For the past few days the temperature here in East Tennessee has gotten no higher than about 43 degrees, which is heaven to me. I’ve lived in the South my entire life, only to find myself less and less tolerant of the summer heat and mild winters with every passing year. Though we get occasional snows, it’s never enough and it never sticks long enough. I know my Chicago friends will probably laugh and tell me living in the Midwest would cure me, but I’m really not so sure. I love the way the sky looks when it’s cold, and I love how it feels to breathe the cold air in.
Besides, I know the secret, and the secret is: long underwear (or long johns, as my family has always called them).
Everyone knows to layer up on top — piling sweater over long-sleeved shirt over t-shirt — but does no one layer up on the bottom? I prefer Patagonia’s Capilene 1, so thin and silky that I can and do wear them under my jeggings.
There’s also my ginormous poofy black down coat, which makes me look like a black Michelin Man. (Have you ever wondered why the Michelin Man wasn’t black anyway? I mean he’s promoting tires, which are black. Is the company racist or something?) That coat was a lifesaver during my extended stay in New York a few winters back, and to hell with anyone who wants to mock me for how I look in it. They won’t mock me for long when their lips freeze shut.
To be honest, I’m really waiting for this sweater to come back in fashion in a non-ironic, non-tacky sweater party kind of way. It’s from Gap’s winter line, circa 1993 or 1994.
Still hangs in my closet. Because it is awesome.
He is probably white to create a contrast between mascot and tire, but I am just guessing.
I like your sweater! You should wear it, ironic or not.
I do wear it on rare occasions, I’m just cautious about who I wear it around. I’ll take mockery from some but not all.
Ah, you could move to Canada, then you could get lots of cold! 43 f is very warm day for the winter, where temps are usually colder than minus 10. Ugh, I hate winter, of course, 3 decades of cold will do that to a girl!
Canada might be the trick that does me in when it comes to cold. I suppose we suffer from opposite sides of the same coin — three decades of Southern heat have made me hate the summer.
That sweater is amazing.
I love that sweater. Please wear it tomorrow.