Outfit Of The Week 10/6/24 – 10/12/24

This week’s edition of “OOTW” showcases the season’s slow creep into chilliness.

Last week, I highlighted my Schott Perfecto motorcycle jacket, but I only wore that jacket for about 30 minutes to drop my son off at school. It was cold in the morning, but warmed up considerably by mid-day so I didn’t need any outerwear past about 10am.

This week, though, I kept my light outerwear on all day.

I didn’t get to snap too many pictures of my outfit, but I got the important parts, namely my denim jacket and my flannel shirt.

Now, you’re all well-aware of my feelings about denim jackets. I don’t really think they serve much purpose and there’s pretty much always a better option. Regardless, since I own one, I sometimes pull it out of the closet in the hopes that this time it will impress me.

Well, I’m still not super impressed. Sure, it looks cool but it’s not particularly warm and offers zero protection against rain. The reason I chose to wear it that day was because I knew it wouldn’t rain or be too cold or windy.

And that’s my big problem with denim jackets. They’re just not versatile. You have to wear them in the perfect conditions, otherwise you’ll be wishing you had something different.

Anyway, the conditions that day were fine for a denim jacket so I tossed it over a flannel shirt.

Wearing the denim jacket throughout the day did inspire me to think a bit differently about it, though. I’m always thinking of it as a “jacket” (unsurprisingly). And in thinking of it that way, I’m always dissatisfied. But the other day I started thinking about it more like an overshirt. I stopped expecting it to keep me warm or protected the way a jacket would and viewed it in the same way I view my regular denim shirt: just a bit of a thicker layer when I don’t need an actual jacket.

Thinking of it in this way actually helped me enjoy it more while I was wearing it. Since I viewed it more as a shirt, I didn’t feel the need to remove it each time I stepped inside for whatever reason. Since it’s relatively light, I didn’t feel overheated as I worked from the library for a bit.

Even though I’ll view my denim jacket more like a shirt moving forward, I WILL NOT layer another jacket on top of it. I sometimes see people do that on Instagram and it looks terrible. If you’re wearing a denim jacket, do not wear another coat on top of it (especially not a sport coat). It looks really stupid.

The flannel shirt I wore was my red and black plaid flannel from Coleman. This flannel is a bit lighter than my Lands’ End, L.L. Bean, or Woolrich flannels so it makes a good shirt to wear just as fall hits.

It also has sentimental value since it was the shirt I was wearing on the last day our dog was alive. In a week it will be one year since she died. I can’t believe it’s been so long without her. We raise a glass to her every night at the dinner table. Her crate is still in the living room. In the morning, the sun shines in through the window and illuminates her picture on the mantel.

The boys sometimes ask about getting another dog, but my wife and I aren’t ready yet. I’m not sure I’ll ever feel ready.

Getting back to my outfit, to top things off, I wore the same wool and cashmere 6-panel cap I wore last week. I wasn’t aware when I bought it, but the cap has a little tag that says “Cashmere Waterproof” in it. I didn’t know it was waterproof, but I think it is. I wore it a couple years ago at a very wet and cold outdoor school event and my head was totally dry.

The hat is also light enough to be a good transitional weather hat, unlike my heavier tweed cap I’ll bust out in a few weeks.

Have a wonderful weekend!