It seems everyone in the blogosphere is talking about how bored they are with their hot weather wardrobe. Shopping for that special piece to spice up their summer closet, devising new ways to combine tanks and skirts they're sick to death of, yearning for variety, and digging for something, anything, different to wear. Sigh. And what about me, you ask? Am I bored with my summer wardrobe? Ha. I wish.
We've had so much rain. And so few lovely, sunny, hot days, that I've hardly scratched the surface of my summer closet. And I do not have a big closet, people.
We thankfully had a beautiful, sunny day for a very special outdoor family wedding a few weeks ago. I wore my Lida Baday sleeveless party dress with the vintage brooch I bought at the Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen in Paris, in 2015, and the vintage cuff I bought at the Merrickville Antique Show last summer. And my Paul Green black suede flats. The bride's mother warned all the female guests to wear flats, the wet summer having made high heels a definite liability in the grass. Worked for me. My new flats updated my black dress, and were much, much better for dancing the night away.
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| Posing for a pre-wedding shot. |
So while my old Lida Baday dress has had an outing, I've hardly worn my new Rag and Bone striped skirt at all. I bought it specially for hot summer days strolling downtown, or going for lunch or dinner. And last week, I thought I might finally get a chance to wear it again. We were attending the annual summer hockey-gang party around our friends' pool. The day before, when I was trying to decide what to wear, was hot, 30° C with high humidity, making it feel like 38°. Maybe I'd wear my Rag and Bone skirt, with my R&B black silk tank with the longer under-layer tucked in, and my flat sandals. This outfit would be cool and comfortable.
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| Possible party outfit #1 |
This skirt was made for easy summer days, sitting in the shade with my legs tucked under me, sipping wine, and chatting with old friends.
Or if I worried I might spill something on my very best black tank, I could pull out my second best black tank instead. I bought this top last summer during our heat wave to save my favourite silk tank from getting ruined. And since this tank doesn't look good with the skirt, I could wear it with these lightweight, crepe walking shorts and my black flats. This outfit would still be cool, still comfy, still easy to wear sitting around on someone's deck, or beside the pool.
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| Possible party outfit #2 |
So I was happy with whichever outfit I might choose to wear. And now, I'm sure you know where this is going. That night, the wind blew our lovely high pressure system away. And the day of the party was rainy, windy, and cool. So cool that I wore neither outfit, but donned jeans and a cardigan with my tank instead. So windy and showery that we made three separate attempts to move the party from inside to outside. The first attempt ended with everyone grabbing a plate of hors d'oeuvres and then making a dash for the house. The second attempt saw a few brave souls jump in the pool. And after the third try, we gave up and found a spot inside to eat our dinner. I love that our friends weathered (pun intended) all this chaos with aplomb. Saying that with old friends like us, who cared that things did not go as planned. Who indeed? We all had a wonderful time.
So that pretty much sums up my summer, folks. Weather and wardrobe-wise. I've worn long pants and a long-sleeved top every week to go walking with three girlfriends. Each walking day rain threatened, or the bugs after the rain the day before were downright vicious. Hubby and I went for our Sunday morning bike ride today, in long pants and long-sleeved shirts. Although I should say that last Sunday we had a spectacular day for riding, and took a picnic down to the locks at Burritt's Rapids. Most days when I've been going for lunch, or shopping, or to meet a friend for coffee, I've worn jeans, white jeans, or my Veronica Beard cropped pants. The theme here being long pants. And if I have ventured out in a skirt, I've worn it with a sweater and my Stan Smith sneakers. I mean, it's been so rainy that it took us almost a month to finish painting our deck tables and chairs. And we've had hail. And more bugs in the garden than you'd see in the middle of Algonquin Park in June. I'm tempted to put on insect repellent to venture into the parsley patch.
In fact the hot sunny day when I took the photos of my possible party outfits, I thought I felt a drop of rain. Nope. It was something worse, much worse. Ewwww. The perils of outdoor photography.
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| The perils of shooting outdoors. Darned birds. |
Still, all is not lost. Remember Orsino's situation at the end of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night? When it seems that all his hopes are going disastrously wrong, when he finds out that the woman he loves is married to someone else, and he thinks his best companion has betrayed him? And then the worst thing turns out to be the best. Isn't that just like Shakespeare, to string us along so callously, and then make everything right?
So, just like with Orsino, some good may come of "this happy wrack." The purchases I made in the spring, planning for a hot summer, will still feel like new next year. And if it does turn hot in the next few weeks, think how happy I'll be. Instead of groaning, and wishing for fall because I'm so darned bored with my summer wardrobe, I'll be thrilled to wear the outfits that have been languishing in my closet.
And in the meantime, while it's so cool and feels like fall, like October, actually, I can dream of what I'll actually be doing in October.
Hmm. London. Now... what should I wear?
How about you, folks? Are you bored with your summer wardrobe yet? Or have you even had summer this year?
Linking up this week with: Visible Monday, #IwillwearwhatIlike, Style Me Wednesday, Thursday Favourite Things, Passion 4 Fashion, Fun Fashion Friday, Fabulous Friday, Saturday Share Link-Up