Rent clothing in Frankfurt / Being warm without cold weather clothing

Make like you are in the army:

• Pantyhose go under your pants for leg warmth. Cheap, lightweight, small and warm.
• A long sleeve flannel shirt plus a sweater and an undershirt will keep you pretty warm. Very little space and warm.
• Have something to cover your head and ears. I tend to use those bands that go around your head that just cover your ears. Even better would be a balaclava which can be used to completely cover your head, your face, or just your ears. If you get too hot it will fit in a pocket.
• Consider a small pair of gloves for your hands.
• For rain, bring a small poncho. This could also help for wind.

The balaclava, poncho, and pantyhose are lightweight and take up very little space. The latter two are so cheap they could be discarded after use (dollar store items). You will have a t-shirt anyway.

The big questions are the long sleeve shirt and sweater. You will probably be wearing at least one of those anyway (airplanes tend to be on the cold side), and you live with the inconvenience of carrying the other so you are free to walk around the city of Frankfort without having to shop for warm clothing?

Also instead of the sweater you could use one of those long sleeve rash guards that are used to protect one from the sun for layering. Its advisable to bring at least one when visiting sunny climates anyway.

As others have said you could discard or donate them after your walk about.

Don’t be under illusion that 2°C to -3°C is mild winter, especially for a Brazilian. Frankfurt can get really windy and it rains all the time.

If you want to do it really cheap, take a S-bahn from Airport to Hauptwache (City center). For cheapest jackets/ jumpers (5-15 €) you can go to Primark. Its 2 minutes walk from Hauptwache train station.

If you return via frankfurt too, bringing warm clothes with you could be an option.

Also in thailand, there are aircon restaurants and areas where warm clothes can come inhandy, also you need some rain clothes it is SEA after all even when it is not the mousoon it can rain.
Also you can need something, like a fleece or “polar” jacket, in bus or train rides to sit on or use as a pillow.

try to find something light that can be at the botom of your bag when not needed. i would recomand a fleece jacket plus a lightweitgh rain cover like a K-way. in germany use both, the fleece will keep you warm and the rain cover will insulate you and stop the wind and potential rain.

If you don’t mind walking around with a label dangling off you you can just go to a shop and buy a nice, warm jacket. Make sure not to get it dirty and keep the receipt then return it at the end of the day.

I am not aware of any "rental service" for simple warm clothes and it’s difficult to see how that would work since buying them outright isn’t very expensive. If you are not keen on spending time to track down a second-hand clothing shop, here a couple of other ideas:

• Get a fleece jacket and wear it together with a long-sleeve t-shirt or two (as suggested by Tom). If you are also taking a sweater, jacket or rain coat of any kind, wear that too, layers add warmth and work much better together even if they are not extremely warm on their own. A t-shirt, fleece and light polyester rain jacket is already plenty.

  If you don’t go for a name brand, a fleece jacket or sweater can be quite cheap, to the point of being competitive with any other solution even if you have to discard it after one day (which might not be necessary if you choose lighter ones you can bring back with you). As an example, Decathlon sells some starting at €5 or so, with warmer models costing between €15 and €35. If you really don’t want to carry it with you, at this price point you can probably afford to donate it as suggested by Gayot.

• Get a premium wool (merinos, cashmere) top or down jacket. Those are (much) more expensive and I probably wouldn’t want to get rid of them immediately but many are designed to be both warm and very light for people who have to carry them in a backpack while trekking (down is compressible). For the same insulation, those are going to be even lighter than fleece or regular wool. If you choose something more expensive and absolutely do not want to take it with you to Thailand and back, you could also mail it back to your home address, as suggested in meisenmann’s answer.

In both cases, it’s not too difficult to be comfortable at temperatures around 0ºC without losing much space in your luggage or carrying heavy clothes. What you will miss compared to a thick parka or anorak is protection from the elements. If it rains or snows heavily or the wind is blowing, the solutions I mentioned might not be enough (although most down jackets and some fleece will offer some protection against moderate wind or rain). Public transportation can also become unreliable so if the weather is that bad, I would stay put in the airport.

Also: Keep moving briskly, cover your hands and head and pack warm socks. There is nothing worse than standing in the cold with your extremities unprotected. Warm socks or gloves don’t take up too much space and will make things much easier.

You could bring your warm clothes with you and send them back via mail/package to your home/friends/family when you’re leaving. That’d be the cheapes thing you can do depending where you live.

You can “simulate” renting some warm clothing in Frankfurt.

There is an Oxfam shop in Sachsenhausen, about a 20 – 25 minute walk or about EUR 12 for a taxi from the central train station.

Oxfam is a charity that sells used clothing (among other things) for a very cheap price. Assuming that warmth takes priority over fashion and you are flexible on size, you should be able to pick up a serviceable and warm coat (or jacket or jumper or fleece) for about EUR 8 – 12. With taxi that’s a total outlay of EUR 20 – 24.

Because it’s a charity shop you have the option of returning your purchase as a charitable contribution before you leave town. This would have the net effect of renting a coat (or jacket or jumper or fleece or etc) for about EUR 20 – 24 (assuming your first leg was by taxi). This is probably better than a real-life rental arrangement.

Frankfurt is very cosmopolitan and I would expect the staff to speak English as do most of the shop staff in Frankfurt.

From the shop to your destination at Roemerplatz, it’s another short walk over the “Eiserner Steg” (pedestrian bridge) and you accrue the benefits of experiencing the unique architecture and ambience of Sachsenhausen. Legend has it that the pedestrian bridge is situated near the site where Charlemagne discovered a safe (and eponymous) ford across the Main River and is a popular tourist destination in its own right.

Alternatively, you can take the U-Bahn to these locales and enjoy a commensurate reduction in travel time.

To get a feel for what to expect walking through Sachsenhausen, you can do an image search on the term “mainufer frankfurt winter“.

You can get more information about Oxfam from their Wiki Article.

Buy / Bring a couple of long sleeve t-shirts, they won’t take up too much room in your luggage. Then layer up with them under your leather jacket before you go out.

You could also use a lightweight sweater under your leather jacket.

The key is to create layers of air inside the jacket to provide insulation and retain the heat your body gives off. The leather itself will be a good outer layer.

When you are walking, you body gives off even more heat from the exercise and the multiple layers will trap that heat and keep your chest warm.

It is also a good idea to bring a hat or buy a stocking cap when you get there. Your body’s priority is to keep your chest and head warm, even at the expense of your fingers and toes. So keep these two warm and then any excess heat will flow to your fingers and feet.