QA few days before the opening, Friday, February 4, of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese authorities established for the attention of the spectators attending the opening and closing ceremonies a “dress guide”which says a lot about their desire to leave nothing to chance.
Both for the upper body and for the bottom, three thicknesses of (re)clothing are deemed necessary to face a temperature which can drop to −10°C in the Olympic stadium in Beijing. For the top, it is recommended to have a coat that goes down to the knees. But not just any: a wind and water resistant coat, with a hood, designed for extreme cold, “with a down filling of more than 600, containing 90% down and more than 200 grams of down”.
For the middle layer, cotton or down, with “good ventilation and good heat”, will do. The case thickens for the layer of clothing directly on the skin. It is recommended that this underwear, which must of course dry quickly and absorb breath, be made of merino wool (between 320 and 380 grams per square meter, it is specified) with a high or semi-high collar.
Relaxation for the feet
Now let’s move on to the lower body. Again, the three layers must resist water, wind, but be breathable. The details are… breathtaking. It is recommended that the air permeability be “less than 51 m/min [indice de l’air par minute à travers chaque mètre carré de tissu]ventilation greater than 5,000 m/24 hours [1 g de vapeur d’eau par mètre carré par jour]permeability indicators up to 10,000 mmH2O [pression de la colonne d’eau en millimètres] ».
A priori, the protection of the feet is essential. However, we feel a certain relaxation in the recommendations. Socks should only be in “thick or super-thick wool”. Shoes should be both warm and resistant to wind and very cold weather. Whether they are entirely in leather or rubber, it takes a “warm padding”.
The accessories remain. The hat must be doubled and cover the ears. And, facing the wind, a scarf ” seamless ” is a ” Good choice “. As for the gloves, they can be in padded cotton or “technologically heated”since these last products, specifies the press release, “guarantee in principle seven hours of heat”.
This press release may all the more make you smile since the participants were only informed at the last moment of the acceptance of their application and that due to the Lunar New Year, most of the stores are closed. But it is also revealing of the level of requirement of well-to-do Chinese consumers, particularly in terms of clothing.