My Wardrobe, Myself

I have now been wearing my summer clothes for about a month, which has given me an opportunity to form an initial impression about this part of my wardrobe. I haven’t done my full summer closet audit yet, but I’ve found that I usually need to tweak my wardrobe at least a little bit during the two main seasons of the year.

These closet reviews and some supplemental shopping are typically needed because my style preferences, body, and lifestyle tend to change from one year to the next. Sometimes these shifts are minor and there isn’t much to write about, but this year I feel like what I’m noticing merits some commentary.

In today’s post, which is part one of a multi-part series, I share my initial thoughts about my summer wardrobe and the ways in which my style has changed since last year. In future posts, I’ll discuss my favorite outfit formulas, my warm weather closet additions, and the items that I’ve either purged or placed into my holding zone because I’m just not feeling like wearing them in 2024. I’ll also highlight how I see my summer style evolving this year and in future years.

On Weight, Clothes, Shopping, and Alterations

One thing that’s changed from summer 2023 to this summer is that I’ve gained a bit of weight. I’m not sure exactly how much weight, as I never weigh myself, but I’m guessing it’s in the ballpark of five to ten pounds. While that’s not a large amount of weight and I can still fit into most of my clothes, it makes a difference in terms of the way I feel in what I’m wearing.

I definitely feel more comfortable and confident at a lower weight, but it’s difficult for me to maintain that size at my advanced age without being extremely regimented about what I eat. Because of my eating-disordered history, I avoid dieting, counting calories/macros, or doing things like intermittent fasting because such practices wreak havoc with my mental health. I lost quite a bit of weight in 2022 due to stress and grief, and while I’m happy that my life is less stressful and sad now, I liked being at that lower weight and wish I could have stayed there. I’ve made some recent shifts to my eating that I hope will make at least some difference, but I may have to accept weighing a bit more than I’d ultimately prefer.

I sometimes make the mistake of buying new clothes when my weight is lower because I’m excited to be able to wear smaller sizes. However, I should probably more objectively evaluate the likelihood of my staying at the lower weight before investing too much in new clothing. The same can be said for proceeding with alterations to existing pieces, especially if the resulting garments require remaining within a very small weight range. I’ve already written about my folly in this regard, but it bears mentioning again because there are some altered summer items that I’m just not going to wear at my current shape and size.

I know I’m not alone in shopping a lot when I’m slimmer. I have a friend who went on a low-carb diet and ended up weighing ten pounds less than what was previously the lower end of her weight range. She rushed out and bought a whole new wardrobe that she was unable to wear several months later, when she found that sticking to her restrictive diet was untenable. She then felt guilty and bad about herself for having gained weight and being back at a weight that was previously more than acceptable to her.

I guess the moral of both of our stories is this… While it’s okay to purchase a few better-fitting smaller (or larger) pieces, we should wait until we have a good sense of how our weight might stabilize before getting too into “replacement mode.” I actually maintained my lower weight for well over a year, but then it started to gradually creep back up again, so I’m not sure how overly hasty I actually was. However, it would have been wise for me to have “slowed my roll” with both the shopping and the alterations. I certainly didn’t need to buy or tailor as much as I did. Lesson (hopefully) learned!

How My Style Has Changed Since Summer 2023

In reviewing my favorite outfits from last year, I found that I don’t see myself wearing some of them today. I still mostly want to wear pants, but I’m feeling increasingly drawn to skirt and dress ensembles once again. For many years, I only wore skirts and dresses during the summer season, with the exception of workout clothing. Menopausal weight gain and a shift in my style preferences led me to eschew skirts and dresses in favor of pants in the late 2010s, and I passed on almost all the summer clothing that I had previously worn. Then, I wore cropped pants almost exclusively for about five years, while I rarely wore dresses and almost never wore skirts.

Wearing dresses and skirts can skew “dressy,” especially because I like to pair them with heels, but I’m determined to find ways to wear them that work well for my casual lifestyle (although I don’t think I will ever embrace the dresses with sneakers look). It’s often all about styling, and the pieces we pair with a dress or a skirt can make all the difference between appearing overdressed or hitting the right sartorial note. I’ll go more into this issue below and in a later post in the series.

Now that I’ve shared a basic overview, I’d like to delve into more specifics. I’ll organize this section into item types, starting with pants. I’ll show a few examples of each category, but I’ll include more photos of my favorites in a future essay.

Cropped Pants

In the summer months, cropped pants form the foundation of my wardrobe. While it’s usually difficult for me to find full-length pants that are long enough for me, I have been able to purchase quite a few pairs of cropped pants in various colors and even a few prints. I have a fairly large collection of such pants, but I’m not reaching for some of them so far this year.

Gaining some weight has led to my wanting to wear pieces with more “substance” to them, especially on my bottom half. Whereas I previously wore a lot of knit pants, I now prefer woven bottoms, although a more substantial knit pant can sometimes work okay for me. My favorite types of warm weather pants are now cropped jeans and stretch woven pants (like Athleta’s Brooklyn Ankle Pants and Brooklyn Utility Pants – sadly, the latter style appears to have been discontinued).

Here are some examples of the pants I’m wearing this summer:

I still own several pairs of knit pants, but I’m not sure how much I’ll wear them this year. I wore a previous favorite pair earlier this week, but I found those pants to be too thin and I felt self-conscious in them without a topper. I may fare better with my other knit pants because they’re thicker and more substantial, but that remains to be seen at this point. I may opt to put those pants aside for now in favor of the denim and stretch woven options that “hold me in” better.

Dresses and Skirts

I’ve passed on almost all my knee-length and maxi skirts and dresses in favor of my new favorite midi-length styles. While I plan to potentially wear my two maxi dresses and one maxi skirt again this year after setting them aside for a few years, I’ve soured on knee-length options, as they just feel “off” to me in 2024.

I’ve also soured on any dress or skirt that is too voluminous. I now much prefer a straight or slight A-line option over anything with too much volume or flare. I do own one skirt that flares out at the bottom, as well as an asymmetrical dress that I still like. However, I had the latter piece (not shown here) narrowed this year because I no longer liked the more flared silhouette that I embraced when I purchased this item back in 2021.

Here are several examples of the dresses and skirts that I’m wearing this summer:

Cardigans

I continue to own a large collection of cardigans in a variety of colors and patterns. Most of these sweaters are thigh-length or longer, although I have a small collection of shorter cardigans to pair with my dresses and skirts. However, I now prefer those shorter cardigans to be a few inches longer than the ones I wore for years, as I find them more flattering when they hit around my upper hipbones rather than at my waistline.

As for my longer cardigans that I pair with pants, my current preference is for mid-thigh-length or longer. I especially love the dramatic look of a long duster-style cardigan. I’ve found that the shorter cardigans that hit at my upper thigh area feel less “fresh” to me now, although I still have several that I like and will continue to wear. I also love the few printed cardigans that I own and find that I reach for those often.

Many of my cardigans are heavier weight and are reserved for the cool weather season, but some of them can be worn most of the year. Because I feel the cold more than most people (even in menopause), I like to at least carry a topper with me when I’m out and about. I also like the look of including a “third piece” in my outfits, but I don’t want to have to rely upon this feature. It gets hot on summer days, so I want to be able to remove my topper or go without in the daytime. So, I’m working on defining more ensembles for which a third piece is optional instead of required and that I feel are emotionally comfortable for me to wear without a cardigan or alternate topper.

The following are examples of the cropped and long cardigans that I carry with me to use as needed in the warmer months:

Other Toppers

I feel like I can be over-reliant on cardigans and own too many of them, so I’ve been trying to gradually add different types of toppers to my closet. I like knit jackets/coats, sweater blazers, and vests. I have a small collection of such pieces, but my plan is to add to this section of my wardrobe over time while also cutting back on what I feel has become a cardigan addiction. I need to edit my cardigan collection, as some of the pieces are becoming worn out, stretched out, or both. I also need to iron or steam many of my cardigans, as I keep passing them over because they’re wrinkled!

I struggle with the length of non-cardigan toppers, especially if they’re more of a cropped length. Unless they’re offered in a tall size, they usually tend to hit me right at the widest part of my hips, which is a no-go. I’ve had to be patient and picky when looking for out-and-about jackets (I fare better with athletic styles), but it pays off when I find something that works well for me. Adding an alternate style of topper to my wardrobe gives me a lot more “mileage” than buying yet another cardigan in the same silhouette as many that I already own.

These four toppers were all purchased over the past year and work well for layering on a cooler summer day or evening:

Summer Tops

My summer tops are still a weak area of my wardrobe, although I improved upon this category to some degree last year. I’m in better shape with my sleeveless tops than with the short-sleeved ones at this point. However, I have lots of great short-sleeved tops that I wear for walks or workout, some of which could probably be repurposed for out-and-about wear.

One issue I have with my tops is that many of them are too long, which can lead to less-than-ideal proportions in my outfits. I really can’t tuck my tops in, though, because my torso is very short and the resulting look is unbalanced and unflattering. The only way that might be able to work is if my pants were lower-rise, but that hasn’t been a readily available option for many years. I’ve tried front-tucking and I just don’t like the look on me, so my best option has been to wear an untucked top that’s not too long. I know I don’t achieve perfect one-third to two-thirds proportions with my summer outfits most of the time, but I’ve mostly made peace with that.

Another thing that I’ve noticed is that I now prefer either crewneck or V-neck styles over scoop-neck tops. I’ve found that the latter style is often too low-cut on me, which tends to accentuate my short-waisted frame. Wearing a necklace to fill in the space on a lower-cut top can help with the overall look, but I mostly plan to stop buying those types of pieces moving forward. I even need to be careful that V-neck tops are not too low cut. There’s a sort of “sweet spot” neckline that I prefer, which is a characteristic of most of my favorite tops.

Here are some examples of the types of summer tops I like to wear, and half of them have been in my wardrobe since 2020 or earlier:

It’s still too early to tell how many of the summer tops that I currently own will be “keepers” beyond this year. I suspect that some of my older tops may soon be on their way out, as I don’t find myself reaching for them anymore for the reasons I highlighted above. In contrast, I have a few black and black-print tanks and tees that I’ve already worn multiple times this year, while lots of other tops are hanging unworn. I’ve found that my favorite outfits usually include some black, so that’s mostly what I’ve been wearing.

Shoes

After years of focusing mostly on clothing and having a fairly static shoe collection, I’ve been embellishing the footwear area of my closet this year. As I mentioned in my cool weather wardrobe debrief, I purchased several pairs of boots this year and was happy with that refresh.

I would like to do the same type of refresh with my sandals this summer and in the next couple of years, but I still happily wear a few pairs of sandals that I’ve owned for many years. I particularly love my Taos wedge sandals with adjustable straps, as well as the new Remonte two-toned sandals that I purchased last year. I would like to buy a pair of slides, but I’ve had a hard time finding ones that stay on my feet well.

The shoes below are my current favorites, and I would like to wear the ones at the top right and bottom center more often this year:

Accessories

The only accessories that I wear during the summer are handbags and jewelry. As with my shoes, I’ve held on to the same handbags for many years and happily used them, but I’m finding myself wanting some new options now. My favorite bags are all either black or metallic, and most of them are from the Brighton brand.

My purses have all held up amazingly well after hundreds of wears, and I believe they’ll continue to do well for the foreseeable future, too. I carry the same bags year-round and don’t own a summer-specific option, so I might be interested in making such an addition to my collection. However, I’m not a big fan of tan straw purses, so my summer purse would probably still be – or at least include – black.

As for my jewelry, the pieces that I’ve been wearing most often all year round are silver-and-black combinations. I’ll sometimes wear plain silver pieces or items that incorporate other colors/stones, but the silver/black items are my “go-tos.” I love a good necklace, but my collection is weighted too heavily toward longer ones, so I’d love to pick up another short necklace or two to pair with some of those lower-necked tops that I mentioned above. I love my jewelry collection overall, but I need to push myself to wear some pieces that I love but don’t reach for very often (including the pieces with non-black stones).

Below is a representative sample of the purses and jewelry that I like to wear during the summer – and all year round:

Conclusion – and Your Thoughts?

That’s it for today’s post, but I’ll have more to say and share in later parts in this series.  I wanted to collect and express my initial impression thoughts about my summer wardrobe in part one and then delve more into favorite looks, new pieces, and castoffs in upcoming installments.

Summer used to be my favorite time of year style-wise, but it’s been more challenging for me in recent years as my body and style preferences have changed. I now much prefer the cooler months, but I’m working on becoming happier with what I wear in the warmer months, too. It’s more difficult when we can’t layer quite as easily, but it’s definitely possible to create great outfits with a little effort and creativity.

Many of you have probably been wearing your summer wardrobe for much longer than a month, so you likely have a better idea of what is and isn’t working for you. I’d love to read about what you like to wear during the warmer months and how your summer style has changed since last year (or over the past few years). It would also be interesting to read about your style challenges and how you have addressed them or plan to address them moving forward. But as always, feel free to weigh in however you’d like regarding the topics of this post.

Thanks for reading and I’ll be back soon with part two!