July Ennui and a Red Velvet Dress
Many of life’s biggest pleasures are seasonal: wild strawberries, August skies, the slow arrival of spring. There is also much joy to be had dressing in tune with the changing seasons – finding the perfect summer dress, figuring out how to look chic in the Nordic winter, putting on your long plum-coloured leather gloves in the autumn. The reverse can also be true, however.
A silk slip on bare skin in winter, high collars and rich brocades in summer are instantly intriguing. She’s wearing a fur coat in June? Why would one do that? Surely there is a story in this! If you love drama – as I do, at least when it comes to clothes – dressing to clash with the time of year is often more interesting than going with the obvious.
It also demonstrates the preeminence of your inner world over the external one. If you feel like lounging around in a wine red velvet dress when everybody else is wearing bikinis and shorts, there’s nothing anyone can do to stop you. If you want, you can channel an Old Hollywood star slightly past her prime, sipping vodka on the rocks, overanalysing your relationships and generally finding the world not up to your high standards – who cares that it’s 2018 and you’ve never been in a movie?And what if it’s mid-July and the heat is oppressive? In your mind, it’s the season of ennui and it demands a velvet dress.
There is very little place for boredom and brooding in our lives these days. One is supposed to be constantly productive and positive and there really isn’t much time to feel bored anyway. It also seems rather indulgent, as we are always aware how fortunate we are compared to so many others in the world. But disappointment still happens, days when nothing excites you still happen, little sadnesses still creep in. Maybe they are silly, but they exist.
I am not a psychologist, but I believe if you never allow yourself to disengage, to sulk, to be annoyed and disinterested, to feel frustrated or cynical, it’ll all be back with a vengeance later. We are not perfect. We probably don’t deserve all the things we think we do. But it’s fine to occasionally think the world has failed us by not being as wonderful as it should; that others are letting us down by not being who we want them to be. And while you can certainly do this when wearing your comfy track bottoms, I recommend doing it in a red velvet dress. Leaving the bed optional.
Dress by Riina Põldroos, necklace by Tanel Veenre, shoes by Prada, face by Grete Madisson, images by Laura Nestor.
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On a barely tangential note, Michael Kors once said that one good way to show off your money is to never dress according to the weather. Sandals on a snowy winter day? A chauffeured car must be waiting around the corner. A chinchilla coat in swampy New Orleans? Just put the a/c on full blast darling. As for boredom in the age of gratitude and productivity, that’s an interesting idea I’ll be pondering about this week.
Yes, there is also this saying that the most important fashion editors never carry a big bag (or outerwear), as they have the chauffeur waiting. But I’ve always been much more interested in glamour than in money and while there is a point where these two intersect, they are very far from being the same thing.
Thank you for this post. One of my goals for this holiday was to reach a proper state of boredom. It’s actually not easy (what with internet being like crack cocaine exactly when you try to stay out of there!), but as you write, highly necessary every now and then. Horoscope-people claim it’s the new moon and eclipse and stuff on retrograde at the moment that make everything that bit more difficult (until about end of August) and while I’m not a horoscope-person myself, I must admit that I am experiencing something of a Summer of (my) discontent and ennui.
Also can I say it here now we’re almost done with summer? November is my favourite month. Here. Pff.
One thing is that it’s difficult to be bored, the other is that one feels very strongly that one shouldn’t: there are always books to read, closets to organise, self to improve… I mean obviously it’s a bad thing if yuo are never interested in doing anything with your life. But having moments when you just don’t feel like doing anything is fine, in my opinion.
And yeah, I think the horoscope people are on to something.
This entire post (especially the parts about inner world expressing itself and love of drama in clothes) made me think of the following. A few weeks back, I caught up on some of your posts and messaged my friend (who originally introduced me to your writing) saying: I love how lifeinacoldclimate writes about clothes, perfumes, life, etc., she sounds like she is having fun (for lack of a more eloquent word).
Sometimes adulthood feels like bills, chores, discipline, and I forget the best part about being an adult – freedom to express one’s whimsy and personality! Freedom to have fun with random things, freedom to eat cake for breakfast, be overdressed, be unique, stay up late reading. Your posts remind me of the spark of fun in everything. Thank you.
Thank you for this comment, Stanislava. I still find it incredible that people who don’t know me read this blog (although I really should be used to it by now) and even talk about it with other people I don’t know! I truly find it exhilarating and rewarding. And I also know what you mean, although please also keep in mind – as I’m sure you do – that not all my days are spent lounging around in velvet dresses. That said, I *am* a firm believer in being the heroine of your own story, living with enthusiasm and flair. I am of course privileged in many ways and that makes it easier, but in the majority of cases I find it’s the question of attitude rather than means. You can turn eating a dried apricot into an event, if you approach it right. There is a price to pay when insisting on the fabulous and the intense, however (there always is, for everything). In my case it’s remaining more emotionally vulnerable and open to ridicule and embarrassement than I would otherwise be. But I’m kind of refusing to let the bastards to get me down. And I’m also not sure I could live differently even if I tried.