Monday, February 22, 2010

The Winter Wardrobe

Winter is one of my favorite seasons.. though I admit up front that I don't care for driving in the snow. If Mother Nature could manage to make the snow fall everywhere else OTHER than on the streets, I would be eternally grateful.

What I love most about the winter.. other than the absence of hot temps (I don't do heat well) is the winter wardrobe. I love my wool coats and felt hats... so much nicer than shorts and straw hats. You feel like a million bucks when walking around in a nice winter outfit sometimes.... even if at times it feels more like "cold" hard cash. Get it? Ok, maybe it was a bad pun.. but still.. I laughed.

I have a full length top coat/overcoat that I purchased when I first started teaching two years ago to wear with my professional attire. I LOVE wearing it.. it's almost like wearing a cape with sleeves. Such a classic piece to any wardrobe, and rather fun to wear. They are quite costly though, mostly because of all the wool that goes into a coat falling just below the knees. So to spare my "good coat" the wear and tear of everyday use, I decided to hit up the thrift stores to see what I could find.

I like browsing thrift stores.. you never know what you will come across. Sometimes all I find is junk, but other times I make out pretty well!! Last Saturday I went to two stores on my way home from work. I was tied, but had this nagging feeling to go. At the second store, I came across an old navy blue full length coat. I could tell it was pretty old by the style and weight of the wool.. which is pretty heavy. The coat was covered in lint and what was probably dog hair.. so I passed it by. I started to walk out of the store and decided to at least try it on. It fit like a glove! At $14.99, I figured it might clean up well, and if not.. I hadn't lost much money. I purchased it.. and then dropped it off to be dry cleaned.

Wednesday, I went to pick it up. There, on the rack waiting for me, was the most beautiful overcoat I had ever seen... full of vintage glory!! I was shocked! It looked brand new!!! It cleaned up better than I ever would have expected. I love it so much, I almost hate to wear this coat in fear that I will damage it.. I actually like it better than my "good coat". Go figure! It's so fun to wear.. not to mention warm. Talk about a find!!

Ah.. the joys of thrift store hunting... and the joys of the winter wardrobe!

2 comments:

Mary Kunz Goldman said...

Congratulations, Bing!!! What a feeling! I bought a long black coat at an estate sale, an evening coat. We will have to make a pact to wear our coats sometime to the same event.

Anonymous said...

Agree emphatically about the joys of the winter wardrobe, and how great one feels wearing it - a feeling of "finish" and completeness missing from summer clothes. Three-piece winter suit, heavy overcoat, hat and gloves - I'm quite sorry when the season for these has passed.