I own very little hot weather tops, as we usually don’t have many hot weather days in our climate. The past years I culled and did not replace some polyester tops that had not been worn for ages. Of course, this year seems to bring heat wave after heat wave. I wanted to buy some new professional looking layering tops that work on their own too - but it’s been hard this late in the season to find stuff… Remember that new brand I discovered and loved? Everything I liked and was saving up for: gone. Maybe you recall I prefer shopping at independent boutiques? Turns out to be useless when looking for something specific at this time of year.

So I went to an online department store, looked at ALL the tops in my size and color palette, and ordered a bunch to try.

What a disappointment.

Of course, it’s very obvious that some of these are too large. But what with weird oversize cuts I don’t even think sizing down would fix it.

I’m only considering keeping no. 4, a short sleeve shirt in a very thin cotton (voile?) which might be flexible enough for regular AND hot days. I like the color and style of 5 but the polyester remains a dealbreaker. (Styling is always the same as I’d like something to go specifically with these pants.)

I also added a couple of pictures with custom finds, of additional tops I consider ordering from different sources.

Or: I can just suck it up for the rest of the season with a very small hot weather capsule and some creativity, instead of replacing stuff I don’t really like with stuff that’s barely better … And make an early start on summer tops next year.

Thoughts?