This winter has been a strange one. At least, it has been for us Minnesotans; I can’t speak for the rest of you outside of the Midwest. One week it’s bitterly cold, the next it’s a balmy 40ºF. This temperature roller coaster has forced me to pay more attention to winter wear: it’s no longer as simple as pulling out the winter coat in November and wearing it until March. No, this winter one needs two or more coats of varying weights within easy reach. And then there are the mittens and hats and scarves to carry around, even on warmer days, because you never know when it’ll turn frigid again.

This week let’s immortalize our winter wear on the page, shall we? Ear muffs and mukluks and long johns, oh my!

Hendrick Avercamp, Colf players on the ice, circa 1625. Oil on panel. Edward and Sally Speelman Collection, on loan to Houston Museum of Fine Arts.

“Costume Sportswear,” 1913. Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection at the New York Public Library.

Tamara de Lempicka, St. Moritz, 1929. Oil on wood. Musée d’Orléans, France.

And here’s a bonus, because I can’t think of bundling up for winter without thinking about this scene.