COLLAB: Casual Summer Outfit

One of the reasons why I like summer is that, it creates an endless amount of wardrobe options (ok there are some things you cannot wear, such as wool, but I'm willing to compromise). With wedding and barbecue season happening within the three months of Summer, you get to plan quite a few "special occassion" outfits. But what do you wear on a random June Wednesday? This is something I tend to have an issue with five days a week. Luckily, I was recently invited to do a collab post on a casual summer outfit and, it caused me to do a bit of work. I selected a very basic and totally interchangable and customizable outfit that works for me and my type of everyday. The girls I collaborated with, Tori, from Prep for a Day and  Katie, from Chic in Carolina, did the same. I invite you to check out each of their posts and see the outfits they came up with. Here's what I worked out and why...........

A Basic Tee.- I chose stripes because well, I like it and stripes are trendy. I picked this top up at Ross and it does not appear to have a brand listed (I find quite a bit of their items don't. hmm?). You can pick up striped tee's anywhere though, Target, Old Navy, anywhere really. If you don't like stripes, don't buy stripes. A bright solid color like a nice green or pink or turquoise would look nice and summery as well. Also, I should mention, this is more of a blouse type tee, not a cotton crew neck. I wanted to be comfortable yet stylish and not too laid back. 

Cotton Shorts.- Here again is where you have a few options. I chose white because it matched, and they have a summer vibe to them (plus, white acts like a filter for your legs to make them look more tan.). I highly doubt I would ever wear white to work but I would on the weekends as long as no rain is involved. Even on a weekday, this look could work with any color chino or cotton short or even denim. Plenty of options based on your own collection and style. In case you were wondering, these shorts are from Walmart  and they are pretty inexpensive and comfy. Most of my shorts are from Kohls however. 

Topsiders.- I suppose you could wear a nice pair of sandals with this and, that would look nice. I chose my Sperry's because 1- you never know when a thunderstorm is going to appear and, a downpour plus sandals, is an injury waiting to happen (for me anyway), 2- what if your day happens to take you to a place that requires more structured footwear like, say, a park or any place with gravel? Sandals (or basically any dressy or nice shoe) and gravel do not mix. With topsiders, you can take on the rain and whatever outdoor activity you want really. Plus who doesn't like the classic look of them? They pull most any look together. I have gold colored topsiders from Target and these Sperry's I bought from Belk (FYI: on black Friday, they tend to have a nice sale price on certain styles). 

Pearl Earrings.- For a casual outfit, I wanted to keep accessories to a minimum so, I chose the classic pearl studs. Obviously, these are faux but they still work and who really cares, right? I don't feel like these are a must have with this type of outfit but it does add more of a dressy casual feel to the look. You can pick these up at practically any deparment store. Mine came in a pack of three different sizes from Target. 

Here is the outfit all together:

So if you want tips on how to take the most awkward full-body selfie ever, read on. You should wait until your sunlight hours are limited. You should also make sure that the mountain view and pool backdrop you had planned, is full of rowdy college students. For that added touch, make sure your photographer is busy fullfiling another of his job titles, mechanic. Also, make sure the only camera you have available, is an iPhone and set your self-timer to 10 seconds. Any longer than that, and you might actually have time to properly pose and get a good shot. On another note, I did quite enjoy staring aimlessly toward the sun. 

As you can see, my take on the summer casual outfit is, basic yet stylish. I feel like most people have all the componets of this already in their closet. I will definitely be using this "model outfit" as a template for the next Tuesday morning that I have nothing wear. I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did creating it and, I hope you will check out Tori's outfit as well as Katie's outfit!

Choose to make today great!

-xoxo

Jessica