The usual, at least when it's not raining.
We were up bright and early this morning with the arrival of the house painters who are doing our downstairs woodwork --- much cracked and flaked in the decade-plus since we last had it done, thanks largely to moisture from the basement. Now we've dealt with the moisture issue, we hope the paint will stay on the baseboards and window frames a little better. So we've been taking books off bookshelves and generally dismantling everything so that the men can get at what they need to get at. They'll be moving into my study at some point to address woodwork that has never been painted (and has furthermore been scratched by Dora), but for now we're hiding in here. Later we may decamp upstairs, either or the hall, where there's a chair in the dormer alcove, or into the Artgirl's room, where we can bolt the door.
I have to try to make more progress on my remaining two essays for next week, and maybe to consider the coming weeks and put up as much as I can, prior to my February trip to New Hampshire.
Wearing today:
*Wool& Brooklyn dress (S/Long) in Pacific, bought May 2023, last worn sometime before the new year. First wear in 2025.
*Secondhand Icebreaker merino base-layer tee in Dusty Rose, bought January 2023. Second season of wear.
*Secondhand Connemara merino cardigan, bought September 2024, first season of wear.
*Snag footless cashmere tights, bought summer 2024, first season of wear.
*Farm to Feet merino socks, Christmas gift in 2023, second season of wear.
*Xero Tari boots, bought summer 2022, third season of wear.
I don't love this dress layered for the winter over a long-sleeved tee, but I hadn't worn it in a while and wanted to, so I put it on my outfit plan for this week. And it is pretty cold out this morning, so the layer is welcome in terms of how it feels. I cropped this tee at the hem (really too much, but that's okay) last year, so it works better under a dress with an elastic waist than a regular-length tee or sweater would do. The fabric of this dress is thin enough that an under-layer is almost inevitably going to feel bulky unless it's cropped above the waist.
And with the cardigan on, the awkwardless of short-sleeves-over-long is obviated, so it's okay. Still, these aren't my favorite winter outfits. I far prefer my Brooklyns as summer dresses, though I am glad I can wear them through the year. I did put my hair up in a claw clip after I'd taken the photos above, because the default ponytail felt pretty blah.
This helps a lot --- it feels more elevated and deliberate. Somehow with a lot of layers it's good to have more restrained hair.
I do love this Connemara cardigan a LOT. As you've probably observed, it's quickly become a cold-weather staple. The minty green works well with so many other colors in my closet, and the warmth and texture are welcome on these cold days. The wool is scratchier than in some of my finer knits, but it's not bad, and I could wear this just as a top (with a hidden tee or camisole).
The jerry-rigged feel of outfits like this in the winter makes me kind of glad that I've bought some jeans. As much as I love wearing dresses, I think I might --- when I have the choice --- opt for a jeans outfit over something like this. The only trade-off is that jeans are kind of cold, but if I could wear a pair of merino tights as a base layer, that wouldn't be an issue. We'll see how this pair set to arrive today are going to fit. They're a 12 --- the size 10 jeans I resold with some reluctance last fall were just persistently too small (even after some weight loss, and even though the fiber content included some spandex). So I hope one size up will do the trick, but I don't know how much spare room I will have, especially in real denim with no extra stretch. 100% cotton will give some, however, so even if they're a little snug, as long as I can zip them up and move, we'll be in business.
In addition to these jeans, for which I paid $17, I have also made two other relatively secondhand purchases, bringing me up to 3 of my 10 for the year.
*A pair of wide-legged, high-rise cropped jeans, garment-dyed pink, priced at $14. This is kind of an experiment, but I liked the color and thought I might wear them a good bit in transitional seasons as well as in the cold, with boots. They look like a soft pink that will pair really well with today's cardigan, for example, though possibly I could even wear them with my Eileen Fisher pink merino tank, as I did my wide-leg linen pants last summer. I'm reselling those linen pants and hoping that these jeans will be a more flattering year-round replacement. They're cropped, but the heavier fabric makes them a likelier choice for winter wear as well as spring and fall, assuming they fit and look okay.
*An NPL tank top in what looks like Oatmeal or Natural, for $18. If I'm going to wear jeans, I could use one more warm-weather top, thought I --- especially as I can layer said top in cold weather as well. I can see wearing this neutral under things as well as over, and with my remaining skirt/s.
Currently I have only my Garnet Hill maxi in my closet, but I might reclaim my rayon floral vintage April Cornell skirt to wear with this tank and other things. We'll see. I'm still trying to resell my navy Flax tank, which turned out to be way more of a tunic than I had anticipated from the photos, and which --- while I did wear it a good bit last year --- doesn't really fill the gap I had intented it to fill in the way that I had envisioned.
Meanwhile, an oatmealy beige is a good white neutral for me. I don't really like plain stark white --- as much because I'm afraid of spilling things on it as because it doesn't look great with my coloring. Not that I'm not afraid of spilling things on any light color, but a distinctly off white still inspires me with more self-confidence than a true white does.
If any of these things don't work, obviously I'll put them back up for sale and strike them off my list of purchases. But I think that the addition of these three items will give me more play not only through the rest of the winter, but into the spring and early summer, before it gets really too hot for jeans. That gives me potentially seven more purchases between now and the end of the year, but for now I'm going to make an effort not to buy anything else. I have one more new purchase slot open, but again, I'm in no hurry (and really want to stay in that mode for a long time to come).
I'm now in a rocking chair in a corner of our bedroom, which is piled with stuff from other rooms, with Dora moaning in her smaller car crate beside me, so this whole day is a real mood already. In a while, when we can get through the living room without running into painters, we'll go out for a walk, but for now we're just hiding.
UPDATE:
Well, it's now 1 p.m., and we're still closeted in the bedroom amid piles of stuff from the hall and study, while the painters continue to work. . We've been out for a walk, but now Dora is unhappily crated again and telling me all about it. I have managed to finish and load one more essay, so that's progress. In just a bit I'll make another push on my Gerard Manley Hopkins piece for Monday.
My first pair of jeans arrived, and here's the report:
*Secondhand Levis 550 jeans (12), first wear.
*Secondhand Eileen Fisher merino tank, bought January 2023, just entering a third year of wear.
*Connemara cardigan, Farm to Feet socks, and Tari boots as before.
They fit, though the first try-on was a squeeze. I imagine they've been laundered, so are at their tightest just now, and my plan is to wear them through the day and continue wearing them, because I know they'll loosen up. Hard pants after years of not wearing hard pants will take some getting used to, but I like them.
I'm surprised, in fact, by how much I like them. This really is the fit I loved in the 80s: high rise, curve through the hips, taper in the legs with some fullness but not too much. I think it's a flattering cut for a curved female body with a waist and hips. I was afraid they'd be baggy through the thighs, but they aren't really.
This is stepping outside a certain zone that had become very comfortable, but I don't think I'm going to regret it. My one thought is that it's going to prompt me to want to buy more tops, but let's just see if I can make do with what I have for now. Come later spring, I can re-evaluate a) how much I'm going to want to wear jeans in warmer weather, and b) if so, what else I might want in the tops department. Yes, dresses are far simpler, in being both a top and a bottom, which is what makes them superior for travel --- but it's nice to have options.
I love the look of my Tari boots with these jeans, but I know I'll love them with Birks and other sandals, too. I also want to try them with some of the Mary Janes I haven't been wearing with my dresses. I think the cuffs will fit over the tops of my Melrose boots, which would also look good.
I also like that I have an instant reason to wear this merino tank, which I love but am always having to try to wear with things. It does go well with my green maxi skirt, but again, other options are nice to have.
I can particularly see leaning on jeans on a more regular basis in transitional weather this spring, when it's not quite warm enough for bare legs, but I'm tired of tights and leggings. And again in the fall, when it's not cold enough to layer up in tights and boots, but is cool enough for more coverage. I love spring and fall, but they are the most frustrating seasons to dress for. Summer is the easiest: put on floaty dress, step into Birkenstocks, and go. Winter also is easy, in that you know you're going to put on all the layers --- but as much as I look forward to it, it also gets boring fast (as well as lending itself sometimes to weird combinations, which is another reason why I wanted a couple of pairs of sturdy trousers . . . for those days when I might otherwise be tempted to put on weird outfits just to stay warm in the clothes I have).
I'm definitely not forsaking my beloved dresses, though some of them might get a little more of a rest this winter than they would otherwise have had. But that's okay. I'm in it for the long haul, and so are my clothes.
I might or might not put my Brooklyn dress and cashmere tights back on to go out tonight . . . we have been out a lot this week, but must needs tonight, while paint dries in the kitchen. Good thing we're otherwise eating beans.
I'm actually just fasting by default today, because the kitchen is so upside-down and I want to stay out of the way. I don't normally not eat, but one day, until dinnertime, won't hurt me.
BEDTIME UPDATE:
OK, I didn't strictly fast all day. I drank some kefir. But I also drank a lot of water and didn't eat anything, which is not (the not-eating part) a practice I would replicate on anything like a regular basis, but I survived. It was less trouble than venturing into a kitchen full of painters, anyway.
The painted woodwork does look good. Now I can have people over with their toddlers and not worry that the toddlers are going to eat paint chips. It's amazing how much cleaner the house looks, even in its current state of chaos. I cleaned and cleaned before Thanksgiving and Christmas, but cracked and flaking paint everywhere always made the house feel shabby and dingy. I don't mind a little shabbiness, theoretically, but to be honest, that kind of shabbiness feels not great. There's not being a perfectionist, and then there's welcome to the tenement.
Finally the husband came home, and we went to the pub, and I had pizza and beer, which was great, but also not a practice, as a diet, that I would replicate on a regular basis.
And then we came home to our house, which is in complete disarray following the painting, and will be in disarray until the oil-based paint (thank you, old house) is dry, which will take at least one more day. This distresses me on some molecular level, but I am taking deep breaths and thinking calm thoughts, and it will all be fine. I'm just glad we don't have to paint the house all the time (also that we hired professionals, because if we were doing it, the house would be in disarray for the next two years). As it is, by Sunday the furniture will be back in place, all the books back on the shelves, and as upsets go, this is laughably minor --- and don't I know it. Don't I live in a state ravaged by Hurricane Helene? It didn't ravage me, but I know people whose whole lives remain disrupted, so I know how silly it is to be bothered by furniture out of place. I am bothered, a bit, but both the house and I will get over it.
I did move all the detritus out of our bedroom, though. I figured: Can't put it all back together tonight, but we have to sleep, and we'll sleep better if our room is basically normal and tidy. My Ikea chair is still in here, which is fine --- I am sitting in it with Dora, who is fast asleep, worn out by the work of hating the strange men in her house from the confinement of the small car crate all day.
It's really been a perfectly fine day, but also a good lesson in just. how. inflexible. I am in the depths of my heart. Do anything you want to me --- just don't move my furniture.
Anyway, we had a nice time at the pub. And it was nice to get home and change out of those jeans (pictured above). I wore them all day, and I felt good in them, but you know what? Dresses are more comfortable. I'm glad I have a pair of jeans again, especially at the cheap price point at which I obtained this pair, but I don't see defaulting to them as a comfort option anytime soon. Not wearing them on an airplane. Will enjoy looking cute in them when I feel like looking cute that way, and will appreciate the opportunity, but for now, anyway, that's it. I will be wearing a dress tomorrow.