TALK IS CHIC | The (Big Red) Bear Necessities

By GRETA OHAUS and ELENI TOUBANOS

As we sit outside CTB on an unseasonably warm November morning drowsy from course enroll, conversing is as difficult as our hike up Cook Street. After some sustenance our discussion transitions from straight-up talking about the weather to defining Greta’s ideal temperature (in fashion terms, of course). You can wear a jacket, but you can leave it open and throw a scarf on for style purposes, not functional purposes. We take a moment to appreciate the weather and our big red coats (see what we did there?) because outerwear is as much a part of the Cornell culture as CTB or talking about the winter that will soon be on its way.

GO: I think our love for coats and our, if i do say so myself, impressive collection of coats are all thanks to Cornell, in a weird kind of twisted way.

ET: My mom is always willing to buy me a coat after the Great Pneumonia incident of freshman fall. I wouldn’t wish pneumonia on my worst enemy but I would encourage anyone and everyone to go invest in a super cool — meaning super warm — jacket.

GO: And I find it incredibly easy to justify a new coat purchase by reasoning that winter lasts about as long as my three hour studio on Friday mornings, aka FOREVER. That being said, it might be a little… excessive. 5 blazers, 4 wool coats, 3 Barbours, 2 parkas, 1 fur vest and a cashmere poncho later…

ET: Yet you don’t own a raincoat.

GO: Well remember how long it took me to get a real winter parka?! I borrowed yours for a whole year, but now I own two, so maybe a rain coat is next?

ET: You just want an excuse to go raincoat shopping at Barney’s.

There’s no perfect coat; that’s why we have several. We are constantly admiring other people’s coats, parkas, leather jackets, blazers, puffers, trenches, furs and cloaks on campus. As much as Cornell sucks during the winter time, your winter jacket doesn’t have to! We (okay, mostly Greta) made this video featuring fun jackets and fun people to cheer you up after you fall down crossing East Ave in between your 11:25 and 12:20 (@Greta). Disclaimer: Coats will not prevent you from falling but at least you’ll look a little more graceful.

**Some notes about this video, fashion is experimental and not always perfect, just like this video. It’s a learning process so we’ll be the first to admit that the editing is a little ratchet. Also, Greta has really shaky hands, and when she is hungover on a Friday, she doesn’t think things through, like the fact that she should have filmed horizontally not vertically because all our computer screens are horizontal…

We share a major, we share a house, we share clothes. So why not share a column? Eleni Toubanos and Greta Ohaus are both Fiber Science & Apparel Design majors in the College of Human Ecology. Their column is intended to be a conversation between their two unique perspectives as a designer and fiber scientist. They can be found lounging around campus, on their porch sharing a bottle of wine or at [email protected] and [email protected]. Talk is Chic appears on alternate Tuesdays this semester.