Why Is This Happening?

Los Angeles: Ahhh, so beautiful and warm. Don't you just want to stay here forever?...Lies. I've been BAMBOOZLED! HOODWINKED! Los Angeles is COLD. Ok, so it's not New York cold, no snow and whatnot, but it does have a winter. It gets to the 40s at night and maybe 60s at different times during the day and chooses to be a sunny 70-someodd degrees at 2 in the afternoon. So the key, I have learned, is layering. Problem is, you need tanks to layer, you need simple shirts to layer, you need a nice drapey sweater to layer. All of this is necessary so that when you are walking to your car, class, lunch, etc in the middle of the day you don't die, or at the very least, sweat your clothes off.

So, I have been on a poor woman's search for the perfect "wear with everything" (or most things) sweater, but for some reason the trend right now is sweaters with SHORT SLEEVES. What is that about?

To the left is a Juicy sweater that my psyche was lusting after - much cuter on than in the photo. I imagined it with leggings and boots, jeans, pumps, etc. Just a casual little diddy to enjoy on a lazy afternoon. I passed on it once or twice, because I didn't want to spend the $198 (I know, ridiculous), but after so many mornings waking up to 60 degrees and reaching for it, disappointed, I decided to make it mine. I went to make my purchase and it hit me - I will have to wear a shirt under it, just to stay warm! WTF?! I had just plain forgotten, didn't realize that a sweatershirt/hoodie could possibly have short sleeves! UGH. Back to the drawing board, walking through the outdoor mall a block from my house and I found myself at Bloomingdale's with the same observation: Short sleeved sweaters. What is this torture? Then, the sweaters that are full length are $500+ or just plain ugly. Like this $598 number below:
Luckily, I have found a solution. The day I arrived in LA (August 10th), I was in awe of a black Tibi draped neck cardigan at Bloomie's. It was hot then and I didn't know what was to come, plus it was also damn near $500, so I passed reluctantly (I guess if passing is begging my mom, her saying no, and then going back each week hoping for a sale). I also searched for it online - Sometimes you can find your favorite items cheaper online - but no luck, except that Net-A-Porter had a cream colored one, but still expensive. Well, I must have done something right, because as soon as I was getting really depressed about these awful temperatures, the cream colored one went on sale! 40% off!