Sunday, Feb. 24
It doesn't take Dionne Warwick or the Long Island Medium to see the writing on the wall: "This sweater, while somewhat high maintenance, is still perfect for those Sunday afternoon errands followed by hanging around the house pretending to care about football or watching a Dance Moms marathon. And it's such a great shade of orange to boot." I guess I don't even have to bother wearing this today then, do I? Or do I? What if it is dramatically different than his oatmeal brother that I suffered through earlier this week? What if the boxy shape is actually a plus, and makes my boring old corduroys suddenly seem straight off the (Old Navy) runway?
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| The day they perfect the technology to actually feel something that you see online, I'm going to submit this picture. I'll call it itch-o-vision. |
Did I really NOT caption this photo? Was there nothing about this sweater that made me wax poetic? How tragic!!
And that's all I wrote. Was it so incredibly comfortable, flattering, warm, and cheery (no, NO, sort of, and not really) that I could find nothing of note about which to blog?
Well, not exactly...but [spoiler alert] it made it through the rigorous cut last year (and was neatly stowed in a sweater bag on my shelf), so there must be something that I liked about this sweater. At this point in the sweater blogging, I had begun to be (ever-so-slightly) more discerning about what made it through the process, so I'm a bit surprised that this one was taking up so much valuable real estate in my closet (not to mention that large size sweater bag from The Container Store that it inhabited with no space for a pouch-mate).
So, as a welcome back to the blog, I will wear this one again. If I liked it enough to give this vintage (and by "vintage," I mean mid 90s...in the life of an Abercrombie sweater, that's practically a senior citizen) crewneck its very own sweater bag, I certainly can find it in my heart (and closet) to give it another whirl today. Because it is "in season" right now, I think this will be the perfect opportunity to put this sweater through the ringer (but not literally...I think that would be even more cruel than it's powerful itch fibers are being to me). As has been established, orange sweaters are my kryptonite (okay...pretty much any sweater is my kryptonite, but orange is the deadly kind that forces Superman into the Bizarro world--and that's based on my viewing of Smallville, so there might be some errors there). And this is not just a plain orange...it's chunky, and laden with harvest colors. So, while I know for a fact that this sweater (barely) survived the cut the first time around, I'm wondering if it will actually hold up to my standards this time.
Well, not exactly...but [spoiler alert] it made it through the rigorous cut last year (and was neatly stowed in a sweater bag on my shelf), so there must be something that I liked about this sweater. At this point in the sweater blogging, I had begun to be (ever-so-slightly) more discerning about what made it through the process, so I'm a bit surprised that this one was taking up so much valuable real estate in my closet (not to mention that large size sweater bag from The Container Store that it inhabited with no space for a pouch-mate).
So, as a welcome back to the blog, I will wear this one again. If I liked it enough to give this vintage (and by "vintage," I mean mid 90s...in the life of an Abercrombie sweater, that's practically a senior citizen) crewneck its very own sweater bag, I certainly can find it in my heart (and closet) to give it another whirl today. Because it is "in season" right now, I think this will be the perfect opportunity to put this sweater through the ringer (but not literally...I think that would be even more cruel than it's powerful itch fibers are being to me). As has been established, orange sweaters are my kryptonite (okay...pretty much any sweater is my kryptonite, but orange is the deadly kind that forces Superman into the Bizarro world--and that's based on my viewing of Smallville, so there might be some errors there). And this is not just a plain orange...it's chunky, and laden with harvest colors. So, while I know for a fact that this sweater (barely) survived the cut the first time around, I'm wondering if it will actually hold up to my standards this time.
As soon as I pulled it over my head (wearing my usual brand of "first layer" shirts...not too thick as to disrupt the integrity of the sweater, but substantial enough to provide warmth), I wondered what kind of anti-biotics I might have been on last February...because this fella was one big orange ball of itch. Constantly. Sure, had I been frequenting Coldwater Creek or possibly the matronly section of L.L. Bean, I could have picked up a cotton turtleneck in a sensible color that might have protected me from the abrasions from this sweater...but there was no such armor today. This brother scratched me like an S.O.S. pad all day (and, unfortunately, this was a day in which I started work at 6 a.m., so it got in a lot of extra itch-time). Could I really justify keeping this sweater simply because it's got such a great autumnal color to it? Perhaps it's time for one of those Pro/Con lists I read so much about in Readers' Digest (while wearing my Carroll Reed cotton turtleneck, of course).
The pros: It's a really great color of orange--dare I say, "pumpkin spice?"
It is nice and big, and doesn't cling to any part of my body.
It is short, which enables a breeze to come up the sweater, which offers
some temporary relief from the itchiness.
It's warm (because it's a sweater and it's made out of wool and that's the job of
a sweater).
The cons: It is itchy. Oh, how it itches.
It has kind of a weird shape (or shapelessness) to it. Not exactly flattering.
It is short, which enables a breeze to come up the sweater.
It is warm, but not very cozy...BECAUSE IT REALLY ITCHES!
In this case, I believe that the cons far outweigh the pros. Until the day that the government shutdown affects sweater manufacturers (especially those that specialize in deliciously autumnal shades of orange), I don't feel that I need to hang onto every sweater in this color family. Because, unlike how I might have felt before I started this blog, I am not actually saving any money by hanging onto this sweater. It's not as if I'll walk into a store, see a beautiful orange crewneck and think, "Oh, this is lovely. But I already have a sweater in this color, so that's $60 that I won't have to spend. I guess I'll just use this money to purchase some hydrocortisone cream to put on my skin to relieve the itching from my Abercrombie & Fitch orange sweater."
My rating: Tom Cruise. I realize that it's almost impossible to talk about Mr. Cruise without bringing up his couch-jumping-Matt-Lauer-baiting-Brooke-Shields-hating behavior of late...and that's entirely my point. There was a time when I would see a movie simply because Tom Cruise was in it (and, yes, that includes Cocktail). Now, and I doubt I'm the only one who feels this way, I will avoid a movie for the very same reason (and when I slip and accidentally see a movie he's in, I get left with Rock of Ages. Serves me right). Sure, he still has his looks, talent, and his winning smile, but, underneath it all, there's a whole lot of itching. Although I have trouble reconciling his work during The Outsiders through the Jerry Maguire era with what he's become lately, there isn't enough Aveeno or Gold Bond Medicated Cream in the world to get me to admit to being a fan of Tom Cruise anymore. While you might get a few compliments on the lovely nutmeg (or is it allspice?) color of this sweater (although I didn't get any), and some thought that Cruise's performance in Tropic Thunder stole the show (Wrong! Robert Downey Jr. did...and was nominated for his work, so there!) does that outweigh the constant irritation by its woolen fibers and smugger-than-smug attitude? After surviving the original War of the Wools, this sweater has just become the next casualty. It had me at "orange," but it left me at "seriously itchy."
It is short, which enables a breeze to come up the sweater, which offers
some temporary relief from the itchiness.
It's warm (because it's a sweater and it's made out of wool and that's the job of
a sweater).
The cons: It is itchy. Oh, how it itches.
It has kind of a weird shape (or shapelessness) to it. Not exactly flattering.
It is short, which enables a breeze to come up the sweater.
It is warm, but not very cozy...BECAUSE IT REALLY ITCHES!
In this case, I believe that the cons far outweigh the pros. Until the day that the government shutdown affects sweater manufacturers (especially those that specialize in deliciously autumnal shades of orange), I don't feel that I need to hang onto every sweater in this color family. Because, unlike how I might have felt before I started this blog, I am not actually saving any money by hanging onto this sweater. It's not as if I'll walk into a store, see a beautiful orange crewneck and think, "Oh, this is lovely. But I already have a sweater in this color, so that's $60 that I won't have to spend. I guess I'll just use this money to purchase some hydrocortisone cream to put on my skin to relieve the itching from my Abercrombie & Fitch orange sweater."
My rating: Tom Cruise. I realize that it's almost impossible to talk about Mr. Cruise without bringing up his couch-jumping-Matt-Lauer-baiting-Brooke-Shields-hating behavior of late...and that's entirely my point. There was a time when I would see a movie simply because Tom Cruise was in it (and, yes, that includes Cocktail). Now, and I doubt I'm the only one who feels this way, I will avoid a movie for the very same reason (and when I slip and accidentally see a movie he's in, I get left with Rock of Ages. Serves me right). Sure, he still has his looks, talent, and his winning smile, but, underneath it all, there's a whole lot of itching. Although I have trouble reconciling his work during The Outsiders through the Jerry Maguire era with what he's become lately, there isn't enough Aveeno or Gold Bond Medicated Cream in the world to get me to admit to being a fan of Tom Cruise anymore. While you might get a few compliments on the lovely nutmeg (or is it allspice?) color of this sweater (although I didn't get any), and some thought that Cruise's performance in Tropic Thunder stole the show (Wrong! Robert Downey Jr. did...and was nominated for his work, so there!) does that outweigh the constant irritation by its woolen fibers and smugger-than-smug attitude? After surviving the original War of the Wools, this sweater has just become the next casualty. It had me at "orange," but it left me at "seriously itchy."
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