You Have Everything You Need

Sometimes we just need a little help knowing what to wear in the morning. As a friend recently said; “I have all the ingredients, but I don’t know what to cook.” Which reminded me of how much I love to analogize cooking and clothes.

So I present 10 outfits for when you just don’t know what to “cook”! These are things I’ve been bookmarking or wearing lately and will hopefully help you build outfits with the ingredients you already have!

I saw this look on Yoseline Cabrera and immediately wanted to create my version of the layered monochromatic top. It was so good, I did it twice! I loved that I could take the button down off and tie it around my waist and the look held up! IMO, a truly great outfit is interesting in multiple iterations.

I sent this screenshot to a friend because I loved the way the colorful beads popped against the stripes. Here’s the exact shirt in this photo. I’ve spent some time searching for a lapis necklace; this one feels the most similar.

Like… look how great the full look is with the great neutrals and the pop of brightness at the neck!

I can’t explain why this the one thing makes a whole outfit, but I’m telling you that it does. I think red has had a serious glow up from a Capital C color to a non-threatening color that even neutral lovers can get behind.

I saw this outfit in a Rachel Comey marketing email (top middle) and then started to spy it all over great Pinterest outfits. Try it with 1 neutral + 1 color or pattern.

I love an all black outfit all year 'round but it’s extra good when it’s paired with a great summer tan (I mix these drops with my sunscreen to get sun protection and tan at the same time).

Months ago I found Maddie Wolsleger on TikTok and found myself saving all her outfits pairing graphic tees with structured (and often patterned) jackets. (Watch this one! Or this one! Or THIS one!)

Fanny Adams wrote a great newsletter on styling graphic tees and she modeled blazers, lady jackets, leather jackets and more with graphic tees. It always looks cool.

On the note of graphic tees… Daydreamer LA recently gifted me two graphic tees after I featured one of their shirts in my Unhinged Birthday Wishlist and they have quickly become the best new-vintage-inspired shirts. I went with babydoll cut shirts but they have oversized styles as well. The fabric is light and drapey and the graphics are cute. In my experience they ran small and deserve to be sized up 1-2.

Speaking of monochromatic looks; I’m also very into wearing all-white in the summer but I find it helpful to ground an all-white outfit with a black accessory like a shoe or necklace.

Or we can tie a black long-sleeve around your waist to ground the outfit and add a layer for that indoor-to-outdoor climate change.

This is my favorite shorts formula (from this post) in action and I continue to lean on it constantly. It works so well because if the day heats up too much, you can always shed the top layer.

Also, I feel it’s my duty to alert all Midimalists that these track shorts that I’ve been stalking and talking about nonstop are launching tomorrow (TUESDAY!) June 23 at 10 am PT. My alerts are set!

One of my favorite summer time muses is Jackie O; with her headscarves and enormous sunglasses. While I might have to skip the headscarf, I loved the way Jackie kept her outfits paired back like simple tees, linen pants and always topped with her signature shades. I want a big pair of shades like these (or maybe these if I’m feeling bold).

If this is your vibe, I absolutely loved Franziska Steinle newsletter about having a Jackie O summer!

Of course, I’m also eyeing other big accessories like this fab sun hat or jewelry that makes a big impact (have I waxed poetically enough about how glad I was to buy this necklace? More on that next week).

Speaking of Jackie O, many of her summer looks are also really colorful and I was inspired by the bold color blocking of the photo in the upper-right of the above collage and took it out for a test-drive the other day. Take it from me and Jackie, though, that color blocking is easiest done when the pieces are relatively basic and unfussy.

There are two more weeks left to snag an annual membership to Midimalist for a 50% discount in price!

get your discounted subscription!

And as part of my sale, I’m also highlighting newsletters from my archive that you’ll unlock with an annual subscription. In honor of this newsletter that was (hopefully) a helpful roadmap of outfit ideas; I thought I’d highlight 6 past newsletters that each focused on outfit ideas for when you are really stuck. I did my best to create ideas that leave room for interpretation so they will work with almost any closet.

I hope you’ll consider upgrading so you can check out these posts (and 3 years worth of other archived posts!)

Details for all items featured in this newsletter can be found here. Anything marked with an * was kindly gifted.