My summer capsule wardrobe

It's about time for my summer wardrobe post, since it is only three weeks away from officially being autumn here in New Zealand.  I liked what reader Karen T. had to say in her comment on last week's post.  She said that because where she lives has two seasons rather than four, you can get bored with wearing the same clothes for that long.

For this reason she prefers to spread her purchasing out over the six month season, buying the same amount overall, but keeping things fresh by not having it all at once.  That's what I have been doing this summer season, I realised from reading Karen's comment.

The two soft denim-y dresses above, from Esprit, I bought in January, and the wedge sandals were new this week.

I much prefer dresses to skirts for summer wear.  Not only do they suit my body shape better, but they are much cooler in the heat. My preferred type of dress is with no horizontal waist seam and fitting while still being loose-ish.  If they are too baggy or baby-doll style it is not a good look for someone with a bust.  The dress tents out from there and, well, who wants to look pregnant when they're not?

Below are my warmer weather weight trousers.  The two dark pairs - navy and black - are pull-on, no waistband, no pockets cuffed capri type pants.  They look like nothing off, but are comfortable and chic on, in my opinion.  I go for a simple look pairing these with one of my striped tops and a pair of ballet flats or Vans slip-ons.

The grey-green stretch jean-trousers (they are meant to be faded in and out) I have had for a while and I love to wear them with a black top, or my two green tops.

Can you see a theme where I find a shape I like and buy similar?  The two blouses on the left are a slight boho/smock style and I have found a couple that don't make me look huge (sometimes they are very gathered).  These two have floppy fabrics.  I like the striped one with my navy capri pants and the black/white/pink mini leopard one with my black capri pants.  The top is a slinky stretchy loose square neck style with short cap sleeves and is always comfortable and chic.

My three striped tops are still going strong, as I'm sure you can tell from my Instagram photos where I am in stripes more often than not.  The two green tops are the ones I like with my green pants.  The green tee-shirt is supposed to look old and wrinkled, promise :)

And then there are my shoes for the warm weather.  Again, a lot of duplicates, but in my defence I stocked up before we sold the shop, that's why I have four pairs of identical Birkenstocks.

So what did I buy new this season?  Not counting shoes from our own store, I bought the two denim dresses, two pairs of capri pants and orange wedge sandals (which are easy to wear because they have a platform - they don't feel like high heels).  Everything else I already had.  This is easier to achieve when you live in a temperate climatic like I do.

For many of you, it is coming into spring, and it is exciting for those of us in the southern hemisphere to be thinking about our autumn wardrobes.

Thanks so much everyone for all the great comments on last week's post '3 ways to fall in love with your wardrobe again'; I got some extra inspiration from them :)

Are you looking forward to the upcoming season?
What were your favourite purchases from this season?

Have a great week!

fiona

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Here are some other personal style posts you might like too:

My spring capsule wardrobe
The 'Amelie' Technique
Dreaming of the perfectly curated wardrobe