After enduring buckets of rain over the weekend and yesterday, I realized my practical rain gear needed an update. I turned to Polyvore.com to find some new styles in rain gear.
I have a fabulous practical black trench by DKNY from Macy's, a pair of black quilted rain boots by Naturalizer, and a large golf sized umbrella that's black with rainbow stripes from Target that I love, which also folds practically into a size I can carry in my purse. When the weather is not only rainy but super cold and windy, I also have two back up coats with removable insulation. One is a stone colored "Girl on the Go Insulated Trench" with a hood from Eddie Bauer that is great for work and the other is a North Face rain coat with an additional insulated jacket insert that you can zip in or out depending on how cold (or warm) it is outside. The latter two jackets got a lot of use this weekend and on Monday, because baby, it was
cold outside!
I'll be discussing The North Face rain coat in a separate, later post. For now I'm sticking to the stone colored trench from Eddie Bauer. This was my "dressed for the weather and ready to commute" look yesterday morning:
With my rain boots, I was thinking this look was a bit "heavy" or "bulky" in appearance. The boots didn't necessary balance out with the jacket, which was not very fitted, even though when I had bought it, I got the smallest size available. As you can see above, I stick to neutrals
a lot. Also, in case you are wondering, I took the picture of myself off of a floor length mirror on our closet door--hence the trusty camera phone in the picture. I also realized that, while there was a 100 percent chance of rain yesterday, there wasn't exactly a downpour in the morning so I might not need the rain boots after all. Especially if I didn't venture out much during the day. Actually, it is a truth universally acknowledged that when I don my rain boots when it is not raining at the moment, there will likely be little to no rain to wear the boots in. (Got in a little twist on my girl Jane Austen there for all you classic English literature fans! Boo-ya!)
So to balance out the outfit (I admit, I consider these things like "balancing out my outfit" before I get ready to step out the door... also smelling nice and remembering to put on deodorant are on that list), I changed my shoes to some fairly water proof flats. At least they are water proof when I don't step in large puddles of water, which happens when I forget I am not wearing my rain boots that can withstand raging streams!
Here's the outfit after I did my balancing act:
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| Whew! That's a lot better... and more balanced! |
Finally satisfied, I stepped out the door with my trusty umbrella from Target, my Eddie Bauer coat and my tights and flats (and of course I'm also wearing clothes underneath). And what do you know? I barely got caught in any rain, but there was a whole lot of cold and wind going on. When did it start being OK for Mother Nature to screw around with us give us gorgeous 70 degree sunny days and then bring in cold 40 degree, rainy weather so that we have to run for the puffy coat? It's not right I tell you. Not right at all...
Anyhoo, I got inspired to take a look at what options are out there for looking cute while protecting yourself from Mother Nature's cruel sense of humor and found a ton of cute rain weather gear on Polyvore.com that fits with sporty, girly, trendy and work appropriate styles. This inspires me to be more creative when dressing for the rain. I had no idea Anthropologie carried rain flats and rain wedges! They're super cute! I'm not too sure about the peep toe in the rain wedges though. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of keeping rain out?
I also love a classic tall rain boot, and even more so when it comes with a wedge heel. Check out the finds below and see what inspires you! Don't forget to click through the slide show to see the outfits I put together with these great finds.
