WOW! It's a treat - amazing collection of summer outfits!
I love all but special mentioning #12 and #32 ( to die for! ).
I think I'll try your method this summer - midi skirts as well .

Wow! All of those outfits are amazing! I really enjoyed looking through them. They all looked so put together and cohesive, sort of like a summer signature style! Amazing.

Gorgeous! A Masterclass on how to dress for our hot summers and look beautiful and stylish at all times. This is definitely going to be a post I refer back to when planning my summer wardrobe for 2021. I like buying statement pieces too, so great inspiration on to focus on the basics for my winter wardrobe.

It is so good to see you wear and enjoy your gorgeous clothes, of course the fact that you are stunningly beautiful does not hurt either!

Wow, I absolutely love these color combos! So many amazing outfits. You look fantastic.

I love these outfits. Your style shines through.

Wow, these are stunning Brooklyn. I just cant make skirts work for me nowadays so I'm really envious Might steal some of your color palette inspirations!

Hello my friend. I am a fan of skirts in the summer, and I have struggled sometimes with the appropriate top to wear. It generally needs to be shorter than a top one would wear with pants. Both the length of the top and where it shapes in at the waist is important.

You nicely solve the problem with some of the banded tops that have a nice proportion with the skirt. Though the look of your pictures does not have quite the same feel as your winter wardrobe, I still see cohesion and it still feels true to your aesthetic.

The other issue I sometimes run into is finding the match for a particular skirt. I've seen Angie mention that a skirt is often the most orphaned item, and I think it is hard to find the right top to wear with some printed skirts. I also find the higher necked tank top a flattering look, and have a few in my closet. They do in fact come out to play with skirts the most.

As we here look to spring and summer, I've held off on adding skirts if they don't have an obvious top I can match it up with. I will take some inspiration from your pics, and I'm glad you've found a summer uniform that really works for you.

What a great collection of midi skirts and tops. Stellar idea. These shapes and colours suit you so well.

Your focus on essentials has worked - and allowed those statements to shine.

Love the accessories too - and I think - the new darker hair? Or is it my screen.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant... I am speechless Brooklyn. You are Queen of midi skirt. I especially like #6 and #8 , great skirt and beautiful color combo, like teal bag, but all are perfect.

Awe, thanks MJ!

Sally, thanks. Yes it’s been a while since I lightened my hair so it’s almost natural now. But I do plan to lighten it again in a couple of months.

Delurked, great to hear from you. I hope you are well. In the longer version of my post (heavily edited before posting) I said I had a closet full of longer tees for wearing with slim jeans but next to nothing for skirts. There are more semi cropped style tops around now, so that’s helpful. The high neck rib racer tee is having a moment here. Every retailer had a version last summer. So I was lucky to be able to get various colours. Because they are stretchy you can kind of ruche them up without tucking (which is my preference and yours too I think). Hopefully you’ll find some to suit. I’m the opposite to you on skirts. If I see an asymmetrical midi skirt in a print I love and natural fabric, I tend to buy first and ask questions about tops later. There’s always black, ha ha!

RainB, steal away. I just stole some colour palettes from Tanya.

Bijou, you are too kind. I’m not surprised your wardrobe is statement heavy but I think it might work for you. Your style is quite maximal and you wear them so well.

Star, Gigi and N, thank you!

Slim cat, I hope you post your midi skirt outfits too!

OMG-what a treat! Your analysis and visuals are gorgeously mind boggling! I so love white for summer-as I find it easy to add any color to it. But OMG, I do ADMIRE your sophisticated COLOR SCHEMES HERE and use of more elegant textures (for casuals!) A L.O.T., too! Will study each your pictie, maybe I can learn some of your mojo!

(Oh, and I have a similar strategy with you, buying skirts first....then there is always a black top to match!:-))

Yes Brooklyn. I default to black (or navy) tops with skirts too. I also love an asymmetrical skirt. I am debating two items right now. An asymmetrical navy dress and a printed midi skirt. The colors of the skirt are throwing me off a bit because they’re quite warm, and I usually gravitate toward cool colors. And pretty much all I have in my closet to wear with the skirt is a black tee.

You’re right that I am not a tucker inner of tops - even when the forum tells me I need to!

Here is the skirt I’m considering. I’d love to find an olive top, but I’ve realized there are many many olive shades, so not all would match. Plus, this skirt has a brownish background. So the color needed gets a bit tricky. Hence black top solves most all skirt problems.

Delurked, that’s a great skirt. My first thought, if you want to keep the colour scheme cool, was something in a light blue or grey green or grey blue. Or maybe a mauve. Look, I found a palette!

I know what you mean about olive green. There are lots of versions and they can skew either warm or cool,

Lyn, thanks for that high praise! I used to wear a lot of black and white, but I’ve moved away from it now. I’m preferring lower contrast outfits. I particularly enjoy layering tonal or analogous colours. As part of my strategy to make my summer dressing more joyful, I deliberately tried to use at least 3 colours in every outfit and add shine and texture. Texture is hard in summer. Thanks for noticing!

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't do mauve, but I will look at the light blue options I may have in the closet. Somehow my wardrobe has gotten super dark, and my goal for this year is to purchase lighter shades for tops.

This top I tried on was so close, but it was just too cropped. This picture was what sold me, but IRL it was only maybe 20 inches long and shorter than it looked. I am long through the torso, so that length would show too much for my comfort unless I walked around with an assistant to do my bidding because I wouldn't be able to raise my arms or reach for anything ha ha. I'm glad I wore my cropped tees back in my college days, but I'll leave the memories there. That said, I could use a couple tops that are shorter that work exclusively for the skirts I have. It will be something to work on finding.

Fab! I think our tastes are very similar for summer, and I’m wowed by your execution! Great job with a systematic approach. I love all these high neck racer back tops- I find them much more flattering and tidier-looking than the low neck tops that used to be so prevalent for summer. And now that there are cropped versions available, even better.

I knew this was going to happen when I looked through your photos, so I left it until this morning You wear a sleeveless top and midi skirt like no-one else . Seriously. I only wish I looked half as good in a tank top ! You've found your look and have been SO successful at finding the right pieces for it. I love all of the inspiration /paint chip photos too. Smart strategy, and one that clearly paid off. Summer tops are difficult for me too, and I'm planning on adopting this same strategy for tops to wear with shorts and lightweight summer pants.

Late to this thread... and running off with all your beautiful dark teals! So gorgeous!

Plonk! You are the Queen of skirts. These are all fabulous.

Several of these skirts are the exact length I would wear IF I wore more skirts! Sort of midi but not overwhelming. So they are great inspirations.
Also, color palette. Though mine is more on the cool- tone side, and I do crave some brights in summer, I also like "medium near-neutrals" in cooler (temp-wise) styles and fabrics, and want things to mix and match more easily, since I don't overall need lots of items, so this post gives me some ideas.

Also, many of the types of tops for the kind of midi skirts I like work with high-waisted summer pants or shorts, which also gives a way to have a few versatile items that get more wear in the season.

Across the board, I love your color palette. The tops you selected are perfect. I would wear any and all of these. You look fab in every look.Thank you for posting your midi skirt capsule. It was a real treat for the eyes, and gave me food for thought. I always struggle with summer dressing. It's my least favorite season for clothes.

Wow. Like Lisap I didn’t comment last night. I did look at the photos then but wanted to do you justice in commenting.
The thought and effort you have put into this is mind-blowing. I wonder if all the people IRL who no doubt compliment you and say you always look gorgeous or similar realise the behind-the-scenes work. I love the idea of taking several summers to mindfully work on your wardrobe. Now that hopefully means you will get the wear and look fab to boot! ( or to sandal).
BTW I challenge you that the Inuovo sandals and the teal ones are not so chunky! Refined, even! I think I would wear them!

You are a true artist. I appreciate your letting us know your process for these gorgeous looks. It is more proof that it takes effort and planning and doesn't usually just happen. Brilliant that you figured out it was the tops you needed, and then hunted for the perfect ones. All the beautiful skirts and lush, moody colors really shine. Can't wait to see what you do with shorts.

Brooklyn -you look amazing. Each outfit is a work of art and perfect for you. You have an incredible eye for proportion and balance. Just stunning. BTW you are incredibly beautiful shoulders and arms. The racer back tanks really showcase them. I’m busy lifting weights and I hope someday my shoulders and arms will be half as beautiful as yours!!!

My arms have been the bane of my existence forever . Well , one of them anyways , lol. Doesn’t matter how thin or in shape I am , they never show definition .

Thanks everyone for the very kind words. I’m glad also that some of you got something out of this in terms of food for thought this (northern) summer. Seriously, I can’t remember ever being this happy with my summer casual wardrobe (or part of it anyway). So planning and some persistence with styling does pay off.

Jenni, IRL I hardly ever get compliments on my style. And I do put some effort into it! That’s one of the nice things about posting here - that people appreciate the effort. And of course the exchange of ideas/sources of inspiration. My teal slides are about as “delicate” in terms of sandals as I get. I was super attracted to the colour of course. I still prefer a chunky sole and a bit more coverage.

Lisa and ChristieIJ, I might do a separate post on shorts. That capsule is still in the planning stages (doesn’t hurt to start early!) but it might be good to talk some more about it, because I think many of us struggle with them.

Gryffin and Lisa, FYI I do a lot of work on the suspension straps (TRX), which I highly recommend for home workouts if you have the space.

Well these are wonderful! I appreciate that you showed the mix & match aspect, with the same items popping up in multiple outfits.

Can you tell me more about working with the color schemes? Do you start with the garment, then look for a palette that includes it, and then look for items in the other colors in the palette, or do you start with the color scheme first? The shapes in your outfits are too good to come together by serendipity because the colors worked. At what point do you add them in, and textures?

Thanks FI.

I started with the garments. I already had the skirts, which I’d pretty much chosen on intuition (liked the colour, fabric, shape, pattern). With the tops, I chose them mainly for shape (compatibility with my skirts) and fabric but I tried to get a range of colours that appealed to me rather than just my usual black and white. I chose the shirred top specifically for its texture. I felt like I overbought initially but I don’t think I did.

I then started experimenting. I’d search colour palettes by colour for eg “teal colour palette”, take screen shots of those that appealed to me, then see if I could do something similar with what I had. In each case I tried to work in at least 3 colours, some texture and some shine.

I found jewellery and bags were particularly useful for working in texture. You will notice some of my cuffs are ribbed or have a woven or lattice texture. As well as shine of course. And I used some of my coloured pendants and beads as a way of repeating colours in my outfit.

It was all about making summer dressing more interesting (to me).

This outfit might not stand out but it was a bit novel for me because in fact no colour (other than gold) was repeated. The colours are tonal but not the same. I’d like to be able to do more of this: subtle variations in the colours in my outfits, IYKWIM. Not just *black and red skirt + red top + black boots + black bag* which is my usual outfit formula.

That’s the one that stood out to me as well. Not “matchy”, but it all goes together so well! Your negative example is pretty much spot on for what I’m trying to get away from: two-tone strong pattern + bright color. Thanks for the explanation. X

Thanks FI. I just want to add, for anyone else reading, that there’s nothing wrong with my red and black example! I just have a hankering at the moment for more depth in the colour palette in my outfits.

Absolutely! That kind of perky combo can be great. I just feel I’m in a rut with it. I’m generally in the mood for more subtle/interesting color combos, as in my recent thread about colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel or lighter/darker.