December 2020 Shopping Reflections

via Unsplash

I hope that all of you are having a good end of the year! After 16 days of strict quarantine - in which K and I didn't even go into our apartment building's lobby - K's parents picked us up in their car last week so we could spend Christmas and New Year's with them at their home in the suburbs. Since then, we've just been staying home with them and helping with the cooking. It's been a good, very quiet, and relaxed holiday. I've taken many naps. 

Because our pre-holiday quarantine was so strict that we weren't even going into our apartment building's lobby to pick up packages from the doorman, I've been avoiding online shopping. Accordingly, December was another "no-shopping" month for my wardrobe, the third such month in 2020. (The other two were in February and July.) I don't consider this a noteworthy achievement or anything, it's just a reflection of how strange this year has been due to the colossally poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic here in the US. 

When it comes to the shopping plans for the remainder of 2020 that I wrote about back in October, I ended up ordering two of the three items to try. I really liked that wool and cashmere-blend "Classic" wrap coat from The Curated, though I admittedly won't get a chance to actually wear it outdoors until we can move freely and safely about in public again. I really did not like that polo sweater from The Reset, unfortunately. After trying it on, I saw that most polo sweater designs are probably not likely to suit my more busty, somewhat top-heavy body shape. It's easy for the collar and v-neck combination to look awkward on me if the proportions aren't just right. The sleeves on The Reset's version also puff out too much from the oddly too-long cuffs - looking almost like a balloon sleeve on me, albeit a somewhat subdued one - something I didn't think was apparent from the store photographs. 

As for the gold-plated fringe earrings from Lingua Nigra, I ended up not ordering them this year even though they look beautiful and should suit my wardrobe and tastes very well. For some reason, out of all the types of clothes, shoes, and accessories out there, the idea of buying jewelry just makes me feel particularly sad right now, wistful about the life we're not living, the places we can't go, and the things we can't do. It's weird of me, and I obviously didn't have this mental hang-up about shopping for jewelry back in September, but I guess 2020 is a strange year. 

Happy new year to all, and best wishes for a better and brighter 2021!