (vests and long johns), which are superb, but unfortunately discontinued the range recently. If you want to get the last of it, as at yesterday, there were 2 black medium short sleeve merino base layers remaining at their mill shop in Derbyshire for 20 notes each, which is about 1/4 of the original retail price. I would give them a call straight away if the size is a match. FYI, my chest size is 38-40, and I wear either a small for snug but comfortable fit and medium for a slim but slightly more relaxed fit.

A friend wears Rapha, and they always tend to look a bit 'tired', a bit sad looking.