As you may have noticed, it’s like three degrees out today and a snowstorm is brewing. As my friend so astutely put it, “Why bother even having a temperature?” The truth is, I revel in blizzards and temperatures approaching the nonexistent. I’ve served my time in the winter wonderhell of Syracuse, so I’m familiar with the endless delights of slogging through snowdrifts and biking in subzero wind chill. Grey skies and naked tree branches fill my heart with gloomy joy! Every step I take over a patch of road salt is a crunch of jubilation! But New Yorkers love to complain about the weather, and one has to keep up appearances or else they make you move back to the midwest.
No matter your weather-related disposition, you’ll need a hat in order to deal with all of this. While winter headwear itself won’t go out of style until the masochistic day that frostbitten ears and chattering teeth turn en vogue, it is interesting to see the popular varieties of hat shift along with fashion trends. The presence of fur has declined in recent years due to the controversial nature of the industry, but this winter I’ve seen a significant uptick in the number of fur hats warming the ears of New Yorkers. I don’t know why that is, but the practical reasons for wearing fur are only logical—fur is warm and if you put fur on your head, your head will be warm. Science!
