Such is life outside the tropics...

I finally live in a place with seasons.  In my new town, unlike within my previous paradigm, temperatures do not depend on the amount of sunlight.  Also, I moved here on the winter, without any previous experience on simple things like driving in the snow or walking on frosty pavements.  Yet, those topics are of little interest to me (and probably to the three readers this thing still has).  A ray of inspiration enlightened me yesterday now that my friend MF is here and she is absolutely clueless about fashion in the winter (real winter, not Mexican or Panamanian winter).  So here it is…

Do’s and Don’ts between November 01 and April 01 North of the 40° Parallel

1. Find out what a Parallel is, then find out where 40° is.
2. Do not wear white pants, skirts, etc.  (this actually applies for most Parallels, all year long)
3. Success is in your ability to use layers.  You will be outside at 24F while you walk to the car, but then you will come inside the office / your house / the mall / etc. to be received by 70F.  Be prepared to look fabulous at all temperatures during the day. 
4. Do not wear open shoes unless they are dressy shoes for a formal event.  Strappy shoes definitely no-no.
5. Learn how to spell definitely (nothing to do with fashion, seasons, or Parallels… but you really need to learn, people!)
6. Puffy jackets are not business-casual (I don’t care what you think.), wear a coat for Pete’s sake!
7. Wear sleeves.  Even if you are going to be indoors, in the heat, wear sleeves.  You will have 6 months to wear your sleeveless pieces  later.
8. Use winter fabrics:  wool, cashmere, etc.  Cotton is a timeless classic, but wear cotton sweaters, not summer dresses (ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FRICKIN’ MIND?)
9. Wear skirts with tights.  Patterns are fashionable right now, but not all of them look good with all skirts.  You can never go wrong with plain ones.  Nobody wants to see your freezing blue legs.
10. Floral patterns... really?  
11. Take your hands out of your pockets;  only Calvin Klein models get away with that.  Wear gloves.
12. If you have to wear a hat or earmuffs, make sure you have products and tools available to fix your hair when you take them off. 
13. Boots are awesome.  Uggs are not boots.
14. Sweatshirts, sweatpants, and running pants are for the gym.  Don't wear them anywhere else, I don't care how cold you are.  

If I touch only one life, I will feel like these 8 minutes were not a total waste of time.