A summer uniform
If summer dressing makes you feel a bit all over the place, one of the easiest things you can do is create a go to summer uniform.
Not a boring uniform, Not wearing the exact same thing every day (because we don’t do that anymore!!)
Just a simple outfit formula you can come back to again and again, so getting dressed feels easier.
Because this is the thing I think we sometimes miss when we look at stylish people online. A lot of the time, they’re not inventing brand-new outfits from scratch every day. They’re repeating the same formulas in slightly different ways.
(Which is why I created the Summer style guide - so you could have some outfit formulas at your fingertips as well)
And honestly, it’s one of the reasons their style looks so coherent.
They know the kind of outfit structure that works for their body, their lifestyle, their taste and the weather, and they just repeat different versions of it.
You’ll see me do this a lot too. One formula I wear and love in the summer is a patterned or bold midi skirt with a textured top, easy sandals and my go-to joyifiers. For me, that’s usually lippie, big hair, fun jewellery, a bag, or something with colour or texture.
Your summer uniform might look completely different.
It might be shorts and a colourful shirt. Or a loose dress and sandals. Or wide-leg trousers and a vest. Or a midi skirt and a simple tee. The actual formula doesn’t matter as much as finding one that works for your real life.
You might strongly feel like you already know what yours is, but if you don’t that is where the Summer Style Guide can really help.
Because you don’t need to look at the guide and think, “Right, I need to recreate all of these outfits.”
You don’t.
Instead, use it to find the formula that makes you think, “Yes, I could actually wear a version of that.”
That’s your starting point.
Then you can make it feel more like you with colour, accessories, shoes, jewellery, print, texture, lipstick, a bag, or whatever your own little joyifiers are.
So if your usual summer outfit is shorts and a plain top, the answer isn’t necessarily to throw that formula away. It might be to build on it. Can you find a similar formula in the guide. Could the top have more texture? Could the shorts be a colour you love? Could you add sandals that feel more intentional? Could jewellery, lipstick, sunglasses or a bag make it feel more finished?
That’s the difference between a uniform that feels like “that’ll do” and a uniform that feels joyful.
Quick task: Have a look through the Summer Style Guide and choose one outfit formula that feels closest to your real life, and think about a few different ways you might be able to wear it.
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