Hot Weather Clothes We Love.
By Erica and Karen
In summer, we like to wear dresses. Sometimes flowy dresses, sometimes tailored. Often white. Always as simple as we can find.
We found a few good ones when we went looking. This from Lafayette 148, is just what we have in mind. Clean and floaty. Or this, from Frame at Saks. Effortless and unadorned. (We’ll adorn it with colorful chunky jewelry.) M.M. LaFleur’s elegant slip of a dress would be perfect on a hot day. And on a hot day when we need to look polished this chic number, from Lattelier, would do the trick.
Of course if you wear white every day people may think you are losing your sense of fun, so you may want to mix it up with some color. A long, cool blue shirt dress is elegant. As is this trim washed silk from Eileen Fisher. We were also intrigued by this listing in Etsy—a billowy dress you can order in many different colors. The light blue is lovely, and the mint green refreshing.
Sometimes we do want vibrant color, and when we do, we think of Gabrielle Carlson. Check out the dresses in this lookbook. White with an overlay of colored chiffon is most au courant this year, and she’ll make you a gossamer chiffon overdress in all kinds of jeweled colors—as well as black and white.
Sometimes neon actually feels cool too. You would evoke a summer lawn in this short neon green shift. And a summer flower in this long one. Pick peony or strawberry! And if you want to say floral more directly, delicate frocks from Nordstrom, like this, or this, would work, and if you want sleek, try this fromJonny Was at Niemans.
One thing we don’t want is fussy. We are never trying to channel Little Women or Anne of Green Gables as these dresses do. Shapeless piles of fabric with puffs and ruffles are the antithesis of elegant dressing. And cool dressing.
The point is—once you get the shape and the fabric right, the rest will work. Modern silhouettes. Clean lines. Flounce and ruffle free. Light and fluid fabric.
Bring on the summer!
My opinion is that most of the dresses you reference in this article are horrible! As older women, why would we want to cover every inch of skin with fabric at ridiculous prices? There were perhaps two or three I would actually wear and only one that I found affordable. I really think you should try to include ALL of your audience and not just those with an endless supply of money.
I agree with Jane Duffany; I just about plotzed when I saw the pricetags for the first two dresses and figured the others were in the same ballpark. I don’t think I spend $500 in a year on new clothes!
A great summer look in cool, gauzy affordable dresses/skirts can be had at independent retailers that carry Indian cotton clothing. I have half a dozen of these dresses in a pop of tie-dye colors and no dress ran me more than $20. They just need a camisole or T-shirt underneath and look great with beads, earrings and sandals or other summer flats. Ditto the long skirts are available in an endless range of solids or prints ($25-$40) and look great paired with a three-quarter sleeve white T-shirt and cropped denim jacket.
As a teenager, my babysitting money had to really stretch for clothes and this early life lesson taught me how to make the most of an outfit, and to buy just a few affordable pieces. That ethic has stayed with me throughout my adult life, even when babysitting wages eventually were replaced by a workplace paycheck.
I agree with Jane Duffany; I just about plotzed when I saw the pricetags for the first two dresses and figured the others were in the same ballpark. I don’t think I spend $500 in a year on new clothes!
A great summer look in cool, gauzy affordable dresses/skirts can be had at independent retailers that carry Indian cotton clothing. I have half a dozen of these dresses in a pop of tie-dye colors and no dress ran me more than $20. They just need a camisole or T-shirt underneath and look great with beads, earrings and sandals or other summer flats. Ditto the long skirts are available in an endless range of solids or prints ($25-$40) and look great paired with a three-quarter sleeve white T-shirt and cropped denim jacket.
As a teenager, my babysitting money had to really stretch for clothes and this early life lesson taught me how to make the most of an outfit, and to buy just a few affordable pieces. That ethic has stayed with me throughout my adult life, even when babysitting wages eventually were replaced by a workplace paycheck.