Getting Dressed in the Summer Should Be Fun

27 special pieces to zhuzh up your summer basics

(There’s still time to enter my giveaway with Serviette! Win a full-size perfume of your choice here.)

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A couple of months ago, I booked a session with the internet’s favorite stylist,

Allison Bornstein

, to discuss getting dressed in the summer, a struggle I revisit every damn year. Allison’s advice was so generous and supportive, and I hung up from our call with a renewed appreciation for what’s in my closet and a sense of confidence that, even with some body image issues and an incredibly low tolerance for sweating, I possess the inner strength to get dressed when it’s hot out.

Something I realized after our session was that one of the reasons why I prefer cold-weather dressing (LA cold, not cold cold) is that many of the most special items in my closet—things I’ve found while traveling or secondhand scores on Depop—are categorically inappropriate for the summer months. There’s a hand-knitted Irish wool fisherman sweater I wear around my house almost every day, a pleated silk car coat that looks good over literally anything, and a chocolate brown suede trench I look forward to wearing all year. I actually have fun getting dressed when I wear pieces that don’t feel like they came from the mall, but in the summer, I seem to buy variations of the same things over and over: black linen pants, poplin skirts, breezy white dresses. I think I just might be bored.

These vintage tap shorts + an oversized white tee + black Havianas? So good.

I usually see my personal style through a pretty classic, maybe even slightly preppy lens, but I realized that one of my “three words” should be collected. Collected, to me, captures that “Oh this? It’s vintage” feeling I get from both my favorite sun-faded Ralph Lauren dad hat and my dress made of antique bandanas. It’s the silk YSL scarf I found at the Santa Monica flea market in the $5 bin, the hand-beaded mini tote my friend Alice made, and the micro-pleated, dropwaist silk skirt I picked up at a vintage shop in my neighborhood. When worn alongside my more structured basics, I don’t feel like I’m wearing a mishmash of thrift store finds, but instead a carefully-curated look that still feels like me.

This fish necklace + a sleek black swimsuit + cotton boxer shorts? Chic.

This is how I’ve described my style when it comes to interiors, so it only makes sense that this idea of using basics as a base (duh) while sprinkling in items that have some personality to them is what I should be striving for sartorially. Someone must stop me from buying yet another breezy cotton pant, for the love of god! I’m going on my first beach vacation in forever next month and, while brainstorming what to pack, I started hunting for those special little accessories, items of clothing, and styling tricks that feel summery and vacation-y but not like I’m cosplaying “vacationer,” you know? The little things I can add to my rotation of Leset Margo tees, Gap black linen trousers, and classic Havianas that inject a little “out of office” energy into the mix.

A French market basket + a structured poplin A-line dress + a pair of canvas sneakers? Throw it on me!!!

Read on for a treasure trove of vintage, one-of-a-kind, and new-but-don’t-look-it pieces—shoes, bags, items of clothing, and more—that are inspiring my own shopping journey this summer.