Dear reader who is also standing in front of an open closet not knowing what to wear —
I need to tell you about the ad that stopped me mid-scroll last night. Beach bag. Straw hat. Something called a “bustier corset top” in a shade of yellow I would never buy for myself but couldn’t stop looking at. Flash sale, 42% off. The whole thing had the specific chaos of a store that knows summer is coming, not one pretending it already left.
Took me a second to place it. It’s spring where that ad was aimed — actual spring, the kind with real warmth attached to it, not the fake “spring collection” that shows up in stores here in February while there’s still snow on the ground. Somewhere south of the equator, someone’s putting away a coat right now and reaching for sandals, at the exact moment I’m doing the opposite.
There’s something almost funny about scrolling past a whole assortment of beach-ready pieces — sandals, sun hats, a woven bag that’s doing a lot of the outfit’s work — while I’m layering a sweater under my coat. Not jealous, exactly. More like getting a postcard from a season I already used up.
I ended up clicking through anyway. Not for me, not for now — but I bookmarked the flash sale page for later, because by the time it’s actually warm here, half of this will probably be gone, and there’s a version of me in June who is going to want a straw hat and won’t remember where she saw it first. (Affiliate link — costs you nothing extra, buys me a coffee if you use it.)
Wherever you’re reading this from, hope your season’s being kind to you. Mine’s not, but the coat’s warm and I’ll live.
— Written from somewhere it’s still very much fall