You were probably joking, but women do have superior durability in various areas, including cold resistance. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t uncomfortable, however; women resist cold better, but they actually feel colder. They lose less body heat, people mostly feel cold with their skin, therefore they feel colder because the lost heat isn’t warming their skins; rather the mirror of how a drunk will feel warm even as he freezes to death.
There’a a group photo of us in my high school yearbook who are standing in the parking lot in our gym clothes in the middle of what looks like a snow squall. We all have silly grins and show no signs whatsoever of being cold. However, I shiver whenever I see this particular pic, thinking, Was I really that young and stupid?
Well, yeah. Overall cold doesn’t affect young 'uns as much as it does when you’re older. Not that you can withstand wearing a mini skirt or shorts in the midst of a blizzard, but you have a higher tolerance for shorter periods of cold, like, say, walking across campus.
There’s also the fashion factor. As others have pointed out, those who must keep up with the latest fashion trends have no issue suffering for it. I suspect the type of girl who’d wear a mini skirt in cold weather would wear spike heels during a blizzard :rolleyes:
Um, I actually find this to be true. Here in Wisconsin in early November, if I’m going out for the night and don’t want to worry about losing my coat, sometimes I just toss a scarf on and I’m good to go. Of course, I don’t generally do it with a tank top, but a tank top and a light cardigan? Sure.
And I can’t imagine rubbing petroleum jelly all over my legs before heading out in the cold, either. I think I’d just rather be freezing than leave grease stains behind me all day.
Same way they walk on shoes that make their back hurt and squeeze their toes? It’s some sort of “ommmmmm” thing, you do it because you’re convinced you’re socially and aesthetically required to do it. Or because the johns bite more.
There used to be this program on Canal + in Spain, once they were interviewing a top model and she mentioned getting massages for her back because “you see, the shoes they make you wear for the catwalk are SO bad for the back!” The person in charge of choosing which camera goes on air was fond of using camera angles as running comentary. When she started complaining about having to wear 6" stilettos for shows, they moved to her 5" stiletto thin-strapped sandals. About the end of the shot they put some overtext saying “those are the shoes she came in - not from our dressers”
As someone who has gone to school in short skirts in Canada, and has, on occasion, worn a short skirt to work here during the Seattle (considerably warmer but still damn chilly) winter, all I can say is this:
Warm coat, warm footwear, and my legs have never been uncomfortable. If you touched them, they’d feel cold, for certain, however, they don’t actually feel cold to me. They tingle a little bit when I get inside, however. But they’ve never been uncomfortable. If I’m wearing my thin, cloth Chinese shoes, I will freeze. But still, then it’s my feet that are cold, I’m not thinking about my exposed legs.
I don’t know why that is.
“Has a woman who knew that she was well dressed ever caught a cold?” (Friedrich Nietzsche)
So, you aren’t the first to wonder. 
I do it now and then. If you wear a warm coat it’s really not so bad.
I wore a skirt yesterday. And I’ll be wearing one today. Mini it ain’t - my best length is immediately above the knee, and I’ll be wearing pantyhose. The pantyhose really do help; I usually wear microfiber tights under long skirts (yesterday) or pants. I can’t imagine going bare-legged in the weather we’re having in NW NJ.
VCNJ~
I’m always baffled at this phenomenon. Just the other day I saw a woman wearing a wool coat, hat, scarf, gloves, and bare legs with flip flops. To me, this just looks ridiculous. Are your upper and lower halves spending the day in different climes? What’s with the sartorial schizophrenia, ladies?
Besides, I don’t know about anyone else, but once I get goosebumps, I get stubble. That’s not what I want to spend my day thinking about.
Sounds like a good way to get chapped lips…
sorry sorry sorry…couldn’t resist :rolleyes:
So, it would be bad form to offer a woman chapstick…? :eek:
I don’t know either, but if a girl is out there walking around in sub-zero weather, in a mini-skirt, already lubed up, I want to party with that girl.
Fred’s got a point. I’ve always wondered how women in the past endured wearing those low-cut court gowns in the winter. I imagine once everyone got to dancing, body heat alone would warm up the ballroom to some degree, but during the recieving, the women with naked necks, shoulders and arms must have been miserable.
I remember reading in a biography of Queen Victoria that the queen was apparently part polar bear. She couldn’t stand to have the temperature in her palaces over sixty-two degrees. Protocol demanded that certain women wear those types of gowns and the women complained quite a bit about it.
Who puts petroleum jelly on their legs??? Never. As someone else said, how attractive is it to leave grease stains behind?
I have never worn a miniskirt in my life, but I do occasionally have to wear skirts in the winter. I don’t like it, it is cold, but provided you wear a warm coat and tights it’s not so bad.
I wouldn’t wear a short skirt in this weather if you paid me to.
Last week, though, my teacher (I take a night class at a community college) asked me why I was all dressed up and wasn’t I cold wearing a skirt? I was wearing a turtleneck sweater and a long flannel-y skirt… and under the skirt I had on tights, Cuddl’Duds (long underwear of the girlie variety) and a slip, as well as socks and knee-high boots. I was TOASTY!
I must say, I don’t understand not understanding the point of miniskirts…
A somewhat related question: how do kids in the 'hood stand to wear parkas (aranoks, for those in the UK) and heavy puffy jackets when it’s in the 60s and 70s (20s Celsius, for those outside of the US)? What about campesinos wearing layers of flannel during the height of a New Mexico summer?
When I was living in Denver several years ago, the sight of men, usually goateed outdoorsy-types with Labrador Retrievers bearing names like “Aspen” or “Moab”, wearing shorts outside on frigid winter days was quite common.
I think it all has to do with overall body coverage and how thick the coverage is, where the body is covered. If a girl wears a miniskirt or a guy wears shorts–and those shorts hardly deserve the name, these days–and wears a thick sweater or jacket on top, then they could well be comfortable, and the more so when they get to an overwarmed space indoors. The temperature inside the classrooms may have more import than the temperature outdoors, where little time is going to be spent.
Are you replying directly to me? I assume so, as your post was directly after mine, where I explained that I was comfortable like that.
So, seeing as I’m comfortable with bare legs, I don’t really see why I’d need to try stockings. But thank you for the friendly suggestion anyway! 
There comes a point when your legs are cold no matter what you’re wearing. If my kneecaps are freezing in jeans, then I might as well wear the skirt. Works best if the main issue is wind, because stockings/tights will actually do a fair amount to block that. Cold and WET, on the other hand, is a no-go. I’ve worn miniskirts (and micromini skirts, and other assorted interesting things) in freezing weather and as long as it’s not snowing or raining I’m as comfortable as I’d be otherwise.
Other factors you might consider are that some girls, at least around here, will only wear tall boots with very short skirts. Those do a lot to help your poor calves. Long coats (trench coats or greatcoats) also make appearances on some girls.