Hot Child In The City
throw-on fits for runnin' wild and lookin' pretty
Welcome to my womenswear summer solutions—for the menswear counterpart see last week’s ‘stack here.
Every year for the past however many, I’ve spent the height of British summer in London with my best friend Taz.1 We plan out what can only be described as a gallery crawl, broken up by coffee stops, some favourites and some new, to fill just under a week. The main event is always the RA Summer Show which is, frankly, a top tier spot to exercise ruthless judgement of art you can’t afford.
Thanks to these trips, and my fondness for European capitals, I’m familiar with summer in the city. But I’m not always comfortable due to poor packing decisions. That, and I never know what to wear for the inevitable mid-week rain that still surprises sticky swarms of crowds interweaving over hot pavement slabs.
That all changes this year. I’m over a month or so out from my London return and I’m determined to make it easy, cool, and comfortable. And if that also happens to include a little bit of that balmy, flirty humidity native to June and July then so be it. In short, I want to throw something on in the morning and have it just work so I can think more about if we should brave the tube or walk the hour and a half to join yet another queue.
Call this an attempt at figuring it out. And if you like any of it, please take whatever you feel your city dwelling wardrobe needs.
Why the long shorts?
Boys department suit trousers? No, these are a single pleat long short for picking up iced hazelnut lattes and letting everyone know I own an iron and I know how to use it, without having to verbally inform each patron.
Keeping the simple going with a minimal top and a slight crop like a wink at whoever may notice. Dress-up-able and dress-down-able, the long short might seem an acquired taste but with a bit of testing I’m sure I can find a pair to defeat my fear of lower leg exposure once and for all.
A drawstring tie is encouraged to exaggerate the already-exaggerated short. That part when the waistband ruffles a bit against the cord tension? Love that. It’s so boyfriend shorts he’s never getting back because they look better on me, but without the nuisance of a man’s presence trying to race me through every gallery because he “just doesn’t get the art” and he “could’ve easily made that”.2 Whatever you say. Can’t hear you over my shorts.
Not a strapless top girl myself, but love the general decision here to go with cotton jersey tanks and such. All the way toned down so the accessories (and the wearer) do the most with the least.
The long short, made a little more special. No I’m not whipping out a pleather extra-puffy puffer for the summer, but the Egyptian cotton high thread count of the white short with the leg-to-ankle line curving into that insane sculpture of a wedge mule? I’ll take four please. The long short can feel a little tooo long on those of us lacking a vertical advantage so any heel is an instant upper and the wedge is extra stompy, stroppy, sexy, unbothered. Who doesn’t want to be that this summer.3
Crossover waist fastening is hit or miss for me. I own one pair of trousers that does this because they were goldilocks-levels of just right. But this on a long-long short (still not a trouser)4 adds a focal uniqueness that makes me not care one bit about the material creases. Paired with a textured top is the right move. Lived in textures serving their different purposes in one fit embodies the bustle of summer in the city to me.
Welcome to The White Lotus adjacent
All-white for summer = nothing new. I know this but if it ain’t broke as they say. The blank canvas of an outfit leaves so much room for personalisation through what else you choose to carry. Maybe that’s a Goyard tote if you live for the flex, but in my case it’s more likely to be an ice lolly5 that drips a permanent pink stain onto the middle of my top. It’s an unavoidable fate that I choose to repeat if it means I get to play-pretend bridal off-duty.6
I love slouch in a white trouser. I recently sized up twice in a white jean so they would hang from my hips. Perhaps an attempt to seem less interested in my clothes despite the fact I’m sat here obsessively writing about shorts and tops and shoes twice a week of my own accord.
Sometimes layers are still needed. Here the black jacket, belt and shoes interject my fresh linen candle of an outfit idea but I like the Mondrian-esque blocking it creates.
Jane Birkin walking Martin Margiela for Hermès S/S 2000 is such a natural summer staple. You’ll want it taped to your mirror to replicate everyday until the end of August. It’s loose and milky smooth. Any crease is really a fold of lived-in-ness that has been styled that way. And the ultra deep rounded v-neck over a regular rounded deep v-neck is the simple stuff of minimalist dreams. That’s a detail I think I can manage.
Shirts, who’d’ve thought. A classic can’t go wrong item to put top of the packing list because if anything is actually thrown on, it’s a shirt. I like these more oversized options, especially in London humidity amongst the mélange of sweat. Any movement of my clothes will ease the strides made across the city every day. Love it with a semi-coordinating skirt that’s similar in material but maybe a semitone down in colour.
Great lengths for flouncing and floating
Long in the shorts, long in the skirts. It makes sense to me. I don’t do a lot of short-short lengths or mini anything really. The UK has never really facilitated my learning of that style lesson.
So for summer I like a midi to maxi skirt with something extra. Like a show of leg on one side, a material that clings when walking into the wind, or a super large print that catches the eye. These are easy and comfortable and certainly throw-on but look so put together. Win win.
Why do brands so often get slip dresses wrong, with straps sewn too far in towards the neck?! I want spaghetti straps that teeter on the furthest edges of my shoulders and connect straight down to the neckline. If this means that a strap falls down every now and then, that’s the whole summery point. Zoe Kravitz and CBK wear perfect examples here of a midi strappy dress—a length I would like to sport more of this year. And that sky blue colour will make the perfect summer neutral.
If you couldn’t already tell I don’t do a lot of pattern, but I do a lot of length. That combination can be quite antithetical to typical summer style but I’m not about to buy new stuff that I’ll never wear again just to feel like someone else’s idea of a season. So here are my long dress thoughts: ideally it goes over the head and falls in one swoop, it hints select slivers of skin to show off freckly knees and shoulders, it is soft and melts onto your body like water when you cross your leg over the other knee or sit for a moment on grass in the nearest park. That’s it.
Trusty trousers & fallback jeans
I wear trousers every day. They can be jeans, wide leg work style pants, pyjamas. It doesn’t matter. I’m most comfy in a full covered leg and they’re one of the most versatile things to style in my opinion. For that reason, I can’t do a city summer without them.
A classic blue loose denim stays packed as a fallback. When thrown on with my havaianas and any plain top, they’ll get me out the door with a decent level of scandi-style cohesion.
For something a bit more interesting, I love an out of context camo trouser, dressed up by details and textures that maybe skew a bit more (typically) feminine like lace, muted pinks and lots of jewellery. And of course, a heel. I really enjoy the green cargo-style pant above with the snakeskin slip-on mule. It’s simple in practice but effective if you’re after a blend of sleek and slouch this summer. Any trouser that has personality, like the pictured botanical details on the white wide leg silhouette, makes dressing so easy. All you have to do is add a belt and a tank and leave the house.
Drastic drop in evening temperatures?
Even in sunshine that feels like it will never end, the famous British chill creeps in eventually. Usually when I’m enjoying the last moments of dessert at the outside table I waited an hour to get. Perfect timing.
My favourite clothing choice here is to finally chuck on the knit you’ve had in your bag or tied round your waist all day. I like a high v neck with a slight crop length that stops just over the top of your trouser/skirt/long short. A fine knit is, well, fine but I’m more on the hunt for something chunkier or with a fluffier texture at least.
A really light trench or a skinny scarf can be functional fashion on these occasions too, though potentially more annoying to carry around all day. But if you’re not a jumper person—does that exist?—then these can help with the cooled-down evenings.
Textures that feel the breeze
In previous summers, I would not have had this in my packing list, but this year I’m picking up what sheer pieces are putting down. Probably because at long last I have found bras that I actually like enough to not hide them behind clothes at all times. And for me at least, it’s a yes to the bra summer. I don’t really have the option of no bra, though I envy those who do, so might as well make them cute ones that aren’t completely banished to a life under opaque layers.
I think semi-sheer tops will be the best way to introduce this into my outfits, preferably in floaty materials that catch the breeze and change where they cling to, providing more clothing winks. Even just one or two additions of this texture could make all the difference to my basics. And while I would so love it to also be a Pleats Please summer, 100% polyester on stewing public transport is like tempting heat exhaustion hospitalisation.
These texture detail images aren’t exactly the same but both involve small repetitive cutouts. I don’t personally enjoy big cutout moments because they mostly give me new sections of exposed body to worry about. This, however, might just be the ideal way to tease something still subtly sexy in summer without feeling entirely on show to London’s umpteen passers by. I’m more likely to opt for the top with minor cutouts, but that style of trouser with a semi-sheer trouser layer underneath? That could work.
Effortless, as in not an ounce of effort can be made because my energy belongs to the city now
So it’s the last day or two of the trip and everything is a bit hazy between the humidity on the tube, my blistering feet, and the equally blistering heat. Allow me to introduce the outfit formula of summertime dreams. By this point, I’ve adapted to London’s care-free attitude and I’m no longer bothered by my own legs as long as they can get me from coffee to art and back to coffee again.
This is the sport short & big tee combination. And that’s kind of all there is to it. Do something cute with my hair, wear my favourite silver earrings, chuck that chunky knit for later and my Oyster card in my bag and get outside. My only requirement is that the shorts billow enough that they don’t feel stuck to me after hours of walking. Hence why a short designed especially for excessive-energy-expending movement might be the best way to go.
Shoes-wise I love a flip flop, kitten heel, wedge or slip-on mule for this weather. And I always pack my sambas for London. I know they’re considered “basic”7, for why I’m not sure because they’re just trainers, but they’re lightweight and the leather on mine is so softly moulded to my feet from hundreds of thousands of steps that it would be silly to leave them at home. They go with nearly everything and they fit in my smallest handbags. Do what you can with what you have.
As much as I try to keep these short and sweet, that evil “post too long for email” pops up like clockwork. What can I say I just want all of your time.
If you made it here, thanks for reading.
See you soon. Maybe even this weekend…
We formerly shared a top floor one bed flat advertised as two with 5”10 ceilings so the title of best friends is pretty much locked in for life. As it should be.
true story but not mine - i’m just telling it
no question mark is deliberate.
and i’m not saying culotte in real life so why use it here
popsicle
don’t want marriage, just want clothes x
nothing wrong with that tbh who cares