Outfit Of The Week 9/21/25 – 9/27/25
It seems like every “OOTW” around this time of year needs to start with a rundown of what the weather’s been like lately.
As I write this article, it’s about 58 degrees and torrentially raining. This past weekend, though, we were in NYC to take the kids to the American Museum of Natural History and the weather was warm and sunny. A little too warm, actually, as the temps hovered around the low-to-mid eighties in the middle of the day.
We actually used the museum to balance out having to bring the kids to the doctor earlier in the day. After a relatively tear-free visit, we stuffed them with pizza and ice cream and headed to the museum. We usually bring the kids there once a year or so. The last time we went, the room with the blue whale was blocked off so we couldn’t go in. My youngest son LOVES sea creatures we were upset he wasn’t able to see one of the main attractions of the museum on that visit. This time, thankfully, the room was open and we were able to see it. He was thrilled.
I knew the day would require a lot of walking. I opted for my logger boots, jeans, and a white, button-down collar linen shirt from Vineyard Vines (a gift from my wife this past summer). Up top, I wore a grey, wool-blend baseball cap from a brewery in upstate New York.
Even though my boots are quite heavy given their steel toe and aggressive tread, they are surprisingly comfortable to walk in. I’ve hiked in them plenty of times.
The linen shirt was a good choice given how sweaty I got, especially while wearing the backpack all day. This shows that you can absolutely wear a white, collared, curved-tail hem shirt casually. You don’t have to save it for the office of some other quasi-dressed up event.
Speaking of the backpack, I should mention that for our jaunt around town I packed water bottles, various snacks, and sweatshirts for the boys.
The day actually was a lot more eventful than we originally planned, as our car broke down on our drive into the city. Luckily, we were able to pull into an available spot on the street while the car sputtered. Since we had to get it towed, we needed to use public transportation to hop/skip/jump around Manhattan. Not a big deal, as the boys enjoyed riding the bus, subway, and train.
You just never know what you’re going to encounter when out and about with kids! Luckily my wife and I were able to turn it all into a teaching moment. We explained to the boys how we tag-teamed the solution (my wife contacting the car insurance for the tow and me communicating with the tow truck company while she was in the doctor’s office with the boys). We wanted to point out to them how a marriage can function like a team… both people calmly working together toward a solution.
We could have easily let it frustrate us and bring down the mood of the day, but we didn’t want to let that happen.
Despite the extra stressor, it was a very enjoyable day overall!
