Sunday night... and I'm wrapping up another weekend to myself. The weather is getting cold here - something that I have dreaded since "the big move." But strangely, over time my dread has morphed into excitement. In Georgia I remember feeling ridiculous getting all bundled up for the cold weather... like suddenly a coat, scarf and sock cap made me look like that poor kid in "A Christmas Story." And adding to that, it was just so damn unnecessary. I mean seriously - even on the coldest days in the South (the 5 or 6 each year), what was I "bundling up" for? A 30 second dash to the parking lot? A 5 minute walk to class? To add to the frustration - the thermostats would be cranked up so high in any building that the second you walked through the door all you could think of was peeling off your 5 extra layers... to then what, carry it all around with you everywhere? So I eventually gave up... I wore short sleeve shirts year round, had one coat and just complained whenever I had to stand in the cold for excessive periods of time. Naturally, I started to hate cold weather because I was never dressed for it.
In New York, it's a different story. For one - since walking is a primary and often most convenient mode of transportation here - almost daily I find myself out walking around the city for 20 - 30 mins at a time, often several times a day. So you see... I would be one hell of a bitchy person if I used my old tactic - don't wear enough, get cold and complain. After thinking about this - I quickly realized, that I need to start loving winter clothing. Which is not as hard as you might think, even for someone like me who has been totally adverse to the genre of clothing for so many years. For one, New Yorkers dress for the weather. Rain boots, snow boots, scarves, hats, knee length coats, ear warmer, shawls, gloves, sweaters... you name it - they wear it. And... they have fun with it - here it's not just functional, it's fashion. Yet still, despite being surrounded by funky knit caps, colorful scarves and coats longer than I've ever seen anyone wear... I was still a stubborn southerner, wearing my short sleeves and tennis shoes. But then, something happened that really threw me off. As the weather got colder - the buildings got colder... or so it felt anyways. No blasting wave of heat as I walked through the doors... at work I got goosebumps - I started wearing my coat around the office, all day.
So last weekend, I broke down, gave in - and headed out into Manhattan shopping land to try and discover this whole deal with winter wear. I didn't make a lot of progress... I bought one color striped scarf and two hats, but I was satisfied. I tried it out this past week... I wore my scarf almost everyday, wrapping it around my neck and tucking it into my coat... and this time, instead of wincing at cold wind blasting on my neck, I thought to myself, "Hmm, I feel so nice and snuggly!" And so I fell in love with my scarf. By Thursday and Friday I was wearing it around the office (still with my short sleeve tops) just because it felt so warm and nice on my neck, and the added bonus of a nice splash of color in my wardrobe. But I still had a long way to go... by the end of this past week, it started to get cold. Cold enough that if I went outside without a coat, my arms and hands would turn pink and stiff. To add to it, it had been quite rainy lately, and I was totally fed up with walking home in tennis shoes and jeans soaked in icky sidewalk puddle sludge... and looking enviously at all the women skipping around in their cutesy rain boots.
So yesterday and today - I was on a mission... to begin building a real weather-proof winter wardrobe.
Saturday was sweater and coat day. I bundled myself up as best I could in my one scarf and coat and headed out to Union Square. Only about a 20ish minute walk - Union Square is my favorite place to head to on the weekend because it's always filled with some kind of concert, street performers, art sales, and lots of good shopping and restaurants. I can actually take the bus from my apt straight down 14th to get there... but I often opt for the walk, I really enjoy the exercise and fresh air. Anyways... so I head into a store I've never tried before called "Filene's Basement." It's like a high-end TJ Maxx or Ross type of atmosphere - where you can find $300 purses for like $150... some women call that "a steal," I call it a waste of money. But aside from the Calvin Klein and Gucci mark-downs... they also have some lesser known brands at really good prices. I found my jack-pot in the juniors section of all places. There were lots of long funky sweaters (necessary for my long torso), and even though they are designed for the stick-figured teenagers that I was surrounded by, I have found that if I just buy a size or two up, I have pretty good luck. A lot of dressing room trips later, and I had 5 great sweaters all around the $15 range (who said NYC was too expensive??). Then on to the coat section. I started wandering through the racks and was getting really bored with all the $200 wool pea-coats, when I stumbled upon a rack of down coats - all marked at $49.99. Wow... $50 bucks? I had to give them a shot. 20 minutes and several styles and sizes later... I found a coat. It's long (to my knees) and black, down with puffy quilting and toggle buttons down the front, and I LOVE it! Then I picked up another big soft scarf and matching gloves... and headed off to the checkout.
Today I headed back to Union Square, on a quest for winter footwear. I usually hate shoe shopping because I have unusually large feet... size 11/12, depending on the shoe. Sizes are hard to find - so I tend to avoid it altogether and stick to flip-flops and tennis shoes. But I pumped myself up and after some patient searching, found three pairs that fit my feet beautifully. One cutesy pair of rain boots (Yay, no more puddle sludge!), some casual brown leather (waterproof) snow boots with warm, fuzzy lining, and a pair of black leather dress boots for work.
So... I've come a LOOONG way in my winter wardrobe and I feel really good about it. I have realized that this winter clothing thing is actually fun. It's like having an excuse to wrap yourself up in a warm blanket before you go outside.
Maybe I'll turn into one of those crazy people who loves cold weather... well... maybe not. But at least I can stand it now with a smile.
No comments:
Post a Comment