After a bleary-eyed peek through the blinds this morning revealed a moving canopy of umbrellas floating above rain-slicked pavements, I sighed in relief and happily threw on a comfy non-outfit consisting of black leggings, long cardi over black tank, and black rainboots (which I planned to keep on all day in order to avoid having to deal with pairing shoes to said non-outfit). As I've gotten older (read: sartorially apathetic), I've started viewing inclement weather as an excuse to dress like a slob. 21-year-old me would have fussed and fretted all morning trying to devise a cute outfit, insistent on braving the storm in 5-inch heels. I swear that the ghost of this 21-year-old me visited me this morning in an effort to save me by showing me what I've become.
As I sloshed my way to work through lake-sized puddles, I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of an immaculately dressed young man crossing Lafayette at Houston. Said young man wore a beautiful, perfectly fitted trench-style coat with loosely wrapped scarf showing through just so, his dark jeans tucked casually into duck boots. As I watched him effortlessly maneuver his way through a minefield of umbrellas, I was suddenly struck with shame. While it's not uncommon to see women in New York who somehow manage to look amazing in the thickest of blizzards, its not as often that you see a guy don the dapper-est of duds to go dashing through the snow. That's what it took for me to realize that I was approaching a slippery slope -- one that could only end in Spanx, mom jeans, and sensible heels. So thank you, ghost-of-21-year-old-me-in-form-of-stylish-young-man, for punching me in the face. We'll see if the next rainstorm prompts me to make more of an effort, or at the very least, change out of my rainboots once at work. In the meantime, I'm going to try to track down that amazing trench, which looked a bit like this:
Kai-Aaakmann Grey Wool Trench, $325 @ Gargyle. It features horn buttons
Photos: www.gargyle.com
