As an often-cold Midwestern child of the Nineties, I grew up with — or rather, in — a precious orbit of fleece jackets. There was the cosmically-patterned Patagonia pullover without which I was not photographed from the years 1992 to 1998 and the pistachio green The North Face zip-up I even slept in through middle school until it grew holey. For two decades, I wore one fleece until it physically disintegrated, only to replace it, eventually, and repeat the cycle all over again.

It’s been more than a century since the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean – but despite the decades that have passed since 1912, the memory and legacy of the “unsinkable ship” continue to mesmerize historians and enthusiasts.

Let’s state the obvious: Winter is cold. Clothes keep us warm. Yet every year a stubborn subset of people across Minnesota venture outdoors in their summer finest. If pressed, they’ll say it’s not that cold.

Women put up with a lot at the office. At least grant us elastic waistbands.

I don’t remember what specific combo of frustration and busyness led me to wear leggings to the office one day recently, but I do remember it felt magical. With nothing but a stretchy band and Nulu(™) fabric holding me in, I felt freer, like I was dancing through my duties, rather than trudging through them encased in polyester and wool. My computer seemed to run more quickly; my sources were more responsive; the PR people were less angry.

High-tech fabrics, an obsession with health and the slackening of dress codes make a new range of clothing possible.

Decades only take shape with the clarity of hindsight. The artifacts that make a decade memorable don’t become obvious until long after it has passed.

Big, sloppy cardigans are as much of a winter time staple as salt on pavement or marshmallows in hot chocolate. But before they became an essential in cold-weather wardrobes, cardigans were a tool of rebellion for women. The cozy knits allowed women to take control of the public presentations of their bodies, and shake off dated gender ideals. When women changed how they looked, often a social change followed close behind