This thread is so full of wisdom and truth, putting the finger exactly where it aches! I am late to the party here; but enjoyed reading every word from everyone. So many insights. Thought provoking, and reaching me way deep in my heart.
Suz, you look so vibrant and beautiful in both pictures. In the first one, what a telling, expressive smile. It says "I (finally) feel good!" It is so heart warming to see them.
It took me a while myself to reflect on this because I didn't * let myself *, I thought I should "toughen up"; or that these considerations were not for me, just for rich people; or that it was too vain... it was the way I had been brought up.
Later in life I made the same discovery as you, through gear too! After my pregnancy, I couldn't (and didn't want to) go back to my previous underweight self, so I gave away all my anorexic clothes. I had no time in my life back then, loved physical activity, had a baby to look after and lived in a very casual city, so I bought gear. I reconstructed my wardrobe and with each piece felt more and more liberated. Finally, as you say, I knew what to wear, and could forget about it.
BUT it can only go so far. I am always oscillating between gear and chic, always trying to marry the two. I love to browse in gear shops just to see the latest cuts or inventions, trying to imagining it as part of a fashionable outfit.
And how true about needing more than one "basic" for different activities. Coats, boots are basics in colder places. Just this year for the first time in my life, I am enjoying my working boots (heeled, goretex) and my weekend casual flat goretex boots. I couldn't buy both pairs the same year, but now that I have the two, boy do I see a difference in my day-to-day life!
@Krista: try lining your knitted mitts with a band of fleece. You can buy fleece at the meter at a fabric shop, and just cut a band the width of your hand and the length to wrap it around it. Make it slightly shorter than the width of the mitts your knitting. Sow the bottom and top of the fleece band to the inside of your mitts. Warm and comfort guaranteed!