Matching Summer Sets

2021 Summer Trend

This summer's trend is rather matchy-matchy. Mainly tiny tops with matching shorts, short and long skirts, capris, and pants. The models wearing the trend look fabulous with their tanned skin and slim figures. Of course. (This photo was retrieved from wheretoget.com)

Nice: 

I have always been a fan of solid matching sets. Being 5'3" and with the probability of shrinking as I get older, solid coloured matching sets are the nicest for me. That means top to bottom solid colour even shoes. Accessories such as jewellery, scarves and purses send out a colourful punch and make the solid colour a canvas (a thought for another post). I get my fill of the colour trend of the season with accessories and it proves to be more cost-effective. Your "outfits' go a long way for a long time with this kind of clothing strategy. This outfit was available on jamesascher.com, but when I went there, it was sold out. 

My 2 No Thanks rules for matched sets:

1. No thanks to matchy brightly coloured patterns. 

And yes, Guys, the trend is yours as well! But as far as I am concerned, my No Thanks rules apply for you too. This photo was retrieved from www.outfittrends.com.

I once received a shorts & shirt outfit from a relative who had been in Hawaii. It was a swirl of hot pink, bright green, and fluorescent yellow flowers. I wore it once to a theme party. It ended up in a donation bag. I do hope someone found some pleasure in wearing it. 

Whether stripes or a floral pattern, if I absolutely had to, a pairing of pale colour — blue & white, beige & blue, beige & white, yellow, pink, mint green in combination with white is the closest I would ever go to a head to toe patterned match. 

2. No thanks to stripes for bottoms such as these from www.lyst.com. Imagine head to toe black & white stripes and all I can think of are 1920s jailhouse convicts.  There is a mixing stripes idea that suggests putting a horizontal stripe on top with the vertical stripe on the bottom or vice versa. I don't know. Maybe, but for me, I doubt it.

Note-worthy

Pyjamas! Head to toe matched sets — I have several.

Summery Comfortable Casual

Nice: 

We want to be comfortable and we are most comfortable when we dress casually. The question is, what clothing does it take to bring this about in our fashion sense? "Comfortable casual" is too wide a topic to tell you what it is or what it is not. This category is definitely in the eyes of the beholder.

Even comfortable casual changes with where you are and what you are doing. Comfortable casual at a seaside restaurant in France may be different than one in Clear Lake, Manitoba, and different than one on a cruise ship. Yes, what we wear is always "event" or "place" inspired. Appropriateness is important whether at work or at play.

The ultimate in comfortable casual is something that is trans-cultural and can be worn anywhere. The linen pants and top you see in this photo were purchased on a student tour of Italy many many years ago. When I saw it in a shop window in Sorrento, I envisioned myself sitting on a yacht (I've never been on one and it's unlikely I ever will be) sipping a glass of rosé wine. The yacht location has not yet materialized but I've sipped a fair number of glasses of rosé in that linen outfit over the past 20 years. It is one of the most cost-effective outfits I have ever owned since I am still wearing it. It is also one of the most comfortable outfits I have ever owned — pajama-like in feel and cool to wear on the hottest most humid days of the summer. This one definitely has the ability to be worn at a seaside restaurant in France, at an ice-cream parlour in Clear Lake, Manitoba, or in a dining room on a cruise ship.

Noteworthy: 

Accessories can be used to adapt the same outfit to many different situations and locations. Plain as in the first photo makes it beachwear after a swim. Add a statement necklace to take it into an outdoor evening party. Put on a sunhat and there you are on that yacht (if not in real life, in your dreams). 

Necessary:

The one item that is necessary in my life is my favourite everyday casual shirt for the summer — a cotton, white and blue stripe, that can be worn alone, or over a t-shirt or as a bathing suit cover-up. I wear it with shorts, jeans or wide-leg linen pants. 

Also needed a few short-sleeve white t-shirts along with the shirt.

Another Necessary:

Timeless white pants or capris. Jackie Kennedy wore them in the 1960s and we're still wearing them. Everyone needs a great pair of white summer pants. Whether you choose wide-leg or narrow leg, regular pant length, ankle length, capris or walking shorts, it only matters that you are comfortable. Make sure they are a natural fabric such as linen or cotton and you are good to go.

Need:

What are your most adaptable, wear everywhere and feel comfortable outfits? 

And what do you need to complete your summery comfortable casual wardrobe?

Summer Clothing in a Cold Climate

There are many jokes about the length of summer on the Canadian prairies. After two days of 30+ degrees, you will hear - so did you enjoy the two days of summer? With that attitude it is difficult to spend a significant amount of money on summer clothing. It seems that what we need in Canada are transition pieces and advisement to stay in air conditioned interiors during the few hot days. Of course we don't want to do that.

This year seems to be different, spring came early and summer feels like it has been here for awhile and is likely to stay for a good while longer. Although it is raining and quite cool out there today. However, it is I who is in transition and in something of a dilemma with my summer closet. All my summer clothing is in France. This year I won't be leaving Canada until August and will only be staying in France for 3 months. I have been caught unprepared yet I have no desire to buy any summer clothing.

It so happens that much of what I found in my closets is either too big or too small, stained or ripped. Remember, I am the one who expounds the perfect fit as being the most important attribute of clothing and keeping clothing in an impeccable state. I dug through my possibilities and found the following:

NICE, NO THANKS, NOTE-WORTHY and NEED

NICE

• 1 pair of blue & white striped capris that fit perfectly
• 1 pair of creamy coloured capris that also fit perfectly
• 1 pair of white linen pants that are big but have a drawstring waistband. They feel like wearing pyjama bottoms but because they are linen, they have a "look" - that summer resort kind of "look". I have never been on a yacht but they remind me of the kind of loose linen pants you would wear as you look out at the sea. Sigh.

NO THANKS

• 3 black short sleeved t-shirts that are too tight - probably 10 pounds too tight
• 3 white short sleeved t-shirts that fit but are all stained (no other choice but to wear while gardening)
• 1 pair of beige cargo shorts, stained and too tight - probably 5 pounds too tight (reserved for gardening)
• 1 pair cargo capris in good shape and they fit but too dated (reserved for gardening)
• 1 "golf t-shirt" style black dress, too tight to wear outside of the house

I appear to be well outfitted for gardening.

NOTE-WORTHY:
Transition clothing I brought with me from France:

• 1white linen shirt that can be worn over a tank top or t-shirt or on its own
• 1 black and white striped Armor Luxe pullover, 3/4 length sleeve
• 1 turquoise and white striped Armor Luxe pullover, long sleeve

NEED: There are too many items to list. I may have to go shopping.


Update - June 21 - 
NOTE-WORTHY: Surprising what you find when you start looking. I may not go shopping after all.

Wearing White

Closet Content Analysis: Whites

Nice: White Clothing in the Summer

I have always liked white in the summer although it is not the best choice when traveling. I have linen drawstring pants and shorts, several t-shirts with crew and v-necks and several different sleeve lengths, loose fitting summer tops and a cotton pullover all in white.

White Blanc du Nil "pull" on JoyD.

White Blanc du Nil Top Photo by JoyD.

This  summer, I have purchased two tops from Blanc du Nil, a shop that is only opened from May to October in most parts of France.

Everything in the store is white and there are selections for men, women and children. I needed a cotton pullover for cooler evenings and a loose cotton top for really hot days to wear when everything else "sticks". What a clever marketing plan for the summer. You will find these stores in most larger centers and I have purchased items in Arcachon and in Sarlat.

Asymmetrical top from Blanc du Nil Photo by JoyD.

Although I liked the asymmetrical top when I tried it on in the shop, it proved to be a bit of a problem when I started trying it on with different bottoms at home. Too much white with the white linen pants, too much contrast with black linen pants. Perhaps it was the proportion and the asymmetry together that I didn't like. I didn't care for it with a skirt at all. By this time, I thought I should just hem it to be the same length all around. I then tried it with a pair of mid-thigh white cotton shorts. The longest point of the asymmetrical top came to the bottom of the shorts. I don't know why this combination worked; perhaps it was this particular proportion on my particular height but I felt most comfortable with this combination.

White sleeveless shirt Photo by JoyD.

Last Saturday, a vendor employed the same marketing plan as Blance du Nil and just had white displayed. Interestingly, the stall was always full of people checking out the merchandise. Other vendors had mixtures of colourful clothing patterns but there is something very attractive in clothing colour block displays in varying tones of one colour. I bought a sleeveless cotton shirt with two horizontal lines of discreet open work. It reminded me of the edging on my antique linen flat sheets. There was no fibre content tag but it felt like cotton, not linen and for €5 it was worth it.

White t-shirts with blue & white shirt layered. Photo by JoyD.

I wrote that a white top and white pants can look like too much white so I very often wear a blue and white striped shirt as a layer in order to break apart the total white look. It works.

White can have many NO THANKS reasons to wear it but I can put up with them since I find more NICE opportunities in the summer.

A Universal Closet Staple: Flip Flops for the Summer

Closet Content Analysis: Flip Flops

Nice     Need     Necessary

Nice: A summer basic that costs less than $2.00 or Euro1.50 and I think, can be found anywhere in the world. 

A pair for inside, a pair for outside and enough for guests. Photo by JoyD.

There's no mistaking the "slip-slap" of flip flops and they make the same sound on either male or female feet. Those bargain bin rubbery flip flops have been in my life since I was little. They were NECESSARY at the pool and NICE for the beach. In the summer, the NEED for "in and out of the house slippers" - a pair to go outside and a pair for inside - was filled by these cheap - what we once called "thongs". With that in mind, I decided to buy several pairs in several sizes, put them in a basket and have them available for my summer time visitors here in France. 

Another possibility for a rainy day, is to buy some supplies, beads and ribbon and such, and borrow Cathy's idea of making your own beaded flip flops.

Last year, 2012, in May, Cathy wrote a great DIY post on making your own beaded flip flops. I haven't tried it yet but what fun! Her instructions are clear and the photos accompanying the directions are helpful and beautiful as well. Cathy's blog is Trinkets in Bloom and the full tutorial is at your fingertips! Read through the comments as well - one person wrote about using turquoise beads, "horsey" and cowboy hat buttons - too cute!

Photo Credit: Cathy from Trinkets in Bloom

If you make a pair, let both of us know. I'd love to see them and I'm sure Cathy would too!

I really wish I had invented the flip-flop. I love flip-flops. It's the one style of shoe I would be so proud of inventing: the Havaiana.

- Christian Louboutin