I’m bored! You’re bored! I’m hot. You’re bothered. It gets to this stretch of the summer, and we’re all well and truly over summer dressing. The excitement of short shorts, wearing a sarong as a top or a swimsuit as a bodysuit has well and truly worn off. We’re gagging for jeans and jumper weather. Wool! Cashmere! LEATHER BOOTS. Talk dirty to me…
Help is at hand. Of course my ‘35 Very Stylish Substack Writers On What They Wear When It’s Too Hot To Think’ post should be your first port of call, but I’ve scrolled my camera roll for visual examples of another 10 ideas to see you through the final sweaty slog of summer. You’re welcome.
Like this post? Sign up to join the U.K’s number one style newsletter ‘The Wardrobe Edit’ where I share what I'm wearing, what's worth buying and the style lessons I'm learning along the way.
Tie a shirt around your waist. Have you ever read a Substack post about styling tweaks where this isn’t mentioned? I’m flogging a dead horse at this point, but I cannot stress enough that whenever an outfit is feeling a little flat, how much a shirt or jumper slung around the waist works wonders. I try to remember the advice that Kelly Klein dished out to me during our session together:
First, open up all the buttons of the shirt.
Just like with jumpers, create a flat edge by folding over the collar, but leave the collar side facing outwards once you tie it around your waist to show the shirt’s shape.
Double-knot it so there isn’t so much sleeve dangling down (game-changer!!).
Pull the knot slightly to the side so it’s a little off centre, and then fuss around with tucking your jumper over the top and draping it how you’d like.
Love the Founder & Designer of DONNI, Alyssa Wasko Stein’s trick of tying a shirt through your belt loops and into a bow. So much so that I screengrabbed her IG stories for you…
…and whilst we're on the subject of shirts - they can be whatever you want them to be. In the summer I favour a lighter linen or hemp composition (these are my fave*, ANNA10 for 10% off), but whatever the weight, shirts can kind of be, well, anything. Here are three levels to play with:
LEVEL ONE: Utilise it more as a jacket, worn open over swimsuits, tanks or tees. A ‘third piece’, if you will.
LEVEL TWO: Wear it backwards. The way my husband laughed when I asked him to button me in, but joke’s on him because he’s taken me out for dinner wearing this EXACT look before and not even realised. As someone who is unadventurous in the tops department, wearing a shirt backwards gives me a chic-looking, high-neck going-out top for no extra cost.
LEVEL THREE: Another Kelly Klein tip, but turn it into an asymmetrical one-sleeve top. YES REALLY! Watch how she works her magic here:
Try the ‘Three Outfit’ challenge. This is something that Reva Luft hammers home every time we chat, but attempting to create three outfits (or more) with a new piece before it takes up permanent residence in your wardrobe is a habit to make routine. Of course it’s a handy practice for fresh items, but whenever you’re feeling a little stuck it’s a tool to get the juices going. Whether it’s finding new ways to style one of your most-worn favourites, or giving yourself the task of working your way around a trickier garment. Either way, you’ll end up with a handful of new outfits and ideas.
Grab a graphic tee. Ok so you’re really stuck? Here’s a recipe that I’ve been reaching for all summer long - a graphic tee + shorts. My life right now consists of a simple loop - park, skate park, park again (‘Mummy watch this!! x 1789901). I need ease, and boy does this outfit have it. I find that the pairing of a silky-looking pair of shorts is the finishing touch that pulls it all together.
Keep it simple. Permission to wear all one colour. Of course, in my wardrobe that’s pretty much limited to either all black or all white, but often I feel most comfortable in my outfits when I don’t overcomplicate it.
Roll the waistband. The Substack fashion girls love to roll a waistband (I spotted it on both Leandra and Kelly recently), but as a card-carrying member of the bloated belly club I just wasn’t sure it was for me. That was until I bought the LESET Nando Lounge Pants* and I realised that the waistband roll is a handy little hack for adjusting length. Want your trousers to sit a little more cropped and fix a roomy crotch area? Roll the waistband. Maybe once, maybe twice. A small shift in silhouette that can help to switch things up.
Try a vibe sandwich. Borrowing another Kelly Klein idea here (she really is the QUEEN of hot and humid dressing!). In her own words:
I love a peplum. It gives shape and reads inherently feminine and a bit dressy, which makes it even more fun to pair with something masculine or sporty on the bottom. Then the feminine shoe at the end balances out everything; it’s a sporty sandwich lol. fem blouse / sporty pant / fem shoe.
Now I don’t own a peplum, but in keeping with her theory I worked with a classic shirt here as a ‘fem blouse’ of sorts, pairing it with sporty shorts and a ballet flat as a feminine-leaning shoe - a vibe sandwich.
Maybe jeans and a tee is enough? Another formula I keep returning to - a loose-fitting or baby-style tee + relaxed jeans + the fanciest sandals I own. You might think that the denim is the most important puzzle piece here, but I’d argue that it’s the sandals that put in the work. Go easy on the rest of the outfit and wear the most refined/whacky/fun sandals you have in your collection. That’s the outfit.
Dig into a magazine. Got a magazine hanging around? Current? Past? Vintage? Even better! Open it up and see what you find. Over the past year I’ve been slowly collecting almost every edition of Vogue Paris Collections (the three earliest issues have eluded my eBay searching so far!), and there’s nothing better than picking up a random copy and seeing what inspires me.
…or try something new. The point of this post is to inspire you to work with what you already have, but what if you feel like there’s one purchase that you’ve lusted after all summer that you think would add serious range to your racks? I’d argue that now is a good time to buy it. There’s still a solid month or two left where you can get to grips with it, but it will still feel fresh to you next summer when you dig it back out.
For me it was a pair of bermuda shorts. I love shorts. I own less than five pairs and wear them practically every other day in the summer. But they are all short and mostly silky. What if I had a pair that grazed the knee? A small shift that feels kind of big to me. Turns out the Reformation Silky Sandy Shorts* are perfect. Perhaps it’s Bermudas for you too. Or a graphic tee? A tube top? Or a funky pair of sandals? I know an end-of-season buy can feel pointless, but I enjoy the excitement of the short-but-sweet road test, knowing that we’ll be reunited next year.
Thanks for being part of The Wardrobe Edit. If you like what you read, I’d truly appreciate it if you liked, shared, or left a comment - it makes all the difference.
Want more?
If you’re a brand interested in partnering on a future post, please email na@insanity.com.
This newsletter features affiliate links, denoted by a ‘*’ and occasionally gifted items, denoted by ‘ad - gifted’. Find out more here.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.