June 1, 2020
Now that it’s warm enough to wear shorts in Chicago, this post feels timely! It’s long overdue…
A note about linen shorts – yes, they wrinkle. Amazingly. And then… they soften up, and they’re just sort of gently crumpled. I find them the most comfortable fabric for garments in the scorching weather, and I rather appreciate the natural look and feel of the wrinkling! Your mileage, as in all things, may vary…
Black linen shorts – Lands’ End
It’s pretty straightforward – for most colors – to find shorts that work well with our “Six Scarves, 12 Months” scarves:
mint green “A” Floral scarf – Aspinal of London; navy chino shorts – Lands’ End; Earth Mandala scarf – GISY; forest moss knit shorts – Lands’ End; shield scarf – Aspinal of London; black linen shorts – Lands’ End
navy lion and peacock scarf – Aspinal of London; denim shorts – Jen7; mustard “A” Floral scarf – Aspinal of London; grey twill shorts – H&M; Magenta Robins scarf – Aspinal of London; black twill shorts – L.L.Bean
I’ve ALWAYS got a few thoughts, and reminders of how flexible these suggestions are! Remember, nobody can tell you what clothes you need or should buy…
I love the look of a crisp, wrinkled linen shirt worn as a shirt/jacket. Roll the sleeves, and you’re protected from a bit more sun, a lot of air conditioning, AND you can show off rings and bracelets!
Earrings – Gemondo; navy striped linen tunic – L.L.Bean; white notice-collar top – L.L.Bean; navy shorts – L.L.Bean; sandals – Børn
Sometimes it just isn’t worth hours of effort to find the perfect shirt or jacket – that’s why we have white, in the summer! And a matching topper here might be just a bit TOO much mango…
Citrine earrings – QVC; poplin shirt – J.Crew; washed mango tee – Lands’ End; forest moss knit shorts – Lands’ End; waterproof sandals – Ipanema
Shorts and a top can be somewhat dressy – there are few places, even in Paris, where you couldn’t be dressed like this for most activities. Nice earrings, a good quality cardigan and sandals, and a pretty top…
Earrings – Julie Vos; linen cardigan – Eileen Fisher; sleeveless top – Express; black twill shorts – L.L.Bean; sandals – Cole Haan
There should be more really pretty tee shirts in the world, and a LOT fewer tee shirts with silly slogans on them… Just my opinion!
Pearl & blue topaz earrings – Buana; cardigan – Lands’ End; floral tee – Lucky Brand; navy shorts – L.L.Bean; sandals – Easy Street
It’s not QUITE white, but this jacket is softly neutral enough to pull over just about any outfit. Going out for a walk but not quite sure if the evening is going to cool down? Now, you’re all set!
Silver infinity earrings – Oscar Figueroa Escorcia; denim work jacket – Alex Mill; nickel heather tee – Prana; arctic gray shorts – Lands’ End; sneakers – L.L.Bean
Why not wear rose gold with black? If you like it, wear it!
Pearl hoop earrings – Olivia Burton; pointelle cardigan – Halogen; blush linen top – DKNY; black shorts – Lands’ End; sandals – Seychelles
This looks quite a bit like my current wardrobe, minus the 3 tops in the 2nd row. I have items in my closet that are VERY similar, so I don’t feel ill-used. And I never struggle to get dressed – hallelujah for that!
White, black and pink tanks – Lands’ End; sleeveless white shirt – Lands’ End; linen cardigan – Halogen; shell pink linen shirt – L.L.Bean; striped tee – Banana Republic; striped short-sleeved sweater – Max Mara; pink cotton cardigan – Lands’ End; black shorts – Lands’ End; black pants – L.LBean; black skirt – Lands’ End; shirtdress – Banana Republic
Oh my…. this will get us through to the end of July, and then in August I’m going to build on some of these 13-piece summer wardrobes by adding accent colors to neutral core wardrobes. Any color requests will be entertained, if I can in fact make them happen without tearing out my (very overgrown) purple curly hair….
I like having a clear plan. If I had to start from ABSOLUTELY SCRATCH to build a wardrobe I like to think that I would turn to this list and make my personal adjustments, but stick pretty closet to the ideas here.
Not that I want to be doing that – could you IMAGINE?
love,
Janice
p.s. Four years ago, I was packing for a mad dash to the east coast for a massive college graduation celebration. What I packed was small, and perfect…
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Janice, I love your posts always. My color suggestions are based on the colors of the names of the days of the week (Monday -moon-day – black white and gray, Tuesday red and orange, wednesday violet gray and yellow, thursday blue and lilac, friday pink and green, saturday black and gray and sunday Yellow and orange). I’ve seen these on a book I read many years ago and I still follow it.
Perhaps we read the same book. I’ve dressed this way for over twenty years and it’s so lovely to find a kindred spirit!
I used to wear shorts with a vest top and a loose linen or cotton shirt, but my left leg is now covered in spider veins at the side and behind my knee. Does anyone know how I can cover these realistically without it looking odd?
My colour suggestion would be strawberry red and cornflower blue accents to a bright navy, light grey and soft white neutral core capsule.
I have the same problem and I either wear a midi skirt, wide-legged cropped trousers, chinos or linen trousers in summer.
My legs were never my best feature – too short and too stocky. Shorts and above knee skirts were out. Capri’s were too tight and cropped trousers make my legs look even shorter.
Now I have varicous veins, I just keep my legs covered!
Thanks for your suggestions. I’ve been covering up for about five years now, but my legs were one of my best features and as I’m nearing 60, I’m thinking does it really matter? I’ve seen worse and after all, who’s going to be looking at my legs!
I love the earrings today, particularly the topaz and pearl ones. Btw, the link to the Prana nickel tee goes to a pink one!
My colour suggestion might be a challenge – shades and tones of purple because it’s so hard to find. Anything from lilac to dark purple but nothing with a pink/red hue. So often, online shops trick me into thinking that they have purple items but then I discover they are orchid or plum. I just want to look at proper shades of PURPLE! My favoured neutrals would blues (not necessarily navy) or grey. However, I do wear purple on my bottom half so a complete tonal outfit would be nice or even using purple as the neutral and another colour as the accent. I’m sure you would rise to the challenge!
That first outfit is navy & white summer bliss. I love every piece (even the sandals, and I categorically dislike sandals!) and it just works perfectly together. I like how narrow stripes can function as a “more interesting” solid. For example, it would look terrific with the navy floral T in the other navy outfit…very subtle pattern (and texture) mixing. That striped shirt (available in plus and petite sizes, friends) is VERY appealing, but since I have a navy & white check cotton shirt that serves the same purpose, I will resist (for now).
For those looking for an alternative to normal shorts, I suggest trying a search for “skimmers” (sometimes also called “skimmer shorts”). These are shorts that end just below the knee. I bought a couple pairs two summers ago and for me, they are perfect…cool, comfortable, and actually quite flattering even on my chubby and muscular legs because they hit at a narrow spot (of course, others may have a higher standard of “flattering” than I do, haha).
My point of confusion with slogan Ts? French-themed slogan Ts, especially ones with just random French words and phrases on it. These are not even silly souvenir Ts (which I could kind of understand) but Ts bought at one’s local mall or whatever. If one is a French teacher, that makes a ton of sense, but otherwise, I don’t get it. And they appear to be madly popular, not just an idiosyncratic preference a few people who are really into France have. (Maybe there are a lot more people who are into France and are drawn to these French words than I imagine.) No judgment, I just wonder about it. I mean, confession: I have a graphic T with a lop rabbit wearing a beret that you will take from my cold, dead hands! We love what we love.
I really like how you publish great ideas and get me to reconsider how I mix what I have on hand. Sometimes, just a “scarf” or other accessory to “tie together” fits the bill perfectly.