Portland Couture

I am getting used to a new style - the Portland look.  It is very casual - jeans, t-shirt, sweatshirt, sneakers/boots, layers for warmth.  However, it is not that simple.  For example - this does NOT work.

This is one of my California sweatshirts.  Love it - has great pockets, it's warm, has good memories (got it for a winter trip to Italy).  Here is why it doesn't work - the sweatshirt doesn't have a hood.  One's sweatshirts MUST have hoods (hence the name "hoodie") if you live in Portland for a very simple reason - well 2 reasons:

 #1 It rains a lot here (I know - quite a shock) and

 #2 One does NOT carry an umbrella in Portland (or Seattle for that matter).  It immediately identifies you as a tourist - just like one immediately recognizes the summer tourists in San Francisco -  the ones wearing shorts and t-shirts, shivering while turning slightly blue.

No, they do NOT carry umbrellas here.  Never.  I know.  Amazing.  On the surface it seems crazy until you experience the rain.  It does rain but it's a light rain, almost a heavy mist.  Having said that, it did truly rain one day last week (for about an hour) and it surprised me. I hadn't realized how I had grown used to the lighter style that is more common.

Okay, given that it rains frequently but it isn't heavy, using an umbrella becomes kind of a pain.  Bothersome.  Hoodies are the Portland solution.  Everyone wears them.  Everyone. When it rains, the hoodies pop up.  When it stops, down they go.  I know, I know.  It means you may have a layer of damp fabric around the back of your neck but given that you are hopefully wearing several layers, the dampness is not against your skin.

Okay, now as you can see, the beloved sweatshirt has been replaced with one with a hood AND I have added another layer for warmth (it's February after all).  The layers include:  red jersey t-shirt, gray  hoodie, raspberry vest.   Note that the hoodie is pulled out so I can quickly reach it when it starts to rain.

So what if these are not enough layers?  Let's add some more.   Although this February has not been as cold as January, it still calls for layers.

Now, here I have replaced the vest with my wool jacket - over the hoodie mind you - with a scarf added around the neck AND new boots to keep my feet warm (I usually wear them under my jeans but are highlighting them here).

Look at that - TWO hoods.  If I don't have a hoodie underneath, the wool jacket has a hood.  I am REALLY prepared.

And look at these boots.  They are serious.  My feet are NOT getting wet, they are not getting cold.  Not in these boots.  The saleswoman swore they will be waterproof for a year (and was happy to sell me the stuff to spray on them next Autumn).

But I am saving the best for last. Biking is big in Portland.  Many many people ride bikes.  But it is cold and it rains so the Portland biker has his/her own unique style.  Here it is.  

Swear to all the gods above, people DO wear something like this while they bike around Portland in the winter.  Now, to be completely fair (and if anyone from Portland is looking at this they are probably saying, "What?!!?!?) my daughter, Stephanie, bikes to work and wears the true outfit - not juryrigged like this one.   She has actual biker shorts and shoes and leggings - I just put on what I had for the purposes of this photo-essay.  But, yes, the bikers do wear their own version of this.  Shorts (you get warm pedaling up and down the hills, across bridges, around traffic) but your legs need to stay warm (hence the leggings) and then the layers on top.

Let's look at these layers:

Note the same jersey t-shirt as before but I have added a black t-shirt over it and the raspberry vest, and a scarf to wrap around my neck so as to deal with the wind.  Yes, all may be needed and can be taken off, one by one, if not.

Now, the arms:

Again, layers - with the bottom one able to pull down over the fingers in case it is really cold.

Close up on those legs:

What can I say - just stylin!  Those are my Italian bowling shoes, by the way.  I think they are perfect.

And finally, the hat:

Now, I have to add a statement here.  This is Stephanie's hat that I gave her as a joke - or as a possibility to wear when taking Wesley Trick-or-Treating (I gave Dan a similar one of a dog).  But I do see people (mainly younger) wandering around wearing these animal hats.  I was really surprised.  To be fair, they are not common but they are seen.  What IS common is a very similar style.  Just replace this zebra pattern with one that is a muted wool.  Keep the two tails.  Keep the basic idea.  Just make the whole thing muted wool.  I call it a "Peruvian Hat" because it reminds me of Peruvian weavings.  I know you have all seen them as well.  Kids wore them at Carmel High.  I've seen them in Oakland when visiting Lee.  He probably has one.  At first I didn't understand why people of all ages wore these hats but now I do.  They keep your ears warm!  And on cold mornings my beret or cap does not meet that need.  Thankfully, my sister Mary created a knitted scarf/cap (it has a part that goes over the back and top of my head and then has long ends I can wrap around my neck) and I wear it when it is really cold.

So there you have it - the Portland style.  I just signed up to volunteer at the main branch of the library in downtown Portland (two afternoons a month) where I will have to break away from the usual Portland outfit.  They actually dress up a bit down there.  So some of the clothes that have not seen the light of day since I moved here might actually get worn.  For the time being, I am stylin' with the best  of them here in Portland.  

I leave for a 2-week trip to California in a few days.  I promise that I do remember how to dress there, so don't worry if I am visiting you.  I will be appropriate.   But I also look forward to my return to Portland.  I am enjoying the very casual Portland style.  It IS unique.