Here is a question I’ve been asking myself ever since the Bomb Cyclone hit New York and left behind an onslaught of low temperatures, wind and snow: Is it possible to feel exceptionally warm and look exceptionally great at the same time?!?
Perhaps you, too, have wondered the same while staring listlessly into your closet with the weather app open, contemplating the task of trying to beat winter at its own game (i.e. turning you into an icicle) while simultaneously accommodating your desire to put together an actual outfit — one that isn’t simply a utilitarian compilation of layers but in fact says something about who you are and how you like to get dressed.
Man oh man is it hard. Leandra just said as much, then broke down some common winter style myths.
But because the prospect of squashing creativity until the first thaw sounds so terribly dull, I decided to lace up my snow boot straps of the mental variety and prove to myself (AND THE WORLD) that “practical” winter dressing can indeed go mittened hand in mittened hand with a sartorial point of view, whatever that point of view may be. Keep scrolling to find three exceptionally warm and exceptionally great outfits I assembled as evidence:
1. For days when leggings are the only thing you can muster the will to wear
I honestly couldn’t be tickled pinker than I am at the prospect of pairing Outdoor Voices leggings with a Rosie Assoulin floor-length gingham coat, the latter of which is on sale for a whopping 70% off (though still admittedly pricey). More importantly, though, I think Camper might be the unsung cool utilitarian shoe hero of 2018. I had never considered them as such until I saw the perennially stylish Stella von Senger wearing them on Instagram and poof! I’ve been mulling them over ever since.
The purpose of this outfit is to facilitate your very human desire to wear home clothes outside the home when it’s 10 flipping degrees but still fire at all cylinders when it comes to piecing together the puzzle of an eye-catching ensemble, you know?
2. For days when you want to dress in head-to-toe sweats
Coziness has the potential to be a perfectly literal descriptor for what you are wearing, but it’s also a state of mind, and a sweatpants/sweatshirt combo happens to capture both of these sentiments in spades. I don’t know what it is about this material pattern that somehow signifies the utmost manifestation of slothful comfort, but I’m not mad about it. Neither is Lou & Grey, where you can purchase a full sweatsuit, my friends. A sweatsuit!!!!! Can you dream up anything more delightful? I cannot, frankly.
3. For days when you need to justify an impulse corduroy investment purchase
I’ve been eyeing these Sonia Rykiel corduroy flares for a few weeks now. They are definitely overpriced, and I definitely still want them. GAH. I guess that’s the beauty of Man Repeller’s In My Cart franchise: a vehicle for airing out the fantasy occupants of a shopping cart that may or may not ever reach the checkout line. I’m greasing the wheels a bit with this $49 sweater from Zara and $79 Adidas sneakers which I would wear to traverse all manner of snow drifts for the foreseeable future (accompanied by a lavender coat) and quickly pivot to grassy knolls come spring (no coat, just shorts).
How’d I do???
Collages by Emily Zirimis.
