Good news, dedicated readers:
I bought new clothes for the first time in forever to show off on the internet. This is an exciting development since – believe it or not – I’m generally reluctant to pull the trigger on a new purchase. Regardless, I bought a new short sleeve button down to go with a new pair of chinos I was forced into buying last April (more on that later), both of which form a relaxed, summery look.
This summer, move beyond the basic tee shirt/shorts/running shoes as your go-to style.
It’s 2017 people:
Leonardo DiCaprio has an Oscar, commercial flights from Miami to Havana no longer require a short stop at Guantanamo Bay, and Andrew Jackson is leaving the $20 bill, but here you are sitting in your same old look.
Last week I wrote about an outfit to try this spring/summer, focusing on a type of shoes to experiment with. Today’s post continues to look into alternatives, specifically linen instead of cotton as the outfit material in order to let you wear more interesting pieces as the mercury rises. Without further ado, let’s get rolling.
From top to bottom: a cotton/linen blend short sleeve button down, lightweight (summer) chinos, and the usual white sneakers. Right off the bat you notice one thing: the color. It doesn’t take an Ivy League education to teach you summer is full of color. Trees are coated in saturated green leaves, the sky flings vibrant hues at sunset and sundown, and the sun even pokes from behind the clouds for most of the day. Match environment by showing personality in your outfit – it’ll offer a break from the drab neutrals that tend to compose most fall/winter fits.
Granted, if your home is in part of the country that experiences “summer” only in technicality, then you have a reason to continue wearing boring neutrals throughout June (say New Jersey where the high this week was 53 degrees with an 85% chance of being miserable). In that case, linen shirts probably aren’t what you should be reaching for in your closet. Thankfully, those of us in flyover-ville, that’s not an issue.
In the close up view of the shirt, the texture of it is clearer. Linen often wrinkles which creates a casual look. Mixing it with cotton allows the shirt to maintain the casual feel while not becoming too wrinkly. This alternating of linen/cotton fibers also creates the heather pink look which will differ from the solid pink of a 100% cotton shirt.
Linen is a great fabric choice for the summer because of how breathable it is. Almost any breeze flows straight through the fabric to keep you cooler than a cotton shirt would. Most companies make their linen pieces in fun colors too which like I mentioned earlier is a great idea to try out this summer.
This April I was forced into buying a new pair of pants after I tore my black jeans, meaning I only had one surviving pair of pants from the group I started university with. As I mentioned in last week’s post, pants can be stitched from different weights of cloth; these chinos are in what J Crew calls “summer weight.” I have no idea what that means other than the fact that they’re insanely comfortable to wear even when it’s above 80 degrees. They look phenomenal and offer a different look than jeans/shorts this summer.
They’re in a medium blue/light navy color which works well in this outfit because it contrasts heavily to the pink shirt and the white sneakers.
Contrast is a goal of my outfits because it offers a subtle way of catching eyes without being gaudy.
To the left is a top/down view of the bottom half of my outfit which shows the detailing of my pants. This rounds out my outfit as the white sneakers are fairly unassuming. Almost any type of casual shoes will work here, although the simpler the better since the top half of the outfit should be the most eye-catching.
Another week, another blog post, so they I say. I’m actually impressed with myself posting twice in one month – if I may say so myself. Normally I find great excuses (re: school) for my lack of activity. Unfortunately, this may be my last post for a while because I start summer school next Monday and will continue with that until a week before the fall semester begins. Hopefully this will only be the last post of June and not the entire summer.
Nevertheless, I’ll end this post just like the rest with a thank you to my photographer, Mayur (who finally showed up after a year of MIA) and dump the rest of the day’s photographs. He says he shot these using a “film lens” which recreates a film camera effect which is really cool actually. I think my phone can add a film effect too if I search for the filter hard enough. Also, I found out another friend of mine, Dom, who’s visiting from Canada, is a solid editor. With him looking over my publications I no longer have to read what I type or do the small things like double space my sentences. This also means any problems you have with our content can be directed to him (not me). We’ll totally look over your comments and suggestions in a serious and timely manner.
As usual, thanks for following!
-Sid
optimal outfits 
Haha, love that title!
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