Technically, spring started more than a week ago. Realistically, half the country continues to burrow in winter coats.
A New York Times fashion piece addresses this incongruity in a slideshow featuring a half-dozen city hipsters “dressed for spring, in denial of winter.”
Although temperatures are finally inching upward, they still barely peak beyond the low 40s in many regions. And that’s before factoring in fierce wind chills, making it far too early for any sane person to be donning midriff-baring crop tops and skirts with thigh-high slits. With no tights underneath.
What are these people thinking?
Rebecca Daly, a magazine fashion editor, was photographed in a leather jacket she acknowledged was “probably not warm enough, but I can’t bear to put on my puffer.” She also wore a pair of breezy silk pants.
“I’m sick of my black tights and black ankle boots. At this point, it’s all so ubiquitous and repetitive,” she explained. “I’ve bought a few spring things in anticipation: a couple of crop tops and a midiskirt from Asos. And I’m excited for miniskirts. I’ll wear them with bare legs and maybe little flats.”
The women’s online blog Jezebel mocked Daly, describing her “as a child who is asking for a pony, despite the fact that she lives in a high rise apartment building.” All the featured individuals following this optimistic “trend” are really “people who have lost their marbles,” Jezebel insisted.
But even before the Times piece hit, others recently found themselves in the same wardrobe conundrum.
The Times said “some New Yorkers are willing spring to come by sheer denial” by shunning the dowdy down in favor of bright blazers. Fashion design student Cang Nguyen was snapped in a pink plaid jacket and white pants because, “why not wear white pants?"
Nguyen has the right idea, according to beauty and style expert Rebekah George.
Ligthening up your color scheme is one way to transition into spring while still staying warm, she told TODAY.com.
"This spring, it's about pastels and white," she said. "Wear your winter whites one last time or choose pastel jeans and wear them with a similar lighter-weight pastel sweater."
Here are a few other tips she offers to help you spring into the current season, in a more reasonable fashion:
- Layer up: If you're eager to wear your crop top, pair it with a blazer or cardigan sweater.
- Keep legs warm: There are plenty of tights that say spring – light colors, gray, floral patterns. You can wear these with strappy sandals and still keep legs warm.
- Mix winter and spring: Try a new spring dress and wear it with a winter cardigan and belt it at the waist. Or wear winter booties with a spring dress.
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