Life Lately

I saw George Takei's Broadway show, Allegiance, a few weeks before Thanksgiving. It's a great musical, with both fun and very serious moments, and Lea Salonga is fantastic. I was sorry to hear that their Broadway run is ending soon. The story it tells is an important one. I've seen a decent number of excellent Broadway shows in my time (The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Lion King, Wicked, Mamma Mia, An American in Paris, and Matilda), and I think as a matter of pure quality of the show overall, Allegiance held its own and was solidly in the middle of that very distinguished pack. Still, the tone and subject matter is substantially more serious than with anything else I've seen, and that probably doesn't appeal to most of the potential audience for Broadway musicals. For those who might have the opportunity to see a Broadway show in the extremely near future, I highly recommend Allegiance.

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Many of my purchases these days are arguably impulse buys. I suddenly decide I want something specific (a pair of pants for work, a trench coat, etc.), I identify and order a few examples of the item to try, and I eventually purchase one, all in the space of two and a half weeks or so. Most of the delay comes from shipping times. Sometimes the thing in question works out, and sometimes it doesn't. In the latter instance, I often get distracted by work, life, or something else, and I eventually realize that I didn't need it after all. 

One of my more recent attempted purchases was a pair of wool dress pants, most likely a pair of slightly tapered skinny-fit or straight leg ones, similar to what I already own from Loft or Uniqlo. I had the vague unfounded notion that wool dress pants would generally be made of thicker and warmer fabric and be better-suited for winter weather. I had some trouble finding even wool-blend dress pants in a price range I was comfortable with, and I ended up ordering the J. Crew Paley Pants in Super 120s wool to try because, with a sale promotion, they were just about the only thing that fit the bill in terms of material, design, and price. 

I didn't take photos, but wow, the Super 120s wool material was a major disappointment. The first thing that struck me when I opened the package was that the fabric was paper thin, noticeably less substantial than that of either my Loft or Uniqlo pants. Wool suits and dress clothes are probably not actually intended to be thicker and warmer than other suiting, but even in that light, the material was absurdly thin, and I would even worry about tearing them by accident. The fit and design was ok - it ran fairly true to size with what I expect from mall brands, with my usual size 4P being the right one and hitting right above my ankle as intended. With how thin the material was, I'd worry about things like a visible panty line and other awkwardness with how it drapes over my legs, which isn't an issue I've ever had with other pants. I sent them straight back and have since decided that wool pants are maybe not a wardrobe niche that needs filling right now.