Why I wear leg warmers, and how they warmed my soul!

It was 2014 when I was bitten by the Ugg Bug. My collection of Uggs began when I found a brand new pair of Uggs, with a retail value of $350,on OfferUp for only $20... My collection has since grown to include 10 pairs of Uggs...

...My obsession with leg warmers began with the purchase of one of my absolute favorite pair of Uggs, my knee high sparkly black Uggs for $60... at that time the only other pair I could find online was on sale for $699 on eBay. Needless to say I was over the moon when I tried them on and they fit my crazy big calves! With large calves finding knee high boots was like striking gold. As excited as I was to find fitting boots... what happened next changed my life forever! 

I got home and selected a super cute outfit to go with my fun
new Uggs and then I went outside into the freezing cold Seattle winter, and for the first time since I was a dog mushing teen in the Yukon with 14 pair of socks tucked inside my warm moose hide moccasins, I was actually warm outside, in the winter, in Seattle!!! For me, this is a much bigger deal than it sounds. I have PTSD from abuse, and was in chronic pain for years in my 20’s due to physical abuse in my marriage. Don’t worry, I got out, you can read about it in my blog post, How Fashion and Thriftshops Helped Me End The Cycle Of Abuse.

I had a dislocated rib cage and the cold winter winds and rain would chill me to the bone, literally, intensifying the structural pain I was already coping with. 

I got out of the abuse and I healed my body through body rolling... Learn about body rolling HERE. But PTSD never lets you forget, on cold days when the wind would chill my bones, the phantom pains of my abusive past would creep into my heart and head and leave me miserable and wanting to get inside ASAP! It was impossible to enjoy our beautiful Seattle with these limitations that held back my enjoyment. 

Discovering that all I needed to achieve warmth, comfort, and protection from painful PTSD flashbacks was to cover the bottom half of my legs with an extra layer was the best fashion discovery of my life to date! 

Of course my knee high sparkly Uggs didn’t go with every outfit, nor could I wear them in the rain, but after discovering their warmth and comfort I needed to recreate that same experience with all my outfits. This is where the legwarmers come in. This was around the same time I was striking out on my own as a single mother and finances were tight to say the least. I needed leg warmers on a budget so I went through my "Get Rid of Bin" (Read about the "get rid of bin"  on my blog post, "The "Make It Work" Game, Inspired by Tim Gunn) and found some old sweaters, and cut off the sleeves and wore them on my legs. I was so warm and happy with my new leg warmers I have since grown my collection to include many colors and styles. Take a look at my Instagram account to get inspiration on how to wear leg warmers so you too can be warm in the winter!