
Friends, don’t sweat Florida’s fashion… if you can help it! Let me explain. Fashion magazines in the mail are a treat for my eyes, my creativity and a welcomed break. Spending time going through the latest trends and the season’s hottest colors is a feast for the eyes and sparks my fashion sense.
There’s one problem. Every clothing ad I see is for cooler weather. There’s no way anyone can wear long sleeve layers in Florida this time of year. Is it me or can you not find short sleeve blouses, either? What is it causing the fashion industry to cater to the northern stores in the spring and fall? I have lived in Florida most of my life and I can honestly say I have never understood this purchasing decision. Thus, I investigated!
Where does fashion come from?

Fashion, as we all know, predominately originates in three places; The runways, the streets, and with celebrities. As I see it, the problem here is location. The runways are located in New York, Milan and Paris. New York’s average temperature in March, when the stores are advertising their spring lines is 50 degrees. Milan’s average temperature in March is 58 and Paris is 55 degrees. In central Florida, the average is 78 degrees! That difference is enough to keep the models and celebrities in the streets and on the runways in clothes and to make the Floridians want to shed as much as possible.
What are Floridians to do?

We Floridians are an adaptable and transient bunch. With natives as well as our northern residents, adjustments are necessary. We call it layering, but not in the way the north refers to it. We layer to remove. One may need a sweater inside a store to combat the blowing AC. As soon as we make our way outside, the sunglasses go on and the sweater comes off.
Navigating the fashion world is a burden we carry. (poor us) To live in the “land of flowers” and sunshine, we pour through the fashion magazines taking looks from the scantily clad or the sensible layers we can make work. I don’t think the world will change for us, so we will adapt, as always!
Hey, and remember… Don’t Sweat It!
-SimplySunni