Hello, Goodbye

When the cold finally swept in late last year, I gleefully pulled on my shearling-lined wedge booties and snapped a picture to post on Instagram.

I bought them last winter, but as the season was beginning to wind down at that point, I only wore them out once or twice. But here was my chance. I’ve lost count of the times that they’ve been worn since that picture was taken. With skinny denim. With skinny wool trousers. With skirts and dresses. On Saturday night, they joined me as I walked from Boston to Cambridge over the Massachusetts Avenue bridge. They know something of this city now.

Anyone who knows me even a little bit knows that fall and winter are my favorite seasons for dressing. From my obsession with wool outerwear to my love of tights, they are the seasons in which I shine. I am a New Englander through and through, and that fact becomes apparent almost immediately upon meeting me. Probably because you’ll often find me in some variation of this.

Or this.

Or this.

Or this.

When I first started to care about my clothes again, about how I felt in them and about what the world saw when I was in them, summer dressing was a struggle. Sometimes it still is. So now I’m faced with a challenge. In two months I’ll be moving to Los Angeles. Unexpected yet exciting. A change that is a long time in coming. Boston and I are on bad terms, and time apart is needed.

The state of my closet makes things easier logistically. Half of my clothes are completely inappropriate. Too heavy and too warm. Not inclined to let in breezes. They can live here in my mother’s house or be donated. But they have been my safety net. They can be thrown on most days without thinking. Cords. Shirt. Sweater. Blazer. Boots. Even in the summertime my instinct is to throw on a sweater. Or to throw a blazer over a whisper thin tee. And oftentimes I succumb.

Because I can’t help myself. Because it’s second nature. Maybe just as Boston and I need a break, my cold weather clothing and I need one as well. It’s time to learn not to lean on those staples anymore. I’ve made it so easy for myself that sometimes I’m not even trying, not really anyway. But every day until then, I’m going to be wearing my tweed blazer.

And my favorite coat.

Might as well make the most of it while I can.