As I’ve made it known in countless posts over the years, my favorite time of year for dressing is fall. I love the colors, the textures, and the layers (when the warm Texas winters allow). HOWEVER, given we are officially starting summer this week and temps have reminded us summer is coming in hot, let’s turn our focus on how to dress and feel our best dressing for summer.
I have five style secrets to making summer dressing easy and fun.
(1) The less clutter, the more you have to wear.
Over the last handful of years, I’ve encouraged my readers and my clients to reduce their buying, focusing on having fewer, higher quality items. I’m doing this, too. As you make this shift, it’s important to continually edit your wardrobe. While I don’t put hard and fast rules on removing a piece if you’ve not worn it in a year (for example), it is important to frequently check in with your wardrobe. Is each piece supporting you? Does it communicate your style message? Has it done its work for you? Does it belong to a person you used to be?
It’s okay to let go of pieces you once loved to make room for pieces that excite you now. You and your life are changing all the time. What you want to wear and need to wear changes, also. You are never losing anything when you remove an item from your wardrobe. If you grieve letting go of something from your past, the newer version is more modern and fitting with the times. There is always something new that is as good or better than what you let go of.
Once you edit, removing the clutter, you can see the best of your pieces and get more creative with them. Fewer pieces = more outfits. I touched on the edit process in my April blog post here if you need a step-by-step.
Need help editing? Email me to discuss my process, which is a bit different than the one described in the April blog post. A wardrobe edit gives you more control over your style message, and it teaches you what works and what does NOT and why.
(2) Find your outfit formula and wear it on repeat.
For a lot of ladies, the summer outfit formula is a dress and sandals. I am more of a “separates” person, so my formula is a top and a skirt. Dresses are easy “one and done” outfits. HOWEVER, dresses are not easy for all women. Don’t despair. Determine what works best for you and go in that direction. Once you have your formula, there is less thinking about what you will wear. Getting dressed quickly and easily is the goal. You make many decisions throughout the day. Don’t exhaust your brain at the front end of your morning.
(3) Keep your footwear simple with 2-3 pairs you interchange.
The image below illustrates how easy it is to have everything you need in a few pairs of shoes for the entire season. I’ve created a summer shoes catalog here. The catalog has four categories: sandals, sneaker/hybrid shoe, elevated shoe, and flat/house shoe (the bonus shoe). Choose your favorite from these four groups and call it done on your summer shoe shopping.
I started rotating between a few pairs of shoes in the summer of 2020. I liked having fewer, better options, and I have not looked back. You can find the above pairs in my summer shoes catalog here. I am also linking them here: (1) Sorel Kinetic Sandal, (2) Isle Jacobsen Tulip slip-on, (3) Sofft Inez wedge sandal, and (4) Steve Madden Hadyn slide. As always, I’m available for personalized help. If you don’t see what you need in the catalog or the above links, email me.
(4) Hang hats and summer scarves by the door.
I was never wearing my beloved summer hats and scarves because they were not nearby when it was time to head out for my day. A summer scarf is needed in cold restaurants and protects your shoulders and chest from the summer sun. Hats do a great job of protecting our scalp, our hair color (for those who color their hair), and our faces. Even if it’s a simple ball cap, have one ready to go. Hats keep you a bit cooler, too. Bonus: hang a standby bag by the door to switch to something smaller for dinner.
Pro tip: As you are pulling out scarves and hats to place by the door, edit the ones you no longer wear or enjoy. 2-3 hats and 4-5 scarves are plenty. For the record, I own two summer scarves (shown above).
(5) Self-tanner and sunscreen will save your skin.
I’ve said it many times over the years… sunscreen is the #1 ant-aging cream on the market. Dermatologists typically recommend 50 SPF. I have a few that I love, which are in a handy shopping catalog here. The catalog also features some of my favorite self-tanning products. All products are trial and error. What works for me may not work for you. Be sure to read the reviews and be aware of your skin type. If you get nothing else this season, buy a quality sunscreen that will protect the only skin you’ll ever have.
The products in the collage above are in my Self-tanner & Sunscreen catalog here. If you want a direct link they are here: (1) It Cosmetics Hello Sunshine Invisible Sunscreen for Face SPF 50, (2) Supergoop! Glowscreen SPF 40, (3) Coola Sunless Tan Firming Lotion, and (4) Coola Sunless Tan Anti-Aging Daily Moisturizer.
That’s it! Summer style simplified: reduce the closet clutter, determine your outfit formula, rotate between a few pairs of shoes, have your accessories handy, and protect and add glow to your skin safely. If you’d like help with your summer wardrobe, email me via my website here. I’d be delighted to make the getting dressed part of your life easy and stress-free.
What are your summer style secrets? Drop me a comment! Thanks for reading.
Wishing you a fantastic, stylish summer season!
