What to take? Are clothes cheap there? General wardrobe issues and panics ...

Some of the shipping quotes I've received suggest it can take 12-18 weeks to get stuff over to the UK. I was expecting about 6 weeks. This has completely altered what I thought I might send over. There'd be no point sending plates/cutlery etc as I would need to get new ones in that time. In fact, most of the day-to-day stuff (including blankets etc) would be kind of pointless to send - nothing I have is of very good quality, just practical. I suppose all that will end up being sent is the personal things and momentos and books. [Which, by the way, I am terrified of having out at sea for months ... it's all without any monetary value, but completely irreplaceable - anyone else get over-anxious about this side of things? ]

On the other hand, I'm now looking at flying a different airline with a much more restricted baggage policy (23 vs 30 kg - don't know what this is in pounds). Given that our shipped stuff won't arrive for 12-18 weeks, I now want to take more 'essentials' on the plane with us, including my guitar and important books (that I need for work).

So I'm wondering whether I should just give up on the 'take enough clothes' thing and aim to go shopping while over there? The clothes we will take will be heavy given that we move in the middle of winter.  That said, none of my clothes are probably sufficient for a UK winter and I can see us shivering our way to a clothing store a day or so after we arrive. How cheap are clothes? How much would you say I'd need to budget to go and get enough warm clothes for myself and teenage daughter? We'd have a couple of pairs of jeans each, she has sweatshirts, and we both have jackets that are probably not warm enough for the UK. I'm imagining t-shirts and things are useless in winter unless you can layer them - or is it warm enough inside that people still wear t-shirts in winter and just layer to go outside?

I have no idea about this stuff - we live in a semi-tropical part of the world (current avg temp of 30 C) and it's been a while since I've been anywhere cold.

And more generally, I'm just stressing about the packing and putting my life into 23 kg. Would love to hear from others who have been through this and survived.

There's a lot in your post but here's a few thing to bear in mind:

Even 23Kg is enough to bring a few weeks worth of clothes, it's about 50Lbs.  One Kg is about 2.2Lbs so as a rough rule of thumb you can double the figure to get an idea.  A good resource for conversions is google, if you search for "23Kg in Lbs" it will do the conversion.  This may come in handy for metres, Celsius etc.  You can even convert petrol prices "1.09 GBP per litre in USD per US gallon" (make sure you specify US gallons as they are smaller than ours.)

One thing to look at is the price the airline will charge for an extra bag, it's usually a per kilo price.  It will be expensive but it will probably be cheaper than the post and quicker than shipping.

As far as temps and coats go the UK as a whole doesn't get to cold, unless you move to the Scottish Highlands the temperature will rarely get more than a few degrees below freezing and we have heating so we can wear shirt-sleeves inside.  Anywhere in the US north of the Mason-Dixon line is almost certainly colder than the UK in winter.  http://www.wunderground.com/ is a good site for weather trends.

Clothes prices are more expensive than the US (nut maybe not so much as some would have you believe.)  Matalan http://www.matalan.co.uk/ are one of the cheaper shops for general clothes, think of it like Old Navy or some such, check some prices on their website (don't forget the price you see is what you pay, we include all taxes in the sticker price.)

You can buy very cheap clothing here that will get you through the winter til your other stuff arrives. That's probably about how long it will last too! I would bring your work clothes with you if you need suits as that kind of stuff is a lot dearer than you are probably used to.

Bring your tshirts if you have room, they are good to wear under shirts & jumpers. You will definitely want to layer clothing here, cause it may be freezing outside but when you get inside with the central heating that everyone has here, you will be baking.

In shops like Primark & Tesco Extra you can buy jeans for as little as £2-3 up to about £10. Same for long sleeve tops.  Decent jumpers you can get for around £10. Winter coats are more expensive and you really  get what you pay for so if you buy a £20 coat from Primark it will probably be in holes in a few weeks! (I've never bought a coat there myself but I have bought other stuff that hasn't lastedvery long).  Other cheap clothing stores are Matalan and Peacocks, also larger branches of Sainsbury's supermarket have some nice clothes at very low prices.  There is also TK Maxx which sells label & high street brands at discount prices but it's hit and miss as to what you find in store. It's a good place to look for more expensive items like coats & shoes.

Hope that gives you an idea. All the above shops have websites if you want more detail.

I have no idea about this stuff - we live in a semi-tropical part of the world (current avg temp of 30 C) and it's been a while since I've been anywhere cold.

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I moved here from a tropical climate age temp of 32 C and 95% humitidy and I can tell you that we froze that first winter.  We moved in August and while the natives were running around in t-shirts I had on 2 to 3 layers.   I have now adjusted, been here 8 years, and find that I tolerate the cold much better than my British friends.

As someone else said t-shirts are great for layering, and basic long sleeve cotton         t-shirts are not at all expensive here.  Clothing styles are probably different here so I am sure that your teenage daughter will want to update her wardrobe a bit.  Marks and Spencer is also a good place to buy basics, a better quality than Primark and not too pricey.

One thing to look at is the price the airline will charge for an extra bag, it's usually a per kilo price.  It will be expensive but it will probably be cheaper than the post and quicker than shipping.

Check with the airline you are travelling with as there are some airlines like British Airways and United Airlines that charge a flat rate for each piece of luggage over the standard allowance.

Thanks for your replies. It's very helpful to have some names of shops as I've been able to get a good idea about prices. Clothes that fall apart will suit us well for when we first arrive! It's much cheaper than Australia - where 'cheap' clothes also fall apart, but cost twice as much. Kateydid, you make a really good point about my teenage daughter probably wanting to change her style once she gets there, so I'm encouraging her to take very little, with the promise of a big shop when we arrive.

I should clarify that I'm actually from Australia so am sneaking in here as a non-American who finds this site by far the richest source of info and advice and so on about making the move to the UK.