My Wardrobe, Myself

Welcome back to another installment of my summer wardrobe and style series. In part one of the series, I discussed some of the challenges I’ve been experiencing with my warm weather wardrobe, as well as the ways in which my style has changed since summer 2023. Part two was a debrief of my recent closet audit, in which I purged quite a few wardrobe items that I no longer loved, many of which were summer pieces. In that post, I covered the seven main reasons for letting go of my castoffs.

Today’s essay is part three of the series and will cover additions I’ve made to my summer wardrobe this year that are helping me to feel happier, more confident, and truer to my personal style in 2024. I’ll show you fifteen pieces and share why I purchased each item and how it’s making a difference to the way I’m dressing this year.

The New Additions

Here’s a quick look at these fifteen new items, but I’ll show larger thumbnails as I discuss them in categories later in the post:

By category, the new additions break down as follows:

• 3 pairs of cropped pants
• 3 new tops to pair with pants
• 3 long cardigans to wear with pants
• 3 skirts
• 1 top to pair with skirts
• 2 toppers to wear with skirts and dresses

The Pants

I’ve long been a fan of pants from Athleta, as they offer tall sizing and carry comfortable pieces that work well for my casual lifestyle. Their “city pants” are especially great because they can easily be dressed up or down. For the past several years, my favorite style has been the Brooklyn Ankle Pants, but an alternate style was released earlier this year that I liked even more. This new style, which was sadly a “flash in the pan” that’s already been discontinued, was called the Brooklyn Utility Pant, and I ended up purchasing three of the four colors that were available:

What I love most about these pants is that they fit me well in the back, so I feel comfortable wearing them with shorter tops. I struggle a lot with pants being baggy in the rear end when they fit well everywhere else, but this particular style is a much better fit in that area. Although I still wear other pants sometimes, I’ve mostly been wearing the three pairs of pants above on repeat throughout July and August. The black pair is my absolute favorite, but the olive and shale pairs are great, too, and pair well with the many black and black-printed tops in my closet.

I’m sad that there won’t be any more Brooklyn Utility Pants released, and I kind of wish I had purchased the fourth color (tan) as well. But I’m happy to have my new favorite summer pants to wear. They hit me at about the same place as shown on the models, but I always wear them with sandals rather than sneakers, as that’s more in line with my personal style aesthetic.

Tops to Pair with Pants

As I mentioned in part one of this series, summer tops are a weak area of my wardrobe. They often seem to be of lower quality than my long-sleeved tops, and they also tend not to last as long. I’m always on the lookout for good quality tees and tanks, but they can be difficult to find. I was happy to find the three neutral tops below, as they work well with my three new favorite pants from the previous section, as well as with many other pants in my closet.

Black-and-white-print tops are a style staple for me, but they usually skew more black than white. Lighter colors tend to wash me out, but the tone of the sweater tank on the right must be in the “sweet spot” for my coloring. I also think the black flecks within the fabric add enough darkness to harmonize well with my fair skin tone. The other two tops were no-brainers for me to buy. They both fit me well and offer a good amount of visual interest. In the summer, it’s often too warm to wear a topper, so my tops need to be interesting enough to make an outfit. Otherwise, I need to wear a lot of accessories in order to avoid my ensemble looking boring.

Of course, I’d also be happy to wear printed pants, but those are less available (especially in tall sizes), and I wasn’t happy wearing the two pairs that I’d worn regularly in previous summers. One pair felt too short for my current style preferences, while the material on the other pair was too thin for my emotional comfort (as I felt that it showed lumps and bulges). The latter pair is still in my “holding zone” to be revisited in summer 2025, along with other pieces that were “on the bubble” following my recent closet audit.

There’s still room for improvement in the summer top section of my closet, but the three new additions shown above are helping me to create more interesting outfits. They also pair nicely with my Brooklyn Utility Pants to give me multiple new possibilities for what to wear during the warm weather this year.

Duster-Length Cardigans

I have long been a big fan of cardigans, but the styles and silhouettes that I prefer have changed over the years. My current preference is for duster-length pieces that hit me around or below the knee. I think the reason why I like dusters is that they fulfill my “dramatic” and “elegant” style guideposts well (see this post for more information), and they also hit my third guidepost of “polished.” The three cardigans shown below are new this year:

While I don’t usually need a topper in the daytime during the warmer months, I like to have one on hand in the evenings, as it does cool off then. I also tend to run cold, so I usually carry a topper with me wherever I go, especially if I might end up in an air-conditioned location. The cardigans above are all very lightweight, so they’re perfect for the summer months. I also like that the two bright dusters add a pop of color to my neutral ensembles, and the space-dye cardigan works well with almost everything I wear.

Back to Wearing Skirts

I used to be a big lover of wearing skirts, but that tapered off in recent years, as I soured on the styles that I had previously loved and worn. It got to the point where I owned only one skirt last summer, which was worn very infrequently. Fortunately, I started seeing skirts for sale that appealed to me once again, so I now have a decent-sized collection of skirts to choose from. My preference is for midi-length skirts that are either a straight silhouette or mild A-line, as is the case with the three skirts below.

Two of these skirts are so new that I haven’t even worn them yet, but I look forward to pairing them with some of my shorter-length tops that had languished in my closet for several years for lack of anything to wear with them. The pieces shown in the following section will also help me to create skirt ensembles that I’ll be excited to wear.

Short Top and Toppers

Because I’m short-waisted, I prefer not to tuck in my tops. So, when I wear a skirt, I need to pair it with a shorter-length top than what I wear with pants for more optimal proportions. As I mentioned in the last section, I have a small but nice collection of tops that I wear with my skirts, and I added another good one earlier this month. The black Ponte top shown below is the perfect length to pair with my skirts, and the silhouette looks nice on my figure, too. I also like that the weight of the top is a bit heavier than most summer tops, as that will help it to stay in place better and not require much “fussing” throughout the day.

When I was reviewing my purged items in my last post, one category that I mentioned was too-short cardigans. While I used to enjoy wearing waist-length tie-cardigans with dresses and skirts, I began feeling self-conscious in them last year. I think that’s because my body has changed in my post-menopausal years and I’m now carrying more weight in the upper-hip area. Not having toppers that I felt comfortable wearing with my skirts and dresses led to my primarily wearing pants last summer and at the start of this summer.

Fortunately, I was able to find the new short cardigans pictured above, which work much better for me. They’re a couple of inches longer than the ones I used to wear, which is much more flattering. The black 4-in-1 cardigan can be worn several ways, but I like it most tied loosely at about hipbone length. The burgundy cardigan is about the same length and can either be buttoned and hang loose or tied at the bottom as desired.

The burgundy cardigan looks nice with my black and black-printed dresses and skirts, while the black cardigan pairs well with almost everything in that section of my wardrobe. I now feel much more comfortable wearing dresses and skirts because I know that I have toppers on hand that I feel are flattering. I still wear pants more often than dresses or skirts, but I’m happy to feel like I now have more options for my summer style.

Conclusion – and What’s Next

I’m feeling much better about my summer wardrobe this year as a result of the new purchases that I covered in this post. I’m enjoying these new options that I feel comfortable wearing, both physically and emotionally. I also feel more aligned with my personal style aesthetic and my style guideposts this year compared to last summer and previous years. While I’d still like to improve my summer top collection, I have lots of great options in my closet that I can combine to create attractive outfits that I look forward to wearing.

In my next essay, which will likely be the last in my summer wardrobe and style series, I’ll share some of my favorite outfit formulas. I’ll also discuss how I see my summer style – and my style in general – evolving in the coming months and years. I’m glad I took the time to review my summer style, and I hope you’re finding this series interesting and thought-provoking.

Your Thoughts?

Now I’d love to hear from you. Here are a few questions to spark your thoughts, but feel free to weigh in however you’d like:

• What new additions have you made to your summer wardrobe this year?
• How have these items helped you to improve your style?
• What other new pieces would you like to add to your closet for the warm weather season?
• What new pieces do you plan to acquire for the upcoming fall season (which may have already started for some of you)?
• What are your three “style guideposts”? How well do you feel your current wardrobe aligns with these aspirational words?

I look forward to reading what you decide to share. I hope you all enjoy the remaining days and weeks of summer (or winter for my friends in the southern hemisphere)! Take care, and I’ll be back soon with part four of this series.