Wear, Watch, Want #217: The Bigger Gilded Plate Edition
Wear: Marmot Montreal Coat
I wrote a few weeks ago about how my winter coats were too small, and I needed a larger coat, so I ordered one, and it was still too small. I could tell it could be the perfect coat, though, so I returned the first one and ordered the very last one in a larger size. I’ve been wearing my Marmot Montreal coat often (mostly to take the dog outside) and it is a revelation. It first perfectly. I can wear bulky stuff under it and not feel like I’m trapped or can’t move my arms. I can zip it easily, and not have to do the weird shuffle where I pull it over my hips, zip, then pull it down and loosed the bottom zipper to make room for my butt. I don’t even have to unzip the bottom zipper if I don’t want to! I’m so so so glad I just bought a larger coat. BUT, when I got a larger coat and then ended up having to get an even larger coat, that little fucker diet culture crept into my brain and was whispering all kinds of shit along the lines of “Larger is bad! Only small is good!”
Blair Braverman has written many times about how you can’t dress warm AND look as small as possible (and also what kind of goal is that? What about the goal of enjoying the outdoors and being comfortable?!)
So many women are needlessly freezing in winter (then think winter/outdoors isn’t for them) because we’re sold “sleek” fitted coats in order to take up less space, look smaller. And then we’re COLD. You NEED bulky clothes to thrive in winter! Big layers! Embrace all puff! https://t.co/Eudj3RpuRT
— Blair Braverman (@BlairBraverman) November 13, 2019
This really stuck with me. I want to be outside. I want to be comfortable, I want my troublesome hip joints to be warm and actually be able to move while I’m wearing my winter coat. Yeah, I had to get a larger coat. Then I had to get an even larger coat. And now? I’m living! I’m comfortable and warm and thriving! I love my large, puffy coat!
Watch: The Gilded Age
The premiere episode of The Gilded Age was 80 minutes long, and you know what? I WANTED MORE. I wanted to mainline 6 straight hours of Julian Fellowe’s latest period epic. It was an absolute blast. Plus, I didn’t know much about it beforehand (didn’t need to, I was in no matter what) so I kept announcing names of theatre actors every time they came on screen like I was working a red carpet. Michael Cerveris! Donna Murphy! Audra McDonald!
I don’t know if you’re on period costume shop TikTok, but I highly suggest you supplement your Gilded Age viewing with some costumer tea. (I was going to link to a video but the creator deleted them and honestly, that was probably for the best, career-wise.)
I also recommend you watch the extras at the end of the episode. When Amazon got Fellowe’s Dr Thorne, he inexplicably made these little segments before each episode telling you - in the most gossipy tone - what had happened, and what was about to happen, as if he wasn’t the guy who made the show, itself a work of fiction. It was SO strange and SO needless and SO delightful, and I would like him to do that for every show, whether he created it or not. His talking head bits at the end of The Gilded Age are as close as we get, but I appreciate them all the same.
Want: Dinner Plates
When I moved to Seattle, I got new dinnerware. The dishes I had before I got when I was 19, and they were not the dishes of an adult. I looked around, found a good sale, and got Pottery Barn Joshua Dinnerware. Bowls, salad plates, dinner plates, even some serveware. It’s all been good, except the dinner plates. They are ALL chipped. Every one of them. At first it was just a few, and it was just cosmetic, but now it’s every dish AND I keep finding little ceramic crumbs every time I pick up a plate. I need new ones. BUT, since every other bit of dishware I have is perfectly fine, I want plates that work with what I already have. I’m leaning toward Crate and Barrel Visto Cream plates, but I’m still hunting. I worked very hard to find the Joshua plates, which are exactly what I was looking for, so the thought of having to search AGAIN is… frustrating.
