It was basically 80 degrees today in Seattle, which means yet another summer approaches. I scrolled through my fashion Instagram earlier because I often use my own previous outfits as #outfitinspo, and I only found two really hot summer outfits from last year. The most exciting my hot weather wardrobe got was in Tahiti, where I mostly wore the same three pairs of shorts & shirts because they were comfortable and I was sunburnt.
My brother has been really digging into his personal style as of late, and continually texts me: “Does this look stylish?” He says, sending me a picture of yet another shirt and shorts look. To clarify, our styles are basically opposite. While Brent loves minimal looks with a bit of pizzazz, my looks are maximalist pattern mixed chaos. Yet we both have the same struggle – summer fashion is, to us, boring.
It’s boring. There I said it. BORING. Yes, there are super cute sundresses but a lot of a wardrobe is built in separates. I am not going to have ten or fifteen different sundresses, and for Brent who prefers more masculine looks, this isn’t even an option. And yes, I’ll admit that you can play around with silhouettes and lengths but unless you’re wearing a dress or romper, most of summer fashion boils down to: shorts/skirt & shirt. That’s it! There are no more layers or fun things to add because it is just too hot. Even today, I had Oliver take some photos of my outfit. When I asked him, he initially seemed surprised.
“This outfit?” He asked, as I handed over my phone.
“Yes!” I responded. I asked why he was so hesitant.
“Well, it’s not really that interesting,” he replied.
“Yes! That’s exactly the point I want to make!”
– Oliver and I, earlier today
I’ve recently been on a bit of a journey to try and accept more minimalism in my fashion life. I scroll through so many cute accounts and blog posts and videos of people that are just in jean shorts and a white button down and they look so fresh and clean! Then I put the same outfit on myself and I feel like I am missing something critical – think those dreams where you are in class and realize you aren’t wearing any pants, that’s the feeling. I just want to add more: another pattern, another layer, something interesting. While I struggle with this year round to be honest (a couple of my recent forays into trying this out in cooler weather are pictured below) it’s easy enough to quell the something-missing feeling with another layer. “Oh, I’ll just toss on this jacket” I’ll say, or “I can add a collared shirt underneath.” With summer clothing, this becomes cumbersome and sweaty.
What really struck me about this infinite struggle in my life, is that Brent is having the same problem. Is it that less fabric = less interesting? Is it harder for us to somehow make a #look now that we have just less yardage to work with? In Brent’s minimalist style, the outfits above are honestly entirely too much, and in mine they are too little. Yet in summer wear, we feel the same. Does anyone else struggle with this as much as we do?
I decided to go back in time – I’ve traveled before to Del Rio for 4th of July where it is quantifiably hot. I thought perhaps that my Pacific Northwest locale had ruined my own inclinations toward cute summer clothing. So I went back in time… and found that I had very few outfit pictures from our Del Rio trips. You might be tempted to say it’s just because I was too busy enjoying my time with family, and to some degree you might be correct. However, I know that my need to prove that I was cute one day usually outweighs this (and Del Rio is accompanied with plenty of downtime for narcissistic photo shoots). I went back even further to our first trip to Seattle, which was warmer than we thought it would be, and still found no inspiration.
When I look at all of these pictures, the outfits are cute, sure, but none of them really feel like anything to write home about. I can tell that I’ve tried to spice a few of them up – I added a cardigan, or I included some fun contrasting socks – but for the most part they are just shorts and a t-shirt (or a sundress). They feel lackluster, and are definitely not inspiring. I don’t find myself wanting to repeat or recreate them.
I usually try to end these posts with an upside or lesson – something that we’ve discovered together – but in this case I really don’t know what the answer is. Perhaps I just need to keep wearing what is comfortable and find joy in the simplicity of summer clothing. Perhaps I will always feel like summer fashion is missing something and just wear clothes cause I have to. Perhaps I will find the thing that really cracks summer fashion (though more likely, I’ll realize that the thing is all in my mind).
Perhaps I will just soak up the sunshine while I wait for fall fashion to bring me life in layered patterns again.
Do you have the same struggles? If summer’s your jam, any tips you want to share? Do you have a season that you struggle to dress for? Share in the comments below!
Curly.Curvy.Candid 