Late Summer T-Shirt Lengths, Saunas, Mermaids & the Luxury of Changing Your Mind.
Might also be an accidental Le Bon Shoppe appreciation post.
found a real one
This year, summer didn’t start til August. My whole family had been dreaming of it since the depths of a snow-covered February that appeared to never end. But now the kids’ camps are over, us parents are OOO, and we’re all languishing in the un-Hamptons part of Long Island we’ve ritually visited for a decade.
A large part of this little village’s appeal is its proximity to the city, friendly inter-generational community, and ever-growing stretch of coffee shops, boutiques and farms. One store in particular stands out among the rest. Perhaps because my good friend, Annelies, initially opened it, before moving across several continents. Like its inaugural owner, the store has undergone many guises, which we’ve witnessed throughout our summer tenures. The one constant: it houses some of the most desirable basics (that word really undersells them) outside of the city.
More on those, along with everything listed in the title, ahead.
SUMMER COVERUPS: 1. ELBOW LENGTH TEES
clockwise from top left: black tee / grey tee/ white tee/ black tee / navy layered on top tee / main image: white tee
As someone who grew up frolicking in the rain and dodging crashing waves on the shores of the Welsh and Cornish beaches, jeans and long sleeve tops have long been a summer mainstay. And even after 20 years stateside, nothing makes me feel more at home or at ease than a well-made t-shirt with an elongated sleeve.
While the heat’s cranked up in the past couple of days, it was a surprisingly mild start to the month, which started with a downpour, and moved into breezier afternoons and evenings. Other days felt like they’d reached boiling point. The erratic-ness of it all has felt like the perfect excuse for an early 2000s reprise: the non-committal elbow sleeve t-shirt. While the originals were often tight fitting, ribbed, maybe a Henley style, many of today’s updates have a looser, more neutral, almost early 80s vibe. Some standouts, above.
SUMMER COVERUPS: 2. LONG SLEEVE TEES
ruffled top (the un-Hamptons version of smart-casual) / the casual fit on this navy sailor top is lovely. It’s drapey, with a couldn’t-care-less wide collar, and boxy-ish fit / high v-neck, extra long & wide-sleeved top (it’s quite like the Beare Park Margot Robbie airport top. The relaxed fit is incredibly comfortable with a shape that offers a little bit extra) / relaxed white top (cooling side vents, the touch & feel is the same deal as the pants I bought, mentioned above & worn here) / high crewneck top (I cannot overstate how comfortable this is. It’s so soft and the fit is loose but not too loose. It’s perfection) /
If you don’t like to do things by halves, are thinking ahead to fall, or need a barrier between your major organs and your husband’s ice-cold AC, a long sleeve t-shirt is a smart summer staple. Pull on as the headliner for a silk or taffeta pant outfit, or throw over a slip dress when the evening breeze kicks in. Mine, naturally, tend to lean black, but there’s no better time to go wild with a classic stripe, or flip the script with an all cream version, if you’re feeling spicy.
OUT-OF-THE-CITY BASICS (SAME AS NORMAL BASICS, BUT WITH COLOR)
Left: sweater / shorts // Right: Balloon sweatpants
If anything says I’m not in the city, it’s blush pink clothing or a pajama-like sweater and shorts set (temperature-wise it’s confusing). Both of these outfits caught my eye in that store I mentioned in the intro. You’d be hard pressed to find anything that fits the all-black or all-grey palette I’m accustomed to. So here I am, considering blush sweatpants (above right) of all things, knowing full well they won’t stay anything close to that shade back in the city.
They’re organic cotton with this satisfyingly rough finish and a gently ballooning arc. And the hemline—it’s a loosely elasticated, swishy thing, that hovers perfectly around my ankles—is ideal with a shirt and low heel sandals. They are the perfect logoless, retro-feel alts for anyone who falls in the age bracket above the Free City revival (yes, fashion is ageless, wear what you want, etc, but sometimes, you just don’t want to go back, and that’s fine, too).
The abbreviated sweatsuit (above left) momentarily convinced me that I might be a shorts person. But it abruptly ended when I turned around and was confronted with my leg veins.
Update: my mom, who’s here visiting, talked me into the blush pants, assuring me “trying new things is good for the soul.” So let’s see how that pans out in September, living on a polluted two-way street in NYC. For now, they’re perfection. And, more mom advice: “you can just dye* them black when you get home.” Then my pants can also be in on the trying a new thing tip. And, at the moment, for multiple reasons, I can’t fathom how to argue with that logic.
*Mom recommends this dye. For the record, I haven’t tried it, but will report back if I get round to using it on those pants. Mom has used it, however, several times and promises that both her clothes and washing machine have lived to tell the tale.
THE BEAUTY LINEUP
sunscreen / mascara / perfume / tinted moisturizer / bisou balm
I gave myself over to a seismic beauty routine earlier this year. I’ve always been a soap and moisturizer person, but the further my thirties fade into the distance, the more my bathroom shelf accumulates—I brought a two-bag situation out here this year (Unheard of, but I’m trying out two different beauty routines that I’ll report back on another time).
So here’s everything that’s officially tried-and-tested and been a part of my routine for a year or more (the mascara is a newer addition, but honestly, one evening with a mascara tells you whether it’s for you or not):
I’ve always found foundation to be too thick and intense looking. Saie’s slip tint is my year round go-to. In fact, all of the pieces in the image above are constants:
This perfume is light enough to wear in summer, but has some kind of deeper note that makes it feel fall appropriate, too.
I love the feel of GWS and layer it on top of my Saie.
The Ilia mascara—travel size only, no one gets through a full-size tube before the 3 month hygiene cut-off date—is the only one that doesn’t end up under my eyes at the end of the day.
And Violette’s Bisou Balm is an incredibly moisturizing lipstick, it feels more like a lip balm (I guess the clue’s in the name). I love that it’s buildable so works for daytime appointments or evening dinners, depending on how much I apply.
FRIZZ-TAMING HAIR CARE ROUTINE
silk hair ties / silk ion pillow case / styling cream / oi milk / root touch ups / shampoo & conditioner
Hair. Oh, dear God. I straightened mine from the age of 13, and when I discovered GHD ceramic straighteners, my friends might have been the only people more relieved than I was (hair moans significantly decreased following the constant British downpours from thereon out).
Anyway, these days I rarely blow dry it, and either leave it curly, or slick it back into a low bun. Gone are the days of just using whatever is closest to hand. My type B-ness is subconsciously creeping into A territory. Now I have a lexicon of essentials, starting with Davines Love shampoo and conditioner, which I’ve used for about 17 years…same for the Oi Milk. If you have frizz prone hair, there is literally nothing else as effective. Nothing. I’m not a huge fan of the Roz line, it’s just too cleansing for my fine hair and leaves it looking more frazzled, but the Evergreen cream is the exception. It tames flyaways, is perfect if you’re wearing slick back styles and smells like a high-end perfume. My DP Hue has to come away with me now; it’s a bimonthly application situation these days and, if I could just reach all of the back layers of hair, I probably wouldn’t ever need to color it at the salon.
Clementine is a top notch silk company, started by my friend, Anna. I’ve been sleeping on her Silver Ion Infused silk pillowcase for over a year now, and I can confirm, it significantly cuts down on morning face creases, while the pure silk hair ties are gentle on delicate or thinning tresses. I know there are other silk companies out there, but they seem a little mass produced and therefore untrustworthy. Anna’s was born out of a health issue that required nothing short of the real deal and, I can confidently confirm, that’s what she offers.
Changing our minds on certain clothing categories, is a fashion lover’s prerogative. As is choosing to indulge in the edifying benefits of sauna-ing. Plus, the chicest finds from this creative village for paid subscribers, below…
