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Niles West HIgh School students helping with the Preschool Trike-a-Thon for St. Jude Children's Hospital that was being held on Wednesday, May 8 outside the Niles West High School building. Photograph by Iza Swider.
Winter is my least favorite time of the year, and not just because it’s freezing and miserable outside, but also because I feel extremely limited in my wardrobe. Who doesn’t? With comfort and warmth at risk, is it worth planning an elaborate outfit if we’re going to be shivering in school? There are people out there who don’t get cold wearing a t-shirt in the halls at this time of year, but if you are one of the many who aren’t so lucky, keep reading.
Remember scarves being a good accessory? Well, they also keep you warm, and the thicker they are, the better job they do. Infinity scarves (scarves that are connected at the ends and are usually worn wrapped around your neck twice) are a great winter accessory for both indoors and out.
One of my staple wardrobe items for the winter is the the oversize sweater. They look great with skinny jeans or leggings and boots, and, personally, that’s how I wear them. Patterned, solid, retro, it really doesn’t matter. You can almost never go wrong in this case.
Most people bring out the thick, wool socks for winter, right? Well, aside from being extremely accommodating for the cold weather, they look great peeking from boots. However, stay away from bright colors and silly patterns, as they can easily look childish, and remember that if you’re hesitating even in the slightest bit, it probably doesn’t work. Obviously, only wear them with shorter boots (combat or similar styles). One thing that I’ve noticed lately is high socks with…Uggs. As I resist the urge to rant, I just want to make a couple points. One: Uggs are warm, so clearly those wearing them with high socks are not doing it to fend off the cold weather. Two: I cannot stop anyone from wearing this duo, but I will say that if you feel the need to do this, stick to dark colored socks, so it doesn’t create as much contrast.
Senior Lily Chatman sporting combat boots with socks peeking from the top.
Now that we’re on the topic of my absolute favorite winter staple, boots, let’s have a central, guiding question: what kind? Yes there are the quintessential favorites–Uggs. But haven’t we had enough of that? There is no clear choice when it comes to which boots to wear this season, but there are some definite favorites out there. The Chelsea boot is one to pay attention to. It can be done in the most classic way, as this style is derived from menswear, yet there are many variations out there. After slowly growing on the street style scene, they have reached their peak this year. For further inspiration and examples, tumblr is always here to help.
A more extravagant, yet just as popular, style of boots is western. No longer exclusive to cowboys, I’ve come to think of this year-round style to be accommodating to many different types of outfits. They’re a great way to make a dressy outfit look less serious while simultaneously bringing charm to casual outfits. For an introduction, click here.
Finally, we arrive to riding boots, which have some relation to but are not the same as western. These boots have trickled down to a younger demographic (us) these last few years, and I am not surprised. They’re classic and comfortable, and what more do you need really? If you want a boot that will go with just about any outfit, sweat pants being the exception, I would recommend this style.
Apart from coats of course, socks, scarves, sweaters, and boots are the most basic pieces to a winter wardrobe, and this idea has been around for many decades. What changes, though, is the what each generation does with these staples. I’ve chosen a few of my favorite, specific styles and ways to wear them, and I hope that some will use them. The main goal, however, is to just stay warm, right? Because not doing so will make winter even worse.
Senior Katherine Hornung wearing an infinity scarf and sweater combo to stay warm.
Junior Mira Berkson complimenting her boots with gray high socks.
1. Yearbooks will be distributed this Friday, May 17, after school--those students who get out after 8th period will be allowed to pick them up at that time; no one is allowed to miss any part of any class--even study hall--to get his or her book.
Here’s the issue at hand. NO ONE CARES HOW YOU LOOK IN THE WINTER.
Winter is the time for wearing cozy sweaters and not really caring about whether or not your socks match your Uggs. If you want to waste an hour of your morning each day trying to find something to look ‘fashionable’ then by all means do it. On the other hand, most students are just wearing whatever is comfy and whatever they like.
It’s kind of funny how you recommend wearing a patterned oversized sweater (does a yellow elephant pattern fit into this social norm of acceptable sweaters?) with leggings (which can be green zebra print, for all we care) and wearing boots with it. Yet you shiver at the thought of people wearing patterned socks with their Uggs? Maybe some people don’t have the ‘proper’ socks to wear with Uggs so they’re left with the patterned ones at the back of the sock drawer.
I think that people should be free to choose what they want to wear during the winter, but if they really wanted ideas on how to dress they shouldn’t be looking at this article because it leaves me wondering if the next generation of teens will walk around wearing Gucci trashbags just because it’s ‘fashionable’.