What's the deal with celebrities dressing like it's 20 below in Southern California? In one day I can find a picture of one celeb in L.A. wearing shorts and a tank top and another of one (also in L.A.) in knee-high boots, a turtleneck and a humongous scarf. They look ridiculous.
—Brie, St. Louis
The B!tch Replies: For the same reason college kids in Illinois cavort about in shorts as soon as the thermostat hits 57 degrees. To a Wildcat, that's so balmy it's like Maui descending upon the shores of Lake Michigan.
To an Angeleno, anything below 65 is cold. We are not used to it. We shake our bony fists at it as if that will scare it away, along with whatever warlock or sea hag must have brought it to us.
To be fair, the average photo of a celebrity, when taken in Los Angeles, does not show a bundled-up weakling. Recent photos of Jennifer Garner, Britney Spears, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba and others show them reasonably dressed for fair weather, which is what we tend to get out here.
Celebrities who crawl out of their compounds before 10 a.m. for coffee generally face cooler weather (in the 50s), so you might see a chunky scarf or the wayward Ugg.
One other possible factor: sweet lady science.
There's something called Bergmann's rule, and also Allen's rule. Bergmann's rule says the farther north an animal lives, the bigger its body will be; all the better to hoard heat, you see. Allen's rule says under the same circumstances, an animal's extremities get shorter the farther north you go. The farther a body part is from the heat source—the heart—the more likely it is to freeze.
Hollywood, of course, is full of skinny, long-leggedy people like Cameron Diaz and the Top Models and whatnot. According to Bergmann and Allen, such people may not thrive so well in cold weather.
Hence, perhaps, your bundling-up observation. Take a second look at those photos you mention, and tell me this: Are the people in them shivering whilst long and skinny? I rest my case.
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