I have enjoyed the discussion about summer tops/tees this week. It’s great getting a peek at how other forum members handle hot and sticky weather.

I thought I would take this opportunity to take stock of my summer tops. Since summer is not my dominant season my approach to shopping for it has historically not been very effective. In the past, I had a LOT of summer clothes — things I thrifted for cheap (since summer is not Seattle’s dominant season, it was easy to find lots of stuff in good condition), but without an overall plan. Then, a few years ago I realized summer was not my dominant season and pared way back. The result I think is under-investment in this capsule. (ETA: I also rely a lot on sundresses and cropped cardis in the summer, but that collection is in much better shape. It's separates where I'm having trouble cracking the code.)

Since I’m in a wardrobe-building phase this year, now is my chance to fix that! I’d love it if you all would take a look at the photos below and let me know what jumps out at you in terms of missing pieces. What should I add to make this summer (ETA: separates) capsule more functional? Feel free to make suggestions for additional bottoms, too.

(Note: I’m not so much asking for specific product recommendations as more abstract suggestions — “a plain navy top that can be worn with skirts” for example. Not that I mind product recommendations but I don’t want people to feel obligated to go digging for options especially since I haven't given much detail about my preferences!)

The below are high-summer tops only — I have some other tops for milder weather that I haven’t included here.

Photo 1: Pants/shorts. Gray kick-crop jeans, medium-wash cropped jeans, black shorts, navy shorts. Thinking about adding some lighter/more colorful shorts.

Photo 2: Knit tops to wear with pants/shorts. Black tee and blue floral tee are showing wear. Will probably also pass on the red/multicolored floral, something about the print and/or cut is “off” and i have just never felt right in it.

Photo 3: Lightweight popovers. I like these with shorts on hot days. I think the linen button-up on far right could also be worn with the black tube skirt in photo 4, and open as a topper over sundresses.

Photo 4: Skirts. Will probably pass on/demote to gear the Breton striped skirt. The shorter black skirt can be dressed up or down (I think it will be suitable for my fairly casual work-related needs) and the longer one is more casual.

Photo 5: Tops to wear with skirts. Hm. You see the problem here, no? (Also, yes, those are two different Breton tanks. I bought the petite length to wear with skirts and the regular length to wear with pants/shorts. Still returnable so feel free to tell me I’m out of my gourd here.)

Thanks for looking and for problem-solving with me!