Early musings when it comes to all things summer dressing

Along with some new additions to the apartment and a few great finds from Vince.

You can shop my summer dressing shelf here

A few months ago I watched Waterworld(1995) for the first time. It’s kind of a terrible movie, but weirdly enjoyable. To spare you the full recap: the polar ice caps have melted, most of the world is underwater, and the few survivors have reverted to a tribal way of life where bartering—and sometimes piracy—is how people survive. Some characters have evolved with gills, there’s a ragtag crew of pirates called the Smokers, and all kinds of dystopian chaos unfolds. But I won’t turn this into a film review.

What really caught my attention was how everyone was dressed, especially Kevin Costner’s character. He wore a few pieces of jewelry that clearly came from different places, each one feeling like it had a story. It wasn’t polished, but it was personal, and that got me thinking about what getting dressed this summer might look like. With prices rising and a general sense of uncertainty still in the air, I imagine many of us will be turning to what we already have. Maybe it’s a piece we forgot about, or something that's been sitting in the back of the closet waiting for the right moment. Add one or two new pieces to tie it together, and suddenly it feels like dressing from your own personal lost and found.

Christopher John Rogers' technicolor sequin car coat is, of course, in a league of its own. There’s no true one-to-one alternative for a piece this special, but something like this or this gets you in the same orbit.

And in some cases, it may feel like you’re piling things on, like with this look, which started with the Alaïa SS25 runway in mind. The outfit began with the tube top and the harem pants. At first, I was going to wear a heel, but as I was heading out the door to shoot the look, I realized too late that I’d forgotten to take off my flip flops. That said, I actually think the juxtaposition of the simple black flip flop grounds the look more than if I had gone with an equally loud shoe.

On the topic of special coats, this is also a good time to check in on brands like Dries Van Noten and YSL Rive Gauche.

J.Crew tube top, Alaia peplum harem pants (here’s a similar pair without the peplum and more than a fraction of the price $150), Havaianas (though something with a bit of height would work just as well), Tory Burch bag.

I still stand by these as a solid sunglasses alt. I made my own pair of mismatch earrings: De Vera coin on the left (here’s an alt), and At Present x moi on the right (this would also look good here).

Getting dressed this way can feel like throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, but it still needs balance. The goal isn’t to look like a blob, especially in summer when the whole point is to feel light and at ease.

Dorsey choker, Don’t Let Disco x moi necklace (there are still a few left!), here’s a belt alt.

My tuxedo coat is from ye ol RealReal, and was purchased with the unshakable belief that life simply wasn’t complete without one. Becky posted this one from P. Johnson (I’’m a sucker for a shawl lapel), and I’m starting to wonder—do I actually need two tuxedo coats to feel whole? The pants are from The Row (this site has a solid size run and is marked down 50% to $745; more sizes here at the same price, and here they are in black). The shoes are these Birkenstocks, Strathberry embossed bag, here's my hat but I also think something like this would work just as well.

The dress is Wales Bonner from one of the pandemic collections, and I got it from Matches (RIP). I think Wales often gets reduced to her Adidas collaborations, which are of course great, but to think that’s the extent of her work misses so much of the richness. There’s a mirrored shirt that, in the right setting, would make a great beach cover-up. Then there’s this skirt, which feels like the perfect piece for a politico—or better yet, the kind of skirt I’d wear as a politico. And another, more ladylike option that would look best if you didn’t play into the lady look, and toned it down with a tank, a saucy little heel, and just one piece of jewelry.

These early musings on how to get dressed for summer are really about striking that balance, finding the ease among the piles. But more than that, the idea of pulling out the “lost” pieces from your closet and bringing them back into the light feels like a reflection of where we are right now, style-wise.

I had to go through my closet recently, not so much to rediscover forgotten gems, but to make room for a closet sale that will hopefully be happening sometime this summer. I’ll keep you all posted. While sorting through the pieces I’ve collected over the years, it was interesting to see what’s lasted the longest and how many things are holdovers from growing up in Virginia. I have this one hoodie I never wear anymore, but I can’t bring myself to give it up. It’s a NASCAR hoodie I thrifted in high school, back when I had dreams of being a Depop shop girlie. Those dreams were short-lived, but I’ve held on to the hoodie ever since. I’m obviously not a NASCAR person, but for some reason, I really like it.

Alexis Bittar bracelet and here’s my ring and choker.

All in a day's look

Shirt, bodysuit, croc embossed skirt alt,, shoes and belt.

In the process of deciding what would stay and what would go, I also noticed how many pieces had quietly been waiting their turn.