The best time to shop in Spring and Summer is earlier in the season. That’s when the best merchandise hits the floors and when the styles are dressier and more covered. 

Spring and Summer merchandise hits retail stores from February onwards in the Northern hemisphere. There’s a steady flow of new merchandise until about the beginning of May, and then things taper off quite drastically until Fall merchandise begins trickling in at the end of August. That’s because retailers want their merchandise to sell through before end-of-season sales. As a result, fashion buyers do NOT leave the best for last. On the contrary. They’ll put the best merchandise in at the beginning and in the middle of the season so that it’s on the shop floor or visible online for a longer length of time. 

The offerings in the first three to four months of a Spring and Summer retail season are dressier and more covered. Fabrications are substantial, tops and dresses have sleeves, and dresses and skirts are longer. You’ll find a much larger assortment of toppers across all sorts of weights and styles, and lots of dressier options for office settings and formal events. By the time June rolls around, the toppers are gone and things start looking very “beachy”. Merchandise is skimpy and fabrications are flimsy. It’s an ultra casual shorts and T-shirts fest, and you can kiss your best chances of acquiring business casual, smart casual, and covered clothing goodbye. And don’t think you can get great swimwear either. The best time to shop for swimwear is February and March. 

I know it’s hard to think of Spring and Summer wardrobe refreshers when it’s cold and possibly snowing in your neck of the woods. But chances are high that you won’t find what you’re looking for by the time you’re in the mood to go warm weather shopping in June and July. The pickings will be slim, and you’ll be left with the impression that the season’s fashion is awful, when it was actually your timing that was a little off. That’s why most of my clients shop with me for warm weather top-ups from February till the first week of May. And why I do the bulk of my seasonal shopping by April. 

It can be frustrating to purchase items that you can’t wear right away, but the upside is that you added the right pieces to your wardrobe, and aren’t settling for what’s left or on sale.

I recently went shopping with my beautiful client Karen to refresh her Spring and Summer wardrobe. As always, we had a ball. You’ll hear more about the pieces that we chose later this week, but first I’d like to share a little dressing room story. 

Karen, who turned 75 this year, enjoys fashion enormously, and is very up to date with the current trends. Each season we spend a little time talking about how we’re going to refresh her look, and then go for it. I suggested to Karen that flared cropped jeans were top priority because she frequently wears jeans and these were a great way to update her look. She also enjoys wearing ankle strap footwear, which complement the flared cropped silhouette. 

Karen had her doubts because the flared crops looked to her like regular jeans that were unstylishly too short. She also thought they would make her look shorter in the leg and larger in the thigh. But I thought she would like them, so to humour me Karen graciously agreed to give them a try. 

We went to Banana Republic and tried their Resin Wash Crop Flares. Karen’s immediate reaction was cautious. They didn’t look as unstylish as she thought they would, but did I think they were too tight? I told her that I thought we actually needed to size down. “Really!” she said, and I went off to get the smaller size.

When Karen saw the fit of the smaller size she started warming to the new silhouette. We styled the crops with some striped tops and flat ankle strap sandals (the exact pieces are in the collection below). I saw Karen looking at herself in the mirror, smiling and saying “Well I’ll be darned. I like  these jeans!”

A few more minutes and Karen’s eye had completely adjusted to the new-to-her silhouette. “I feel quite beautiful in these flared cropped jeans,” she said. “I can’t believe I love them.”

Banana Republic

Resin Wash Crop Flare

$98.00 $44.99

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39

Banana Republic

Striped Terry Boatneck Top

$59.50 $49.99

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27

Banana Republic

Stripe Bead Ruffle Top

$58.00 $49.99

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13

Banana Republic

Abilene Ankle-Strap Flat

$108.00 $79.98

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5

An adjustment period — which in this case was all of five minutes — is often all that it takes to go from doubting a look to liking it. This is why it’s important to try new-to-you silhouettes with an open mind. Throw those preconceived ideas out the window. The look you doubted a month ago can become a wardrobe workhorse, which I suspect is what is going to happen to Karen’s new flared crops.

I’ve seen more curly-haired models on the Fall/Winter 2016 runways than in the previous five years combined. And I’m loving it! From Altuzarra and Rag & Bone to Zac Posen and Giorgio Armani, there are wavy and curly ‘dos aplenty.

I also enjoyed browsing this Popsugar slideshow of 24 Natural-Hair Beauties Who Are Diversifying the NYFW Runway.

Have you heard of Texture on the Runway, a fashion event that is all about the hair? This year, hair stylists from five major brands were asked to create “fashion-forward looks to illustrate the versatility of curly hair and the overarching message that texture transcends ethnicity.”

Fab Links from Our Members

Banoffi came across this article about the shift in fashion towards oversized silhouettes.

Have a look at the world’s oldest known pants. Rabbit thought that these woolen trousers, found in the grave of a nomadic herdsman buried about 3,000 years ago in what is now Western China, are pretty awesome.

MsMaven liked Sally’s post about why we expect older women to wear dark wash jeans.

She also wanted to share this article on throwaway fashion, and how women have adopted a “wear it once” culture.

Richard Stewart, a mayor in British Columbia, decided to wear the same suit to official functions for as long as possible in an effort to highlight sexist double standards. L’Abeille recommends reading the Facebook post in which Mr. Stewart shares his thoughts.

La Belle Demimondaine thought that Into Mind’s flow chart for how to decide whether a capsule wardrobe is right for you might come in handy.

Texstyle found this article about why one young woman stopped wearing make-up interesting.

Laurinda informs us that Lands’ End is in hot water after publishing and subsequently pulling a catalogue interview with equality advocate Gloria Steinem. Angie points us to Sally’s post on the controversy.

Annagybe reports that Umberto Eco, who passed away two weeks ago, had an unusual take on jeans.

“Despite being one of the fastest-growing demographics in the world (there will be more than one billion women over the age of 60 by 2050), older women simply go missing.” This article about what the media writes and doesn’t write about caught Caro in Oz’s attention.

Kari enjoyed this piece on Seattle designer Luly Yang who is designing uniforms for Alaska Airlines.

Barbara Diane was interested in reading about Guy Trebay’s experiences with actually wearing the clothes he saw on the runway instead of just reviewing them.

This ensemble was inspired by a few street style outfits at New York Fashion week last month. There is also lots more olive bomber jacket outfit inspiration on Pinterest, if these examples don’t tickle your fancy. The outfits are Sporty Luxe and smart casual at best. Most are casual. 

I’ve put together two renditions with trendy footwear to get you started. You’ll need an olive bomber jacket because that’s the star of the show. The bomber is fluid or oversized and NOT fitted. 

Jeans, White Top & Olive Bomber 

Combine cuffed blue jeans or cropped jeans with a white or cream top and olive bomber jacket. Finish off the look with block heel ballerina pumps, sneakers, loafers, oxfords, ankle strap pumps, booties or sandal booties, and a black bag. I chose a black clutch because I like its graphic integrity with the sporty bomber. Substitute the white top with a striped, grey or black top if white is not your thing. A slogan tee works well too. 

Column of Black & Olive Bomber

This is the dressier, smart casual option. Combine a column of black with olive bomber jacket and fun shoes. I chose a black dress for one column, and cropped black pants and peplum top for the other. The flouncy peplum top creates a girly juxtaposition against the tomboy bomber jacket. And the navy bag is less expected than black. But feel free to create a column of colour your way, and add any style of bag. A column of white or cream is another way to go.

Olive is not my colour and least of all in a sporty bomber jacket. But I do have a pretty black lace bomber jacket that I can use to create the outfit with the jeans, and will do just that. Might have to throw in a colourful bag too.