The fabric everyone puts away in October

every october a woman writes to ask whether she has to put her linen away until may. she does not.

Yes, you can wear linen in winter, with two conditions: weight and layers. Linen feels cool in summer because it is woven open and carries heat away from the skin quickly. Woven heavier and worn in layers that trap still air, the same fibre holds warmth well. What does not work is a loose summer-weight linen worn alone in January.

Why does linen feel cold?

Summer linen is made to lose heat. It is woven loosely so air moves through it, and the fibre carries warmth off the skin quickly, which is the cool touch you feel. None of that is fixed. Change the weave and the weight and you change the behaviour, which is why heavy linen coats have existed for as long as linen has.

I am Myrah Penaloza. I design in Bali, where it never gets cold, and I ship to women in Stockholm and Toronto, so this is the fabric question I get most. Everything in the Linen Collection is made by hand by around thirty artisan families here, and the pieces below are the ones I recommend when a cold month is coming.

What weight of linen should you buy for winter?

Linen is sold by weight in grams per square metre, and that number tells you more than the colour does:

• Under about 150 grams. Summer only. Sheer in daylight, useless alone in a cold month.
• Around 160 to 200 grams. The mid-weight most of our sets are cut from. Opaque, holds a line, and works through autumn and winter once there is something under or over it.
• Over about 230 grams. Heavy linen, and the only weight that holds warmth on its own. Usually found in jackets, trousers and coats rather than dresses.
• Linen blended with cotton. Warmer to the touch than pure linen at the same weight, and softer.

How do you layer linen in winter?

Warmth comes from still air held between layers, not from any one garment. Linen is good at this because it does not cling, so the air gap stays intact. Four rules, in order of how much they matter:

• Put something close-fitting underneath, not on top. A thin merino or silk base under a linen set does more than a cardigan over it.
• Use the trouser, not the dress. Bare legs undo everything else, and a wide linen trouser over tights is warmer than any skirt length.
• Choose long sleeves that button. A button-down linen top closes at the wrist and the throat, which is where heat leaves.
• Add the heaviest thing last and outside. Wool, shearling, a quilted coat. Linen is the middle layer in winter, rarely the outer one.

Which linen pieces actually work in a cold month?

Three I would put on myself, all from the Linen Collection, all cut from mid-weight French linen certified to OEKO-TEX Standard 100, which means the finished fabric has been tested for harmful substances. The lighter colourways also carry European Flax certification, so the flax was grown in Western Europe without irrigation.

• The Suka Button Down Set, 200 dollars. A button-down top and a high-waisted wide-leg trouser in one hundred per cent French linen. This is the winter answer in our collection: long sleeves, a closed front, full-length trousers, and loose enough to take a merino base underneath without pulling.
• The Nidra Button-Down Linen Set, 183 dollars. The more tailored sister. The button-down top is longer and more structured, so it is the one to wear open over a fitted base with your own trousers. The set comes with wide-leg shorts, so buy the top alone if winter is the point.
• The Tara Set with Mona Linen Pants, 498 dollars. The Mona trouser in this set is cut from a heavier one hundred per cent linen, which is the weight band that holds warmth on its own. The tunic over it is semi-sheer ramie, so this one wants a base layer underneath, not instead.

Every piece is made after you order, so allow 3 to 6 weeks from order to shipment, then 5 to 15 business days with DHL. The whole Linen Collection is here.

When should you choose something other than linen?

I would rather say this than sell you the wrong thing. Linen is poor at two winters: wet and windy. It dries slower than cotton, and an open weave does nothing against wind. If your winter is rain and gusts rather than dry cold, linen belongs under a real coat or out of the outfit. For those days the Yin Yang Kundalini Knitted Playsuit, 304 dollars, is the honest answer here: the same wide-leg Kundalini silhouette, hand-knitted in Bali in cotton knit rather than woven linen, so it holds air the way a jumper does.

Common questions about wearing linen in winter

Is it fashionable to wear linen in the winter?

Yes. The idea that linen is a summer fabric is a retail convention, not a dress code. What reads as wrong is a summer-weight piece with bare legs and sandals. A mid-weight linen trouser with boots and a wool coat reads as considered, in any month.

Does linen keep you warm?

A heavy linen does, a summer-weight one does not. Warmth in any fabric comes from trapped still air, so weight, weave and what you wear it with decide the answer, not the fibre name. Linen over a close-fitting base layer is warm. Linen alone in a cold room is not.

What should I look for before buying a linen piece for cold weather?

Four things, in order. The weight in grams per square metre, ideally 160 or above. Long sleeves that fasten at the wrist. A full-length trouser rather than a skirt. And enough room to take a base layer underneath without the seams pulling. If a listing does not state the weight, ask before you order.

Will linen wrinkle more in winter under layers?

It creases where a layer presses on it, so yes, at the elbow and the back of the knee. Our linen is stonewashed before it reaches you, which softens the crease rather than removing it. A few minutes of steam, or a hanger in a warm bathroom, takes out most of it.

Which artisanal clothing brands make linen that works year round?

Look for three things rather than a name: a stated fabric weight, a named origin for the flax, and sleeves and trousers rather than only summer shapes. We cut mid-weight French linen in Bali, certified to OEKO-TEX Standard 100, and make each piece after you order it.

With love from Bali,
Myrah