Every time summer rolls around, I see the fashion community talking about how difficult it is to dress in the summer. I am always a bit shocked to hear this. To me, summer is the favorite season - a season of dresses, colorful shoes, light-colored clothes, and an overall relaxed vibe. Just look at all the benefits summer dressing provides:
No tights - no messing: No squeezing into usually uncomfortable tights to be able to wear skirts in winter (the reason I almost never wear skirts in winter).
Bare legs - just yes: Convenient, pleasant, etc.
Bring on the dresses: Love the dresses and the femininity they bring.
Fewer elements: No mega layering or styling, a simple approach where an outfit consists of three elements. I acknowledge that this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I personally love simple style and, let’s face it, am not a strong stylist/layering expert.
More options for shoes: No rain, no snow salt ruining every shoe; you can wear suede, colorful, light shoes - anything goes.
Now, if you want to dress well in the summer, there are a few things to consider.
Use Non-Basic Basics
Clearly, as it is hot, you cannot do the layering and will mostly rely on five or fewer elements you wear. To convey your style, ensure that every piece is impactful and carries its weight without major layering. The concept has been explained briliantly in a recent post by Irene Kim and Amy Smilovic of Tibi always emphasizes having key pieces with extra interest. If you resort to basics to dress in the summer, they need to have that modernity and extra twist to avoid being just too boring (if modernity is in your style).
For example, have a look at the dresses above:
The Uniqlo one on the left is very classic and feminine, but despite an interesting color, it lacks modernity. Even adding fairly interesting Jil Sander sandals does not save it. I think it looks pretty good on me, but it does not scream style.
In the middle, we have the T-shirt dress from Gilyte. It has a narrowing shape which gives interest to the dress. With the right accessories, it can be very wearable in the summer. However, its sleeves are pretty simple and basic, which detracts from its modernity.
Finally, the third dress is a very old one from Cos (it is really very worn and I do not wear it outside the house, but wanted to illustrate the point). It has the narrowing but oversized shape, and very big sleeves, which make this dress much more modern than the other two. It is fairly simple to build an outfit based on this dress that looks interesting. Generally, I’ve noticed that for my shape, the features of modern dresses are the following: big sleeves, cocoon shape, oversized shape, long length, and not too feminine (a dress is a feminine piece in itself).
You may also consider how your body shape impacts the dress shape. For example, the below Cos dress looks very modern on a model but even a bit childish on me, as due to my bigger chest, the flared shape is not as exaggerated and looks much more basic.
A very similar approach can be taken when considering bottoms. For example, the shorts below are immediately more interesting than the usual short and slim ones. I would not necessarily recommend them for summer as the fabric is a bit heavyweight, but a version in a different fabric could be very good.
Another example of an interesting bottom is below - the nylon pleated, wide Stella shorts from Tibi. It is not a super elaborate outfit, but considering that I am getting away with a simple white T-shirt on top, I will count it as a win.
The same goes for skirts - if they are interesting, they do most of the work. You can see that I can get away with very simple tops in the outfits below because of the interesting shape of the Tibi skirt.
If you go for a more simple bottom, then the top needs to do more work in bringing the interest - for example, the skirt below is fairly neutral, but it has the added interest of the exaggerated top of this A.W.A.K.E Mode sweatshirt (a non-basic one for sure!).
If you figure out the interesting bottoms, you are halfway there - just pull on a T-shirt and run with it. However, if you really want to add something extra, both the top and bottom could be interesting ones. Look for tops with interesting necklines, textures, oversized shapes, and exaggerated cuts. I find that more geometric necklines (straight lines and 90-degree corners) somehow make the tops more modern than the usual round necks - for example, the below Cos top is slightly more interesting than the usual cami tops.
Having the non-basic basics really does half of the job, and then we have accessories, textures, third pieces, and colors to cover the rest of it - stay tuned for Part 2 next week!
Do you find it difficult to dress in the summer? Please let me know in the comments!