Sweater: Here for It, #
Hi! It's R. Eric Thomas. From the internet?
Hi!
Oh, everyone in the Northeast went into their cedar chest and pulled out their lil Say Something Sweater this weekend I see!
Yes, folks felt a little chill in the air and they said, "lemme go on and hit the people with a Personality Wool right quick."
Baby, you better go on with your bad self and your Deliciously Chunky Knit or Cozy Cashmere Cowl Neck.
Yes, perhaps it does have the slightest lingering aroma of the dryer sheets you use instead of mothballs to keep your clothes fresh over the winter and yes, it did get a little warm in the sweater in the middle of the day, and yes, tromping all over hither and thither, apple-picking or errand-running or selecting fixtures for your Nancy Meyers-esque kitchen or whatever it is you get up to makes it harder for you to just sit and stun in this, your Debut Sweater of the Season. But nevertheless, it had to be done. You know she's going to bring it to you every fall!
If you're reading this in someplace that's warm, like Los Angeles or Texas or on top of the Burj Khalifa, you are probably not on board with what I'm talking about but I believe that, spiritually, we are aligned. There comes a time in every year when you're like, I've decided to participate in fall. Alert the proper authorities.
I might wear cranberry. I might wear canary. I might wear marigold. I might wear olive. You have to be prepared to hold all of those possibilities. I am not in control. The Sweater has an energy all its own.
It may not have been the first sweater you wore this year. In fact, it probably wasn't. The Say Something Sweater is the mayor of Knitsburgh. It spends the summer ruling over that little vacuum-sealed bag you keep it in with fairness but firmness. I don't really understand what Soft Power means, but I presume it's about the interior hierarchy of your sweaters and assorted bulky transitional season garments and et cetera.
I don't really know why I'm writing so much about Sweaters, to be honest. It's been so long since I wrote this newsletter and now I'm like "hello, yes, I'd like to speak with you about something that probably only exists in my mind."
I just love Sweaters so much. And I do feel there's a difference between the Say Something Sweater and the Utility Knits, which I define as a sweater--usually a neutral color--that you just don't think about. It's functional. It's warm. It's for work or for church or for yard work and it's fine but it doesn't insist upon itself.
The Say Something Sweater is for when you're fully feeling the fantasy. It might be a bolder color or a more complicated pattern. I feel like Aran sweaters are often Say Something Sweaters, the most famous examples being Billy Crystal's in When Harry Met Sally.
And Chris Evans's in Knives Out.
Fair Isle Sweaters are often also Say Something Sweaters but they have yet to have a truly groundbreaking cinematic moment as far as I'm concerned.
I feel like it's like this: sometimes you're wearing the costume of your life and sometimes you're just dressing. (And I want to add an important caveat: I do not know what I'm talking about but I do think I'm correct.)
There are Say Something Sweaters for Fall and Say Something Sweaters for Winter and they are not the same.
Holiday sweaters are a whole different category and I do not, at present, have the capacity to get into it. I appreciate your patience.
Anyway, thanks for taking my call. I'll be back next week. I'll probably be talking about something other than Sweaters. But honestly, you never know with me.
This week in Asking Eric
I do not know what I'm talking about but I do think I'm correct,
Eric
