Mail-order catalogs showcasing spring and summer wardrobe choices are arriving daily now. Forget that it is just the beginning of February and that the cold and snow of winter are yet a stark possibility (or reality) for weeks to come - the retail industry wants the average consumer to think warm weather. The name of the game seems to be that the earliest catalogs to arrive on consumer doorsteps will reap the greatest number of orders......i.e. more revenue dollars.
My issue with many of the catalogs is that their covers have shapely twenty-somethings, clad only in the barest-of-acceptable amounts of fabric accompanied by an over-sized beach ball. Occasionally you will see a male-female duo on the catalog cover, with the male and his six-pack abs looking all bough (spelling intentional) in his Speedo-like trunks. I am simply not in the mood, nor shape, to be interested in the latest maillot de bain styles for the 2012 season.
Why is that? Well, for starters, the interior temperature of our condo is still more suited (pun intended) to sweats with their fuzzy and warm fabric-finishes next to my skin. The outside temperature is, on the whole, more suited to winter coats, the occasional hat or earmuffs, and - often - snowboots. Not bikinis, tankinis, and pool cover-ups. At this time of year, my maillot de bain style more resembles that of the suits worn by my mother and her peeps than that of today's Hollywood starlets vacationing on the Mediterranean coast.
When my beverage of choice needs to have more ice than liquid then, and only then, will I be in the mood for summer clothing styles. Until then, bring on the fleece! This is one time of year when the fleecing of Americans can be a positive thing.
Ancoldaro imparo