This summer, after attending YLF-school with professor Angie for the three years since I retired, I finally feel that I have a summer wardrobe
that works pretty well for me. I don’t love everything but I like a lot more
than I don’t. Here are some outfits from the past couple of months. We do have some extremely hot/humid days but this year a bit fewer than last year, at least so far.

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Thrifted striped hoodie (old Liz Claiborne Crazy Horse brand), rolled/cuffed white jeans, Earth black sandals. I don’t normally go for bright stripes but really liked this top.

Olive cotton top, Levis dark wash skinnies, Earth brown sandals. Jewelry (finds are at the bottom): a rarely worn necklace I got in Arizona
many years ago that is a funky hammered metal. New this year are the Ann Klein watch and Kate Spade bracelet.

White lace up Tommy Hilfiger top, ON olive pants cuffed. earth black sandals. The top seems too long (even though I shortened it) and a little too tight around the hips. I need to either shorten the top a little more or open up the bottom of the side seams to make a tunic style or something. It's also a bit too high-contrast between top and bottom.

ON Gold polka dot wrap top, very old NYDJ dark skinnies cuffed, earth brown sandals

“Hawaiian” print top, levi’s white jeans, black gabor sandals. The top has bird-of-paradise flowers on it which have huge sentimental meaning for me; they grew quite happily in my California grandmother’s garden in San Clemente, where her climate was a huge eye-opener to this New England girl the first time I visited her in my early 20’s. I also really like the proportions of this outfit.

B/W striped dress. Some of you may remember this dress from last summer, when it was a fav here on YLF. It has a gathered knot-thing at the hip (see find). I un-stitched that knot thing and liked the dress much better without it. With gold sandals.

Blue/white cotton shirt from H&M, Levi’s light wash jeans, brown sandals. The find says linen but the shirt is cotton, yet I think it’s the same shirt. I had been looking for a casual version of a classic blue/white striped shirt like this since early last spring.

H&M Palm-leaf print dress, Aetrex gold sandals. I found this pretty dress at H&M, and was so surprised to find how much I love wearing it. (Only once so far because it’s a bit too dressy for most of my lifestyle). The slit/tie sleeves were perfect for a neighbor’s party on a hot day. It comes in several other prints and colors, and I’m thinking of getting the solid black one too. I have avoided loose shapes like this in the past but this one seems just right.

Style & Co Tie Died Maxi Dress, earth black sandals. The dress looks more shapely in person, but it is fairly loose.

ON gold top, levi’s light wash jeans cuffed, brown sandals.

Black short sl top, ON olive pants cuffed and earth black sandals. A very typical outfit for me this summer, I’ve worn this exact one quite a few times.

Black print sleeveless blouse, grey skinnies cuffed, black Gabor sandals. A bit “meh” I think.

Notes:

Also shown are the three cross body bags I’ve been using all summer and the gold tote I’ve used once. The black one is Radley with a bit of
a nod to Rebecca Minkoff styling but with gold hardware, which I prefer.

Last summer I wore white sandals that seem to have lost all their cushioning this year so I will be passing them on. I felt no strong desire to replace them, but have bought two new gold/metallic ones.

On really hot days I’ve been wearing Bermudas and a top but
haven’t taken any photos

And... I finally figured out what type of dresses I like to wear! Last year I went a bit mad with all the dresses and learned a lot, mostly about what I DIDN’T like, so this summer it all came together.

Would love to hear your comments and suggestions!

I decided to list the alterations I did:

• black print sleeveless blouse – shortened hem
• white lace up top – shortened hem but need to go at it again
• ON olive pants – took in back waist (I’ve had to do this alteration on pants for decades, I hardly event think about it)
• NYDJ skinnies - took in the back yoke horizontally as a way to shorten up the back rise
• ON gold top – unstitched the neckline wrap over tacking that was in the wrong place for my proportions
• B/W striped dress – unstitched the knot thing
• Blue/White shirt – shortened the front to play the leg lengthening game, but left the back alone
• Tie sleeve dress – took in the shoulder seams a bit to bring the neckline sides up a little to cover bra straps (always have to do this with boatnecks). The hem length is perfect on me, hitting around the knees where I like it.
• Maxi Dress – shortened by 2.5” even though it is a petite!