VOGUE • October 20, 2026
Take one recent late-summer day. Invited to attend a party on an uninhabited island a mile offshore, I looked out the window and saw morning sunshine and blue skies and thought HAHAHAHA, then opened the old sea chest where I keep the fashionable multipurpose gear required to survive a typical summer day on a Maine island. After battling through a half mile of waves in my dinghy, I arrived at the party. I immediately found myself helping fend a bigger boat off the rocky shore, which meant my boots swamped with ocean water, the insoles chilly sopping sponges now. I would have to go barefoot for the rest of the day, which was fine—by the end of summer my feet have toughened up. Still, once they thawed later that night, I’d find deep slices under my toes that already looked infected. I should have packed a pair of rubber clogs, not just extra socks. Every day in Maine is a learning opportunity.