July 23, 2017

My Summer Fashion Favorites (2017)

Oh, summer, how I love you so!!!

Your sunshine! 

Your warmth! 

How your very presence calls for the breaking of while-school's-in-session rules, such as always wearing shoes and paying mind to bedtimes.

And you know what I truly love about summer?

The clothes.

Here are my sartorial staples for summer--along with a few other items I remain enthusiastically geeked about--that stay in constant rotation literally All. Season. Long. 

And p.s., the following items listed are the exact items I own... 


HAREM PANTS
Alright, I realize that when you look at these pants the old 90s MC Hammer classic, You Can't Touch This may come to mind, but if you can move past that and follow me here, you just might understand why I've come to believe these pants are the greatest things since sliced bread. First of all, they're 100% cotton, roomy, and thereby extremely comfortable. I've worn these harem pants during a 500-mile car ride to the East Coast, when I took the kids to see a magician perform at our local public library, and these pants have also become my go-to pants to practice yoga in. Simply put, I now live in these pants. And, thankfully, my kids are not yet old enough to inform me that wearing them will embarrass them. Whew.


 LULULEMON POWER Y TANK TOP
Like the pants above, I seriously consider the top above to be of holy grail status. In fact, every single time I wear the pants above, practice yoga, get dressed in the morning, or, say, take a breath, I am wearing one of these tanks. To date, I've purchased nine-- one for every day of the week, plus one to spare! Wearing this tank is like a "twofer" because of the built in bra. Plus, these tanks wash well and fit like a glove. They're worth every penny.

HAVAIANAS FLIP-FLOPS
Okay, I'm about to hop into my fashion time machine for a moment, and those who were fans of Nicole Ritchie's closet circa 2005, will remember this era fondly: When The Simple Life star accessorized all of her outfits with colorful Havaiana flip-flops. Well, I immediately bought four pairs...which I still have today. I found them in my closet a few months ago, dusted them off, and began to wear them around the house in place of my shearling-lined Minnetonka moccasin slippers when spring arrived. And guess what I discovered? I still love these flip-flops, so I bought a silver pair, pictured above. Yeah, I can hear the naysayers poo-pooing the mere thought of spending over twenty bucks on a pair of plastic thong flip-flops, but in this case, you get what you pay for: These don't fade, lose shape, or fall apart. 




SPERRY TOP SIDER ESPADRILLES
While I love the Havaianas above, the one thing they lack is arch support, which is truly something my forty-year-old feet have come to appreciate. While I still kick it in my Havaianas at the beach and around the house, my go-to summer shoe all other times has been and continues to be the Birkenstock Gizeh. However. I bought a pair of Sperry Top Sider espadrilles (pictured above) last year at a deep, deep discount on clearance last fall, and promised to break them in this summer. Well, honey, let me tell you. We're only half-way through this summer and they already feel like buttuh! And they go with nearly everything I own.


AMERICAN EAGLE COTTON KHAKI SHORTS
I've worn these shorts literally four days straight. (Yes, I washed them after the second wash; then air-dried them flat.) Honestly, if I'm not in the harem pants, I'm rocking these. In short (no pun intended), I love these so much. The end.



J. CREW "PAPER THIN" COTTON T-SHIRT
(With ruffle detail)
My only regret now is that when I bought this shirt (in white) back in 2015, I didn't buy at least three more. I don't think J. Crew makes them anymore. (**INSERT A CRYING EMOJI HERE. :-(**)




RAY-BAN AVIATORS
These babies have been by my side since the summer of 2010. A true classic, they are. And while I consider myself somewhat of an aficionado when it comes to sunglasses (Chanel is my other favorite brand), I always come back to this pair, which is why I'm wearing them in the photo at the very top of this post.



LOUIS VUITTON SAC SHOPPER TOTE
Oh, Sac tote, how I love thee. Let me count the ways: Your long beautiful straps that (thankfully) don't dig into my arm despite the fact that I load this bag down like a pack mule; the lustrous patina that has developed over your leather detail; your dimensions, which enable me to fit everything from, say, a gas can to a Kitchen-Aid mixer. I bought this bag when I was pregnant with Kennedy, in anticipation of using it as her diaper bag (which I did, and it worked out great), and now that both she and Scotty are older, I carry around much less and this bag serves as my go-everywhere tote. I know that this bag was discontinued in favor of the now-current Louis Vuitton darling, the Neverfull tote, but I don't care. To me, this bag is Still The One.



WAI LANA STICKY YOGA MAT
Do you know how people get nostalgic over songs and perhaps movies? Yeah, well, I get that way over yoga mats....Back when I was studying to receive my yoga teaching certification and learned midway through that I was pregnant with Scotty, I bought myself an orange Wai Lana sticky mat. To this day, it is the most comfortable yoga mat I own, and, trust me, I own too many yoga mats. So, this year, for my 40th, I gifted myself  with the Wai Lana mat with Ganesh detail (pictured above), and although it has only seen about four months worth of practice, as soon as I step foot on it, it already feels like home. Namaste.





HEM WHITE SAGE INCENSE STICKS
If it is possible for peace, clarity, and joy to be condensed into a half-millimeter-thick stick, this has to be what it smells like. Admittedly, I am a fan of dried sage, and smudge (an ancient practice of healing and energy clearing) our home with it every New Years Day. So, simply based on my love of sage alone, I took a chance and ordered this incense, despite never having smelled it...and now I can safely affirm to you that it is the best incense I own.



TOM'S OF MAINE NATURAL LIP BALM
I'm an EOS girl, but I am also a fan of Tom's, so, 'eh, I picked this up at Walmart. Love the ingredients; love the scent, and I love the way this feels.



WETLINE XTREME PROFESSIONAL HAIR GEL
As curl-obsessed as I am, you know good and well I could not end this post without a shout-out to the product that I credit with keeping my and my daughter Kennedy's curls frizz-fee and shiny during this (sometimes) oppressive summer heat. The key is this gel right here: WetLine Xtreme Professional Hair Gel. It's cheap, doesn't contain alcohol or silicones (but is made with aloe vera, which makes this gel quite healthy), and it performs well. This pretty much means it is a curly girl's dream.



Hope you're enjoying your summer!!!!!


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