How to Feel Like "You" in Summer
No more summer wardrobe regret.
Whenever summer rolls around, I have the same conversations with slightly panicked friends who have no idea what. to. wear. Maybe it's because we live in the UK and dressing for warm weather is something we're just not accustomed to?
During the rest of the seasons, you can layer. You can add different lengths, textures and colours to an outfit to make it interesting. You can create different silhouettes. But in summer, those layers are shed. You may only end up wearing one main ‘item’, e.g. a dress, but the styling options become limited. It’s great, in a way, because you don’t necessarily have to think about putting a look together. But if you’re someone who likes to mix it up a bit, that can soon feel boring.
Anna from The Wardrobe Edit wrote a post about summer dressing that struck a chord with a lot of us. Essentially, her take-home message was: “Stop buying clothes you hate”. We’ve all been there. We get swept up in all the new season pieces that fill our shops — physical and online.
We panic. We buy for the weddings we have in the diary, getting a dress we wouldn’t wear to literally anything else because we’re told that’s “what wedding guests should be wearing this summer”. We buy shorts, telling ourselves this time they’ll work, only to hate them immediately (I’ve been there. So many times. This is a post for another day). We buy anything floral, strapless, pastel or brightly coloured — otherwise, we feel like we’re doing summer wrong.
I’m tired of hot-weather wardrobe regret, and feeling ‘off’ style-wise. Here’s how I’ll make sure I still feel like “me” this summer…
Psst, this is a long post so it will likely be cut off if you’re reading this in your emails. Click the headline and it will take you to the full post online.
Revisit my version of a capsule wardrobe
Last year, I wrote a post about tackling those “I have nothing to wear days” and I use the same process I listed for summer dressing. One of my steps was figuring out what your version of a capsule wardrobe is, not one that is necessarily prescribed by someone else. Think of the things in your capsule as your foundational pieces — those items you wear the most.
On the days that I’m feeling uninspired, I know I can take any combination of pieces from my capsule wardrobe and create an outfit that feels like me. If I’m ever thinking about buying a new item, I’ll think about whether it will work with these foundational pieces. If it doesn’t, there’s a big chance I’ll never wear it.
In the post, I listed the below as my capsule:
Black straight-leg trousers
Barrel-leg trousers
Plain T-shirt
Button-down shirt
Cashmere jumper
Oversized jumper
Worker jacket
Oversized coat
Trainers
Chunky flat Chelsea boots
The revised summer capsule
Some of those pieces don’t work for summer. So my list needs a slight revision.
Black straight-leg trousers (I’ve got a lot of time for these all year round, so this can stay.)
Barrel-leg trousers (ditto.)
Plain T-shirt (ditto.)
Button-down shirt (ditto again. Especially if it’s linen and oversized.)
Cashmere jumper (I often wear lightweight cashmere in summer, especially on cooler mornings/evenings, so this can stay.)
Oversized jumper(My heavy oversized jumpers usually get packed up around the beginning of June. They’re no longer a ‘must’ at this time of year.)Worker jacket (A very useful layer for summer. This one stays.)
Oversized coat(Winter coats are no longer necessary but I’ll hang on to my lighter, oversized jackets.)Trainers (Always useful. These stay.)
Chunky flat Chelsea boots(Nope. Far too warm.)
And a few summer additions:
Flat sandals
Linen trousers
Long dress
Boxer shorts
10 looks with my summer capsule wardrobe in action…
Look 1
Look 2
