Coat Quagmire

Wilfred coat (similar)
H&M sweater
Zara jeans (similar)
Aldo boots
Chanel handbag
Zara sunglasses
Mejuri earrings (similar)
Location: The Manitoba Legislature – Winnipeg, Manitoba

And so, spring arrives for another year. Once again, I find myself, impassioned by the first signs of sunlight, buying all the sundresses and sandals I can get my hands on. It’s late March, or maybe early April. Meanwhile, outside, while the sun may be shining, it is still very much coat weather. It has been for months. The very thought of choosing a coat before I leave the house exhausts me, never mind actually putting one on.

…but despite the fact that I’ve been wearing a coat day in and day out for six months, almost none of my beloved coats have made an appearance in this space. That, my friends, is the crux of my annual coat quagmire. I buy beautiful coats not just out of necessity but because I love them. But after being forced to wear them on repeat for six months, when it is too cold to pause outside for the three minutes it would take to photograph the outfits they’re covering up, I can’t bring myself to take pictures wearing them.

The weather doesn’t allow much time for it, either, if I’m being honest. Spring arrives swiftly in Winnipeg, and lasts a few weeks at best. This is a two season city, really – we have summer and winter, with little but a pause for breath in between. As I type this, it’s nearly twenty degrees and sunny outside. I’ve just come back from a long walk – all I needed to wear to keep warm was a long sleeve t-shirt. Obviously, these photos aren’t current.

But they aren’t that old, either. By the time I take photos of a few outfits with coats, coat season is already come and gone. Since I’m not super organized or quick to get editing done, I post them even later, when i no longer makes sense. And yet, I feel compelled to, because coats are, without a doubt, the most worn items of clothing that I own.

If that isn’t a sartorial quagmire, I don’t know what is. I’m absolutely stuck.

The forecast calls for snow next week, so it’s possible I’ll wearing my coats, if only briefly again this year. (I confess: I really hope that forecast proves to be wrong.) Either way, they’ll make another appearance or two in this space, because the reality is, I wear them. A lot. They complete my outfits (and conceal them) every day for most of the year, so they deserve a little recognition.

…even if, by this point in the year, I can’t stand to look at them anymore myself.

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