What I Wore in July

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These four photos pretty much sum up my summer palette this year—save for my neon yellow Universal Standard linen shorts which have gotten plenty of play (and continue to do so). I’ve really leaned into neutral, earthy hues and have been into shades of yellow for as long as I can remember.

While June was pretty quiet and casual, July was livelier and gave me opportunities to dress up a little more—a date night here and there, a 24-hour getaway to San Antonio and so on. Happily, I found a couple of items I’ve been on the hunt for all summer. More on that below.

About those Universal Standard linen shorts… specifically, they are the Juniper Linen Easy Pull-On Shorts and I have them in bright melon. They’re a linen blend (55%) and I find that they don’t wrinkle quite as much as 100% linen, but they definitely wrinkle because… linen, as to be expected. They have a bit of stretch and an elastic waist so they’re super comfortable. I’m about 5’3” and short-waisted, and they are very high-rise on me so depending on how I’m styling them, I may roll down the waistband to bring up the length. My go-to has been to pair them with a solid top as you see here with my (very old) grey Chaser linen-blend muscle tank or my beloved Madewell Courier button-back shirt. My shoe of choice has been the Birkenstock Arizona EVA in white. But back to the shorts, they are one of many pieces in Universal Standard’s stretch linen collection, all of which come in a number of gorgeous colors.

Earlier in the summer I found this pinstriped relaxed fit linen blazer from A New Day at Target. This is the second blazer I’ve purchased at Target this year and I’m impressed. Nice quality, excellent price point. I was especially excited about this one because I had a lot of ideas for how to style it. I was lucky to stumble upon this item in-store when I wasn’t even shopping for a blazer but the fact that there was only one and it was in my size and fit perfectly was all the reason I needed to buy it. Unfortunately, it looks to be sold out in most colors and sizes online, but you may have luck in-store. My initial vision was to style it for date night with black trouser shorts, but first I had to find a pair that worked for me which wasn’t as easy as I anticipated. They are one of the two items I finally found this month. Amazingly, the pair that worked best for me is Old Navy’s Extra High-Waisted Taylor Linen-Blend Trouser Shorts with a 6” inseam. I say “amazingly” because they have pleats, which isn’t a style I wear, ever. I tried several styles of non-pleated shorts and they just weren’t the trouser style I was looking for. I know it’s impossible to see from these photos but trust me when I say that the pleats are virtually unnoticeable on these, and they have a very nice drape to them. I also dusted off a few of my old belts that I probably haven’t worn in a decade to pull together these looks.

The other item I’d been on the hunt for was a clog sandal. These were more challenging to find than the shorts because I had a very specific vision in mind. I was looking for something leather and ideally a two-strap design with a mid-heeled clog. I found a pair from Nisolo at Nordstrom and they were closest to what I had in mind style-wise. They weren’t super comfortable for me and there were already some slight imperfections in the leather so I kept looking. I found this strappy clog sandal at LOFT for about half the price of the Nisolo sandals (Nisolo is a sustainable brand so I expect to pay more) and they’re much more comfortable. I’ve been wearing them quite a bit with dresses like this v-neck tunic from H & M, my NIC+ZOE cropped pants (similar style) and shorts. The outfit I wore them with on the right must’ve hit a chord with people because I got a lot of compliments that day on the shoes and the look. You can’t go wrong with a Madewell popover and an ivory cropped pant.

I wore more dresses in July than I did in June. Dresses used to be my summer go-to but I’ve realized that most of the dresses in my closet these days are midi or maxi length and in 100+ degree temperatures with obscene humidity, they’re way too hot to wear. So I added a few shorter styles to my closet this summer, including this Flutter-Sleeve V-Neck Jacquard Mini Swing Dress from Old Navy. The length is just right for me, it has pockets and it’s 70% cotton, so nice and breathable for hot summer. I styled it with my SUGARFIX by BaubleBar Woven Statement Earrings which are available in some cute colors as well as neutrals, and my old Dansko clog sandals (very similar but the studs on this style are significantly larger than mine). I can see layering this with a denim jacket on cooler days (whenever that may be).

One of my happiest finds of the summer was this Lou & Grey Signaturesoft Scoop Neck Romper, also known as the only romper that’s fit me properly in my adult life! The fit is perfect and the fabric is super soft and stretchy. Because of this, I fold it in half at the waistband and hang it on a trouser hanger instead of hanging it from the top to prevent it from stretching out. I like that I can style this to dress it up and wear it out, although it would work equally well as a lounge-around-the-house option. Here, I wore it with my very old Nakamol paper bead necklace (no longer available but Nakamol has so many other beautiful styles and you should check out their story if you’re not familiar with the brand), a woven purse and my Birkenstock Arizona sandals in copper.

There is still one item I’m searching for and hope to find sooner rather than later. Maybe you can help me. My black sandal collection is nearly non-existent and I’m looking for something that admittedly, is very specific. I’d like an all-black, low-platform (ideally 2/2.5”), strappy sandal. I don’t want a wedge, and I don’t want an espadrille. Ideally, the straps will be thin. Stylistically, the Anne Klein Vizzy and Vance sandals are close to what I’m looking for, but I tried both and neither the fit nor quality was great. Ideally, I’d love to find something from Vionic or similar but I tried a few Vionic styles that just weren’t what I had in mind. Have you seen anything like this when you’ve been shopping?