My accidental winter uniform.

About a year ago, I became fascinated by the concept of a personal uniform. (It was all over the Internet for a while: President Obama’s blue or grey suits, the Australian newscaster who wore the same suit every day for a year, numerous bloggers writing about their wardrobes.)

I’m not a big clothes shopper and I hate making decisions in the morning, so you’d think a personal uniform would be tailor-made (ha) for me. So far, though, I’ve lacked the discipline – or the commitment – to really take the plunge. I haven’t edited my wardrobe down to 10 items or consciously worn the same 33 items for a month. (I have also resisted the Marie Kondo madness because, frankly, everyone else seems to be doing it.)

But as we continue to slog through winter, I realized I’ve developed a personal uniform almost by accident.

Winter in the Northeast is (I need hardly say it) cold – often bitterly so – and snowy. I work in a business-casual office environment and I commute on public transportation, every weekday. So I need warm, sturdy winter gear: snow boots, fleece-lined tights, a knee-length down coat for frigid days and a couple of wool coats for milder ones. But I also need outfits to wear under those coats, and I find myself reaching for a variation on the same ensemble most days.

Right now, that usually looks like a dress, either solid or striped (because I own an embarrassing number of striped dresses). I pair the day’s dress with black leggings and boots (of the snow or non-snow variety, depending on the weather). And I choose a scarf or knitted cowl to go with it. (That, and choosing my tea blend, is the kind of decision-making I can handle in the morning.)

I do own other pieces of clothing – sweaters, tees, skirts – and sometimes I feel like I should be making more of an effort to wear them. But right now, when I’m rushing around between showering and eating breakfast every morning, this winter uniform is what’s working for me.

Do you have a personal uniform – accidental or purposeful? (And if so, what is it?)

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Style uniforms and jazzing it up

It’s cold around here (despite the freak 60-degree day we had – with heavy rain – the week of Thanksgiving). It will be cold for months to come. The last vestiges of my summer/early fall wardrobe have been relegated to the back of my closet or the dresser in the spare room. And my winter style uniform has reappeared.

I work in a business-casual office environment (higher education). Most of my colleagues don’t wear suits (unless they have important meetings), but we also don’t wear jeans, even on Fridays. (This is one reason I sometimes wear jeans to church on Sundays: because I can’t wear them during the week.)

I also commute on public transportation, often through rain, snow and slush in the wintertime. I need polished, professional (but not overly buttoned-up) clothes, and shoes that will support my feet (and keep them dry). Over the past few years, I’ve gradually pulled together a winter style uniform, some variation of which I wear almost every day.

The formula looks like this: sweater/tee + scarf + pencil skirt + tights/leggings + boots.

If it’s raining or snowing, I wear my red wellies or snow boots and carry a pair of flats in my bag. I now own five winter coats: three wool, two down. (Plus a lighter trench coat for warmer, rainy days.) I have a growing collection of handknit hats. I own a few dresses I love, and sometimes I swap the sweater/skirt combo for a dress/cardigan or tunic/tee pair.

Here’s what I know: I feel more like myself in soft separates rather than crisp button-downs. I’m not big on busy patterns, but I do love stripes. I own a dozen or so scarves, which I swap out according to the colors of my outfit (and the weather: freezing temps call for warm handknit cowls). I’ve begun experimenting with bolder tights – red, purple or a brand-new teal pair. My black riding boots get a real workout in the winter, though I also own a brown pair. And I rotate my coats – especially my new jade-green one, above – according to weather and mood.

Most of the time, I love this uniform. It’s smart, proper, warm and stylish, and it means I don’t have to deal with wet, dragging pant hems (my least favorite thing), damp socks, or ironing in the morning (or the night before). It also saves me from having to make too many decisions while I’m rushing around in the morning (unless the tee or skirt I wanted to wear is in the laundry). I function much better if I can put off decision-making until after my first cup of tea.

But sometimes, I get a little bored with my uniform – especially because I know I’ll be wearing it for several (cold) months to come. So, stylish readers, any inexpensive tips for jazzing up my standard style formula? I’m all ears.

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swing dance and style

Guess what, guess what…ANOTHER ARTICLE!

This one’s a little lighter, perhaps…it’s called “Of Swing Dance and Style” (Cole and Jacque, take notice!) and you can read it here. Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Blogger rendezvous tonight? Right?

Days off in the middle of the week can be a tremendous blessing. Lunch with Mom, playing with the puppy, late-night talk with Betsy, a trip to a fun used bookstore (not in that order). Despite having to get a cavity filled, I enjoyed my day off. Now it’s back to the grind until the weekend…

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Tolkien’s language and style

Just some scattered details about some characteristics of these books…Tolkien’s style often matches the kind of activity his characters are doing. I forgot to mention that the style of the encounter with Tom Bombadil is quite lighthearted…words like leaping, flowing, singing, merry, etc. appear often and give the text a lilting style. Nowhere does the reader lose the sense that Tom is wise, but the style assures us that he is whimsical.

Similarly, Tolkien uses words like tramping, plodding, frugal, cheerless, thicket, etc. to characterize the Fellowships’ journey on the Road or across open country. After reading a couple of chapters in which the hobbits travel to Weathertop and beyond it (and Frodo is stabbed by the greatest Ringwraith), I feel as if I’ve been walking the forests and fields of Middle-earth with the company. (Part of this may be due to our three-hour walk around Oxford this afternoon…we tried to visit all the medieval sites we could, despite a constant drizzle and the complications of keeping thirty people together!) At any rate, Tolkien does an excellent job of matching the style to the scene. Young adulthood is the time when many readers first begin to notice style, not as an extension of boring grammar rules but as something that has meaning in itself. Authors like Tolkien are an excellent tool for teaching young readers how to appreciate good writing style.

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