Hi all

I’ve been taking some time off from the forum following the death of my dog and some other personal issues. Been pretty sad, TBH. But my word for 2023 is “engage”, so here I am, back again, to talk fashion and style.

Over the last few years I’ve put a lot of thought into Summer style. Summer is the dominant season in my part of the world and usually my hardest.

A few years ago, after moving permanently to WFH, I put together a midi skirt capsule for casual Summer wear. That really worked for me. Since then my skirts have got longer, but they continue to be the backbone of my Summer wardrobe. I wear them with casual or dressier tops, and occasionally a jacket or cotton jumper, depending on the weather and the occasion. Plus sandals, sneakers or combat boots (all flat). I am reasonably covered and protected from the sun, but still reasonably cool. I can walk for miles.

I used to have separate Summer capsules of nicer but less practical clothes for work/going out and boring but practical clothes for weekend casual wear. No more. Everything is blended and adaptable to different occasions. Yay for that.

Now that I have a good base formula I can just tweak things each season.

This Summer I decided on an overarching style objective of “modern moody Bohemian”. This helped with outfit planning and, to some extent, with purchasing decisions. I’ll put more about that in replies because it’s a deep, deep dive.

My more specific objectives were:
*Add a dress
*Add some slouch

The dress has been a total fail. I don’t seem to have the same success as other forum members with Summer dresses. I’ve given up for this year.

The slouch mission went much better. I got some cargo pants. (Also some cargo jeans, but too hot for those yet.) They are long and roomy. Cropped and slim pants, which have been so dominant for years, never really worked for my style and body shape. As a consequence, I previously had zero pants in my warm weather wardrobe.

The new cargo pants are lightweight and 100% cotton. Still not for truly hot days. I will get more wear out of them in Autumn. For now I have been wearing them on cooler and wet days. Mostly as day wear for outdoorsy activities (eg bushwalking). But I did wear one pair to dinner with a metallic top on a wet night while on holiday (hello juxtaposition).

Pics 2-14: a sample of my Summer skirt outfits.
Pics 15-20: slouch.

So, there it is. As always, I appreciate your thoughts or suggestions.