As winter fades into a chilly memory and spring has well and truly sprung, the time has come to really dig into your wardrobe as we’ve all been guilty of grabbing those two or three favourite outfits over the sluggish winter period and really get to grips with what we do and don’t have for summer.
Your first mission, should you choose to accept it is to sort your wardrobe contents into three piles, as follows.
- Keep: these are the clothes that you envisage wearing and can imagine actual (real life) scenarios in which they really will get an airing.
- Sell: labelled and vintage items sell really well on eBay and why not get a little pot to contribute to your summer wardrobe by selling some of the clothes you rarely wear.
- Donate: set aside those clothes that you no longer wear, but would struggle to shift on eBay and take them to your local charity shop.
Right, done? Doesn’t that feel better? Now you’re ready to take some tips on what to add to your wardrobe for summer.
First, let’s make a list. What type of clothes are you lacking in?
The ladies among us might come up with something like this:
Shorts and skirts
Cotton or linen ladies suit
Some sleeveless/short-sleeved tops
T-shirts and Tops
Pure Silk Dresses
Tank tops
Sandals and flip flops
Silk Night Dresses
Scarves and Rogue Hats
It is wise to go for a couple of summer dresses and if necessary a nice, airy high twist wool and cotton or linen suit first because they will underpin many of your summer outfits. This will enable you to choose the rest of your clothes to match.
Cute, lacy white dresses are always useful. They look great on the beach, summer walks and lounging in the garden.
Why not also opt for something in metallic tones and something in blue. The former addresses the industrial trend that is becoming more and more prevalent and the latter is really in this spring and summer. This leads on to ladies suits and something linen in light or mid blues will be perfect.
The rest of your summer wardrobe can really be dictated by your own personal taste and by your choices of dresses and suits. Denim always works for shorts and goes with pretty much anything!
For men, why not take a break from the jeans or shorts with a t shirt, which, if we’re all honest is probably our staple summer wear look and opt for something different. A mens summer suit if required should ideally be in linen.
After you’ve gone through the same purge as the women, my advice is to start with a boat shoe and work upwards! The boat shoe is the most important summer wear item for men as it can provide the footing (sorry) for many an outfit. Boat shoes go perfectly with jeans, jean shorts, khaki shorts and moving further up the body the linen shirt, which (perhaps in a nice subtle washed grey) would be my hot tip for something fresh this summer. Linen men’s trousers require a dash of colour in the footwear to avoid a washed out look, but boat shoes can accommodate this need too!