Outfit Of The Week 10/1/23 – 10/7/23
For this installment of “OOTW” I chose an outfit that represents the sheer meteorological madness of the past seven days.
Why is it so f-ing hot?!
It’s mid-October! Look at the leaves!
It shouldn’t be anywhere near 80 degrees. My kids went to school in t-shirts for goodness’ sake.
Now, I know that’s nothing for those of you in the south and west. But for native northerners like me it’s very uncomfortable.
Regardless, I still wanted to make the best of the situation and wear a collection of items that I am probably going to stuff in my drawer and not revisit until May of next year.
Enter my pink, striped, Ralph Lauren polo shirt. My wife got me this shirt as a gift last year and I love it. It’s not a color I would usually purchase for myself, as I, like most men, fall into the habit (rut?) of sticking with “safe” colors like blue, grey, and black.
I wrote about this some time ago. It’s important for our kids, especially our sons, to see us dads wearing different colors. Kids will make fun of each other for anything and it helps to instill in our children that certain colors aren’t just for boys or girls. If they see dad wearing pink or yellow they will be less likely to adhere to silly stereotypes and be less likely to tease other kids for wearing those colors.
Moving on down, I wore a pair of tan jeans from the Gap.
I appreciate that these pants have an appropriate number of belt loops!
I don’t appreciate the button-fly, though. I find button-flies to be a bit stupid. They don’t add any visual appeal to the garment and they are a pain to use in public restrooms.
There are some out there who like button-flies on their jeans because they are “authentic” to the original jeans.
Really? You need that level of authenticity? The zipper, which gained popularity in the early 1900s, is too new to be authentic? C’mon, now.
Anyway, back to the jeans…even though I could wear these in cold weather, since they are a nice mid-weight, I only really ever wear them in the spring and summer. The reason is that the fit, while called “Easy”, is pretty aggressively tapered toward the ankle. This makes the leg-opening a little tight over a pair of boots. Thus, I wear these pants in the warmer months with boat shoes.
Speaking of boat shoes, the shoes I am wearing here are my well-loved, navy, Sperry Gold Cups. I have worn these shoes on many trips, and had them on when both of my sons were born. They are quite literally falling apart, but I can’t bear to get rid of them yet.
As much as I love these shoes, I don’t know if I would buy a pair of Sperry Gold Cups again. If you read the reviews, the stellar 5-star reviews are interspersed with 1-star reviews detailing the fatal design flaw of these shoes: the squishy, padded insole only goes from the heel of the shoe to mid-foot. It doesn’t extend to the ball of the foot and the toes. This means that the edges of the insole peel away from the bed of the shoe and ball up under the foot, causing discomfort. I have had two pairs of Gold Cups and have had to use scissors to cut back the curled edges of the insole before the shoes were comfortable enough to wear.
To top things off, I decided on my linen, houndstooth check cap from Stetson. Again, I won’t be able to wear this hat after this week, so I wanted to give it one last rodeo before the temps drop for good.
Stetson hats tend to run a little large, I find, and this cap is no exception. At first I was a little disappointed with the fit, but I have come to like the slouchy look. The slight roominess is actually quite comfortable in the summer, as it allows more air-flow.
I’m looking forward to the coming weeks when we can really start diving into some fall styles!
Tweed, and leather, and flannel! Oh, my!
Have a wonderful weekend!
