Your Simple, Soft, Sexy Dispatch
My friends and I clock in to share our hazy summer go-tos
It’s June after all and you’re young until September.
Ocean Vuong
It’s the first Saturday of July and I’m lounging on a shaded hill in Fort Greene. From my perch I scan the tennis courts, gnosh on half of a crusty, oily sandwich from my favorite deli, and bat a fly that continues to land on the same spot of what little shin I have exposed.
Between everything being too hot and my lack of enough disposable income to be gallivanting outside the city to more glamorous destinations, I’ve been thinking about garments that achieve a certain level of practicality or performance while retaining a softened or raw sense of sex appeal. The kind that accentuates wet hair tendrils, freckled shoulders, or lazy days with a book. Ones that can survive the occasional watermelon juice stain, or endure your unending sweat. Ones that would almost lose its essence if you tried wearing it with a bra.
It’s as much about the clothing itself as the aura of the wearer; I am a firm believer that sensuality blooms out of vulnerability. Hugh Grant’s reassurance to Julia Roberts in Notting Hill was etched into my brain at a young age: in the revealing early light, with her defenses down, she is “lovelier this morning than [she has] ever been.”
Clairo’s Juna tackles a similar idea. The chorus brings up how with her lover, she’s given up on hiding behind walls: With you there’s no pretending / You know me / You know me / And I just might know you, too. Later, the artist connects this to how she expresses herself through her clothing, the accompaniment almost a trance-like waltz: You make me wanna go dancing / You make me wanna try on feminine / You make me wanna go buy a new dress / You make me wanna slip off a new dress. The song seems to argue the purity, the delicacy of a relationship can expose new avenues of untouched gender expression that mirror those qualities.
Thus my tastes for this sentiment favor things unfinished, clothing that feels precious without being precarious. I’m drawn to eyelets and lace, wrap blouses that taper out into ties that evoke bikini strings, sheer bits and handkerchiefs reimagined as pants or blouses. Somehow nailing down the need for proper ventilation and purpose — clothing that’s not only intended for sitting prim at an outdoor table for four, but for cycling through the city, rolling around in park grasses and sunbathing, going to the farmer’s market or gardening or moving into a new apartment or writing (the last of which I can’t bear to wear clothes that lead me to fidget everywhere else except the keyboard; I am very attuned to sensory distractions).
I prefer to leave one if not three things undone in an outfit, and adhere to choosing either showing leg or torso but never both, not from a virtuous position but because you really only have the capacity to fix one element in any given outfit at a time — otherwise you will likely overthink your appearance.
After seeing Audrey Hepburn in Givenchy for Charade (a must watch for fans of pillbox hats and action-romance), I’ve paid more attention to bateau necklines that skim the collarbone… and I’ll be damned, I fuck with a capri or culotte that shows some ankle and lower calf. The Brooke Callahan trousers below, with the drawstring waist, would be a good way to dip your toe into these waters if you’re also sus of becoming a pedal pusher freak.
I am, however, a freak about a collared shirt, and have been trying to be more imaginative with my button-ups as a result. I typically stick to the loose/unbuttoned/boyfriend shirt look, but lately I’ve been more interested in drawing attention towards the wrists, rather than hiding from it. I’ll either stack large bangles and bracelets overtop the cuffs, or roll the cuffs to just below the elbow and let the jewelry dangle and have room to slink around. Wrists and ankles are the sort of tapering-off point of outfits, and exposing them in larger silhouettes adds a delicate air. At least, that’s the through line I draw from 60’s capris to the Olsen twins.
I’ve tapped a few friends to weigh in who are as unfussed and practical as they are stylish. They naturally reflect this attitude towards summer dressing, so I hounded each of them for their takes and found some interesting alignments with my fashion mood board of late.
Hurst has guru level sensibilities about style, and not just because she looks incredible in a caftan. She manages to make quirky or sculptural garments approachable, which is maybe necessary for a woman about town carrying ridiculously large rolls of fabric or antique lamps or walking her dog, Pig. When discussing this concept with her, we started riffing on songs that would apply to the theme, Heather claiming there are just those songs that “make you want to dig a hole.” What. Comment below if you, like me, would have mentioned most people call that an ear worm… but that’s exactly the hilarity I enjoy about her. Not to mention, she brought some great picks to share with you.HH: The through line in my summer dressing is the idea that what is most real can be birthed from resignation…it’s too hot to bother with most things, but this is tempered by the shared energy around committing to activities purely due to the season. I think my style thrives at the crux of aspiration and laziness.
(HH con’t) The soft tee! Regarding “necessity being the mother of invention”... I have poor temp regulation so I sleep in these in the A/C, then wear them right out the door for chilly morning dog walks or windier summer days. I compromise with a little naked skirt moment for some airflow. For that “lived in” look try…living in it!
Is anything more banal yet enduring than a long white skirt…I'm anti summer steam because the first sit of the day will cement ass-shaped wrinkles to the back of the skirt, which would only be emphasized by a perfectly pressed front. Better to be wrinkly all around.
*Here I will mention Heather passed along a drawstring version to me and it has been the single most impactful addition to my closet this summer. Paired with a backless top, et voila! I am woman.
HH: Summer styling questions always revolve around sweat, so I’d like to vouch for the frivolous fun that is shamelessly sweating in silk. Live a little. There's something perversely sexy about letting everyone know exactly how sweaty I am. Yes, laundry is a pain in New York more than most places, but sweating is not dying. The clothes won't disintegrate. (This is also why we go secondhand!)
My life is here and now, carrying dusty lampshades and bolts of leftover fabric home on the F across from Andy Cohen, also sweating in his silk shirt. I don't want to die in a pair of sweat shorts waiting for a dry, cool summer.
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This is perhaps where I can learn from Heather the most — sweat being perversely sexy?!?!?! In silk!?!?! Fuck yeah, we should be owning it, especially in a place like New York where we all know we’re sweating and somehow trying to pretend like we’re not. Wear proper deodorant and carry on with your life. While you’re at it, don’t wait to wear your best silks for a day that’s 20 degrees cooler, because you might not get it this summer.
Unless you’re living under a rock, you may have noticed a certain indie rock sister group is winning on the nostalgia reference/simple sexy styling/best music video boyfriends front. I came for the Nicole Kidman reference and Drew Starkey, but stayed for what costume designer Erin Benach called “layers coming off, layers going on”: a nod to ‘96 Calvin Klein, ‘99 Prada, ‘01 Miu Miu menswear, ‘98 Helmut Lang (GQ).
Having a soft, femme feel doesn’t negate the use of supercharged colors according to Benach. Some may say the bright blues were chosen with a Miranda Priestly eye: “Not Lapis. Maybe cerulean… it's like the kind of blue you kind of find in Greece or something, you know?”
I do know, because my friend Romy Gardiner just so happens to have spent a week in Greece wearing exactly that blue. She’s a PR girlie in London who invited me over for Christmas upon meeting in the first seminar of our master’s program in my first year living in the UK. Romes doesn’t really have clothes that make her seem out of place; similarly athletic and long legged, we share a love of cargo pants with baby tees and elongated silhouettes. She’s as energetic as this Grecian cerulean.
TW because her tan makes me want to scream!
RG: I have SO many long, strappy dresses in rotation. They’re perfect to dress up or down… this is actually a jumpsuit but does the same job. It’s from COS but I got it in the sale! They make me feel a little glamorous, while still being practical for hot days.
RS: One may see these and remember a particularly stunning blue on someone with so many striations of aura that Channing Tatum got a buzz cut and started booking more roles again. You can’t have Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz as parents and be anything other than cool and otherworldly.
Like Heather, Romy isn’t above hitting replay on a classic. Enter the white linen trouser.
RG: You can’t go wrong here. I have staple black and white pairs but adding color is a MUST in the summer, IMO. Casual look for work? Sorted. With a bikini going to the beach? Sorted! + of course with an oversized shirt to cover the sunburn after a day by the pool hehe.
I wear this shirt so much in the summer. I take it as a layer round the city, but also live in it by the pool or on the beach. Love that effortless vibe!
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My aura revelation from above came to me after scrolling through Jane Birkin mood boards. A majority of the images were taken of her appearing footloose and fancy-free on the Riviera wearing a white tee and various denim, typically flared or slouchy. Yes, having a flattering cut and style for basics is incredibly important for styling, but what stuck to me most is that it doesn’t matter to us that it’s just what she threw on to not have to think about what to wear, because she’s Jane Birkin. Who am I to think my natural hair, a cute bag and a smile aren’t accessory enough for a no frills fit? I’m Ryann Stutz.
I would imagine most of us have a skirt, a button up, a short sleeve tee, lounge-y pants to replicate some of these ideas. What it may lack in novelty, it makes up for in languid ease, and for that I find it entirely lovely.
I love being a champion for sweat