There is one thing that I hate about the coming of summer. (Besides the coming of bugs, which is just one of those necessary icks that can be easily ignored when you realize just how great it is not to be shivering anymore.) I suddenly don't know how to dress myself.If seems like summer should be easier. Fewer clothes = not as many pieces to deal with = cinch, right? But somehow it's harder when you take away my cardigans and scarves and coats, especially because my summer wear is all either really casual t-shirt stuff or things attempting to be less casual but still kind of failing, or things that always seem too dressy for summer to me.
For example, I always want to be one of those people who wears happy summer skirts casually. I try really hard to find skirt/shirt combinations that give me that light, airy, casual skirt feeling. It just never feels right. I always feel like I'm going to church or like the shirt I pick doesn't work at all or like the shoes just don't match or dress it up too much. Then I look in magazines and it seems so easy, and I want to go shopping and fix the wardrobe, but it still ends up being about the same. I buy t-shirts that still don't match anything, skirts that still feel too dressy, and shoes that still don't work.
Is summer fashion just a state of mind? I feel like I should do a psychological analysis about why I can't just throw on a t-shirt and capris and feel comfortable, but maybe it's just that my fashion sense is underdeveloped for summer months. (Last summer, which pretty much consisted of wearing my Wight House shirt and black pants for the first half, and the same 6 outfits that I crammed into my suitcase for England during the last half.
If I complain about this again at the end of the summer, will someone please remind me that I had a rocking winter wardrobe at the end of this winter? Thank you.
8 comments:
I have the same problem in the summer, I never seem to own anything I feel comfortable in. And I've tried for years to do the casual skirt thing but it's just not ME, which is probably why the few times I try someone inevitably asks me what I'm dressed up for, which of course reinforces the fact that I can't pull it off.
I think part of the problem is that we "dress up" for church. Not that it's a bad thing to dress-up for church, just that it lends to the feeling that skirts/dresses are saved for church stuff. That being said, summer skirts can be fun! Things that I find helpful... take your skirts with you when you shop for tees. Then you're more likely to wear them. You can dress down a skirt with flip flops, although Clinton and Stacey might not agree. And don't give up. It takes a while to change your thinking from "skirts are for church" to "I don't have to have a reason to wear a skirt".
If people ask, what you're dressed up for... you can always tell them it's for Johnny Cake.
I have the same problem for winter. I own. . .no winter clothing. Blergh. I recently needed to grab some winter clothes and realized that I just don't have a lot. Will need to fix that prior to the Boston move, I think.
i also have this problem. with the skirt thing, i think a lot of it does have to do with just doing it and getting used to the change. also, the type of skirt you choose is important. i have a black skirt that i took to paris with me that is so comfortable to wear and it comes just past the knees so i don't have to worry about modesty, but the best part is it's cotton. it's easy to wash and cotton just looks more casual. does any of that make sense or am i rambling? haha.
and if you don't do flip flops, look for more casual flats...something bright and summery and maybe something you would consider too "beachy" for church.
i have more of a problem with shorts and capris bc i hate the way they make my legs look. most capris just look like high waters on me due to my shortness. i also fell in love with summer dresses last year. to just be able to throw on a casual, light dress and some flats is really nice.
finally, i'm glad we've converted lauren to the world of Johnny Cake jokes/references.
Well, you've just managed to eloquently describe my daily morning dressing troubles.
Most of the time I just give up. LOL.
I hate that... I can never find the right skirt with the right top with the right shoes... So frustrating! J/K
I'm obviously not a girl, but I do have a few observations.
(1) I think it's harder now than it ever has been before because the lines between what is considered casual and what is appropriate for church have blurred over time. What we see people wearing to church today would have been considered too casual and inappropriate just a few years ago. The idea of a guy wearing dockers and a short sleeve shirt, or a girl wearing a jean skirt to church would have been reprehensible 20-25 years ago. Before that, anything less than a full suit for guys, and anything other than a dress for women was inappropriate. We've become much more casual in our dress for church, so when we wear stuff that might otherwise seem casual it feels too churchy.
(2) Any one element of clothing can break the too formal feel. A tee-shirt, for example, breaks the "it's too churchy" look. Or, specifically for girls, flat shoes instead of heels.
(3) Any adjustment to wardrobe can feel uneasy. If you were, for the sake of argument, to start going goth, it would be uncomfortable. Change comes a little at a time.
(4) Wear what you want to wear, and don't worry so much about what you think others might think. They probably think less about it than you think they might anyway.
(5) As a guy, I really like it when girls wear skirts. They don't have to have a reason; they don't have to be trying to dress up. It is almost always a nice look.
i wore a knee length denim pencil skirt just for you today!
Here's another thing: you don't have to shave your legs to wear jeans.
Is that terrible? haha. Too personal maybe? Whatever...it's totally true. We were all thinking it.
Except for maybe Doug...I'm pretty sure he wasn't considering the leg shaving.
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