It’s Not Easy Being Hot

Patti Smith wouldn’t be caught dead in a sundress.

I’ve never been happier to see the fog roll in followed by this morning’s rain. Last week’s heat wave just killed me.

San Francisco is not built for heat. The rickety wooden Victorian flats and blocks of brick and concrete boxes, few if any of them air-conditioned, catch the sun and fire it back harder. There is nowhere, really, to escape unless you have to work in a office building downtown. Not much fun in that.

I am not built for heat. Especially these days, when you factor in my recently acquired hot flashes that seem to know when I’m at my most uncomfortable and then decide WHAM, “let’s crank up the thermostat!” Fuck me.

And then of course there is that sad truth that shorts or anything short looks progressively worse on me. It’s not that I’m fat; I’m not. In fact, if I do say so myself, and I will, my legs aren’t all bad. It’s the skin that increasingly bums me out: it puckers and wrinkles and hangs and sags. I think I look OK but then I’ll catch a glimpse of myself in a storefront window, and I just want to disappear behind a giant pair of pants.

Not only that, but I’ve never liked summer clothes. They’ve just never been me. Not only do sundresses, strappy sandals, sarongs and all manner of sun-wear terrify me, they also lack the edge that is critical to my look, or at least a look that makes me feel good and like me.

Thank god there are those certain iconic women who are too cool to ever dress in warm-weather attire: Cate Blanchett,  Sally Hershberger (creater of Meg Ryan’s shag and first hairstylist to charge $600 for a haircut.) and my favorite, Patti Smith. She personifies the androgynous languid look of  Rick Owens and is Ann Demeulemeester’s muse, who draws liberally from Patti’s vibe as an “urban poetess.”

So next time the sun shoos the fog away, I am going to embrace my inner Patti Smith, stick to the shady side of the street and keep my cool. Because that is really hot.

1: Black diamond solitaire earrings, Target.com. 2: Sara Designs black leather-studded watch, My Wardrobe.com. 3: T By Alexander Wang classic jersey tank, Net-A-Porter.com. 4: Martin Margiela mesh booties, Solestruck.com. 5: Rag & Bone Skinny Destroyed Rock Jeans, NeimanMarcus.com. 6: Jasmin Shokrian Draft No. 17 Compass Bag, LaGarconne.com.

1 Response

  1. Pingback : blank stare, blink » Ann Demeulemeester, the DemeuleMASTER

Leave a Reply