Crazypants! The blog.

It might actually rain this winter in San Francisco. A very welcome change.

I've lived here 12 years with no raincoat. I do have a Goretex shell that's mostly for camping but I do wear it now and then on really rainy days. Otherwise, an umbrella plus jean jacket has served me well.

But it might be nice to have a raincoat and I saw this waxed cotton anorak from Helmut Lang. It's the style I'd want but:
-is it too big?
-it isn't actually waterproof...
-even on super discount it is quite expensive and I might prefer to buy something I'd wear more often, like a warm wool jacket for winter

Keep or return?

With this morning's rain I wanted a cozy outfit, so I wore my new Gap velvet leggings with a long silk/cotton tunic shirt. They're woven, soft but structured, comfortable, and flattering.

The problem: these leggings are "soft black" but in daylight they look like a faded chocolate brown. Once I got outside I realized that the black shirt clashed horribly with the warm grey leggings. I have one grey silk shirt that's the same color as the leggings, but otherwise, I'm just not sure any of my black clothing will really work.

Question: should I go back and duplicate them in the solid black? They're half price today... I think the grey has more visual texture; the solid black is a little too much like a black hole. But the mismatched color is a real problem.

A few older photos too. I've tried to lighten everything so color and texture are more visible.

Photos 1-3: Today's outfit. #3 is in natural light, unedited, to show the color difference at its worst. Gap leggings, thrift store Pure DKNY shirt, Madewell boots.

4: Everlane short-sleeve merino sweater. It is so me. Worn with my R13 crossover jeans and Allsaints boots.

5: Juuust barely flattering enough? The Marc Jacobs main line silk pants, remarkably found at Crossroads, are great. But here I'm wearing them with my combat boots. What do you think? (My feet were sore, so these boots won out over my sleek pointed-toe ankle boots.)