Here we are in January, the height of winter in Phoenix, Arizona. Clothes appropriate for the season have been unpacked and brought back into the rotation of daily attire. Early morning walks demand the full complement of heavy clothing for the near-freezing temperatures (gloves, beanies, fleece sweaters, scarves, wool base layer), and on the coldest days, even our shells are donned before we leave the house. This being the desert, we know that the day will warm to something quite comfortable, so a modified winter attire is required for the rest of the day. For Caroline, this winter has afforded her the opportunity to wear a ruana she just bought this past summer. A ruana is a poncho-style wrap and translates to “Land of Blankets.” This ruana is a special article for Caroline as it was expensive compared to what she’s accustomed to spending on textiles, but as it was made by Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco or CTTC, the same group of Peruvian women who made the purse she’s been carrying for years. Woven in very similar colors, she had an affinity for the ruana at first sight. The Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco was formed by Nilda Callañaupa, who was also on hand at the Santa Fe Folk Art Market when (with some encouragement from me) Caroline admitted that she’d love to own a ruana.

Like so many things, we wonder, am I buying this because I’ll actually use it, or am I suffering from buy-stuff fever? The ruana was actually brought out in December, but it wasn’t until Caroline had worn it about a dozen times before she voiced how happy she was that she let the impulse to buy it play through. The scarf she’s wearing is a hand-painted affair from Russia, and the pendant was a gift from her mom.

As for me and my winter attire? A Smart Wool medium-weight base layer shirt in black that I wear under the same shirts I wear during the rest of the year and long black jeans that replace the shorts I wear for the other 8 or 9 months.