Winter is usually a peaceful time for me – the holidays are over and snow starts to fall here in the Midwest, and I spend very content days in comfy clothes writing my next novel. This winter isn’t stacking up quite that way, though.
To begin with, on the day after Christmas, my computer crashed. The really BAD kind of crash. I won’t go on about it, but let’s just say it was ugly.
And then my husband and I went to Miami over New Year’s – going to the Orange Bowl and then spending several fabulous sunny eighty-degree days on South Beach. Ah – it was just the beachy break I needed to recover from the loss of the computer. (And look for fun pictures from the trip on my website soon.)
But then, of course, we came home and had to set up a whole NEW computer, which took a lot of time and came with its fair share of frustration. And just last week I found out one of my e-mail addresses hasn’t been working since November 10th and that the mail that was addressed to it for the last two months is forever lost! (So if you sent anything to toni@toniblake.com over the last couple of months and I didn’t answer, that’s why. Sorry!)
I have more winter busy-ness coming up, too, but the good news is - I’m still finding the time I need to write that next book, which happens to be Book 2 in the Destiny Series. Which gives me the chance to tell you again how excited I am about it! Book 1 – ONE RECKLESS SUMMER – comes out in June and I hope you’ll all love it and want to return with me to Destiny, Ohio over and over again.
This weekend, my husband is off on a ski trip to Whistler/Blackcomb in British Columbia. And despite my schedule these days, I’d love to be skiing with him – except that a nasty ski injury ended my life as a snow bunny back in 2001. So what am *I* doing this weekend instead? Watching the Winter X Games, of course – which is not exactly the same as feeling the powder beneath your skis on a nice, smooth blue run, but possibly the next best thing. And thus I thought it was time I reprise my Winter X Fashion Report. So here goes:
Bold solids and color block type ski wear seems to be all the rage this year, and frankly, I don’t love it. It’s not there’s anything *wrong* with it – but I don’t see much that stands out in the crowd and says “stylish snow athlete.” That said, I’ve still found some noteworthy snow-wear and I salute those who remain bold enough to wear a pattern!
Best Jacket Overall: Danny Davis for his fabu multi-color print of gold, orange, black, and green, accented with some orangy gloves. Nice coat, dude, and sorry you didn’t make the half-pipe finals. Honorable Mentions go to Kevin Rolland (not sure what was on the jacket – camouflage, fish bones, antlers? – but it was fun and I dug it,) and to Andreas Wiig, who wore a nice turquoise and purple plaid coat.
Best Solid or Color Block Jacket: Antii Autti who combined purple and black with a huge splash of butter yellow that really caught my eye. (I ADORE butter yellow, by the by.)
Best Goggles: Hands down, this goes to Torah Bright (who took gold in the half-pipe) for the feminine white vinyl (I think) flower on the side of her goggles. That rocked! Honorable Mentions to Kelly Clark for the gold embroidered design on her goggle strap and to Hannah Teter for the rainbow goggles with little peace signs on them. She’s a hippie chick and they suited her.
Best Hat: This goes to announcer and past snowboarding champion Todd Richards, a very handsome guy who’s bold enough to wear a fluffy pink hat with a pink ball on top. Not every dude could pull that off, but Todd did. And an Honorable Mention to host and announcer Sal Masekela for his black hat with the bright blue ball on top. I’m all about fun with hats.
Most Stylish Skis: How could this not go to international jet-setter Jon Ollson, who shows up every year with specially designed skis that have his gorgeous girlfirend’s picture stretching down them?
Most Colorful Outfit: Again, this goes to stylish extreme skier Jon Ollson who combined orange pants with a jacket of neon yellow, lavender, white, and a splash or warm orange that pulled it all together.
Most Improved Hair: Tanner Hall, THANK YOU for cutting your hair!!! You are a caveman no more. Mad respect, dude!
Cutest Skier: As always, for me, this is Simon Dumont. I miss the days of his blond hair, but he’s still adorable. And, just like the last time I did this report, yes, I realize being cute isn’t EXACTLY about fashion, but this is for any girl who considers a hot guy the best accessory. ; )
Cutest Snowboarder: Andy Finch. I haven’t actually seen him yet this year, but I know he’s there and that he’s always cute. I just hope he hasn’t let himself go or anything. ; )
And finally, Best Outfit Overall – but first, a couple of Honorable Mentions in this category: To madman Travis Rice who paired a cool and colorful jacket of lime, purple, and other colors with black pants featuring lime zippers. And also to Peetu Puroinen of Finland for a very nicely coordinated look: he wore a fun checkerboard patterned jacket of aqua, black, and gray with matching aqua pants. Nice!
And my pick for Best Overall Winter X Outfit: none other than Shaun White, whose look I often find fairly bland. But this year Shaun wore a funky multi-colored jacket with patterned stripes of red, green, black, and white, with black pants, blue gloves (which didn’t match but looked surprisingly good with the other colors) and black-and-white striped goggles (which he threw out into the crowed after taking the gold in Slopestyle.) Without giving the impression that he worked very hard to assemble this outfit, Shawn looked cool, confident, and well put-together.
Biggest fashion faux pas: Colby West, who wore black and red plaid on top and some sort of striped camouflage print on the bottom. Even if you were going hunting, dude, this is not a good look. Unfortunately, Hannah Teter did something similar, as well.
And hiss, boo, on the “bibs” the competitors have started wearing the last couple of years. This makes it much harder for me to see their ensemble – it’s sort of like making ladies on the red carpet wear t-shirts over their gowns. And sadly, it seems like one more way in which the X Games have lost their friendly, ski-slope-next-door vibe over the last few years. Sigh.
Okay, that’s it – another year’s fashion picks from the Winter X Games. Which means it’s time for me to put my nose back to the grindstone and get back to writing more books for you all to read. HUGE thanks in advance for supporting The Destiny Series – I’m so excited to watch this community of strong, likable women and hot alpha guys unfold, and I hope you will be, too : )