I don’t know what the kids are doing these days, but when I was going to school, dressing for winter wasn’t about being warm. It was totally about being cool.

For some reason, the wearing of winter coats, hats and – heaven forbid! – BOOTS was absolute malarkey when I was a teenager. Of course, my mother in her eminent sense, never let me leave the house without looking like I was warm enough to stand at the end of the driveway in freezing weather to wait for the school bus. But that didn’t mean I didn’t doff my toque as soon as the bus came into sight. I mean, who wants to spend a single minute in junior high with hat hair? Not Thirteen-Year-Old Me!

The coolest kids (and some of the cutest – I’m not saying the smartest) managed to look like they weren’t freezing their arses off while still wearing their summer jean jackets and hightop runners, hands shoved down into their jeans pockets like they were auditioning for an S. E. Hinton movie. I don’t think I ever managed to achieved Total Cool Status – I wore a scarf and mitts everyday – but I do remember sneaking out of the house in sneakers, not boots. And winding up with wet socks and cold feet – how dumb is that?

I’m a lot older now and – it goes without saying – MUCH COOLER. Or is it warmer? I start wearing my toque in early fall and my boots with the first snowflake. I have even been known to turn on the seat heater in my car on a chilly day in summer because I am OVER with being cold. I do think dressing for the weather isn’t such a faux pas anymore. Then again, I don’t really know what’s in style anymore. It’s too hard to keep up with the Jones, or the teenagers, or whoever rules the fashion roost.

In anticipation of the winter season, my personal shopper (that would be my husband, Rick) picked out a SUPER WARM, EXTRA LONG new coat for me. I have never had such a warm coat before and apparently being warm means spending a little bit of money – this coat is what they call an “investment purchase”. When the temperature dipped recently, I wore it for the first time and realized that it not only takes a bit of money to stay warm, but also time. It took me about five minutes to zip myself in! But when it was on, I was warm as toast. Hot toast, fresh out of the toaster, that is.

Of course, it matters to me that my new coat looks nice as well – I did try on a few the day that I bought it, until we found “The One”. But if it’s minus 20 and I’m feeling toasty, I completely forget what I look like anyways. But I do know that this coat would look ridiculous with running shoes. And that’s a good thing.