Hey friend, it’s a brand new season which means it’s time to break down what all the cool girls yep, that’s you will be wearing this summer. Summer can be a tricky season style wise. So today I’m going to share 10 Easy, wearable trends you can use to freshen up your wardrobe and look hot all season long. Let’s get started
Hello, gorgeous. Welcome back to the everyday style school, the podcast that gives real lifestyle advice to real life women. If you’re new here, welcome. I’m your host, Jennifer Mackay, Mary. I’m a wardrobe stylist who has been dressing everyday women for over 20 years. And I’m the founder of everyday style, where we are on a mission to inspire women to love the way they look and give you the tools to make getting dressed easy. If you’re a longtime listener, welcome back. I’m so happy we’re kicking off another season together. We’re gonna get into the trends in a minute. But let’s chat about summer styling. First, I hear all the time that summer style is challenging for a lot of women. So if you feel that way, you are not alone. It makes sense, right? First, there’s just less clothing. Some women are uncomfortable showing more skin, yes, but also, there are fewer layers to work with. So it can be challenging to put together interesting, stylish outfits when literally you’re trying to wear as little as you can add to that, that in summer we lose the richer fabrics that add texture and structure to your look. So sometimes it just feels like everything’s a little plain and floppy right? Finally, when the temperatures and humidity climb summer fabrics, those lightweight fabrics tend to wilt and look a little bit sad. If you’re struggling with all that, I got you if you have been to the Wayback Machine for this podcast all the way back to Episode 55. You’ll find an episode on how to look good even when it’s hot. And we will have that link in the show notes. One super simple way to look great all summer long is to create a mix and match wardrobe for the whole season. That gets you dressed for everything from trips to the farmer’s market and family vacations to days at the office and drinks on the patio, my favorite summer activity. And we have done all of the hard work of putting that wardrobe together for you. The summer 2024 capsule wardrobe guide is out right now. And it is your foolproof plan for fabulous summer style. We’ve incorporated some of the trends we’re talking about today. But as always, our capsule wardrobes are built around basics that you probably already have in your wardrobe. Our team is committed to reusing as many pieces as we can from season to season and year after year, while showing you how to keep your wardrobe evolving. So you can look current without buying a whole new wardrobe each season. If you want to save time and money while making style easy, I invite you to join us in the style circle. You’ll get this summer capsule wardrobe guide and everything else you need to make style simple. The link is in the show notes and I can’t wait to get to know you in the community. Okay, let’s talk about trends. In spring I shared 10 Big runway trends that work for regular everyday women in our regular everyday wardrobes. If you haven’t listened to that episode, go back and check it out. As they’re pretty much all continuing into summer. That’s kind of how Summer Fashion works. It’s just sort of spring to point out. Spring is a huge fashion season. While summer just well just isn’t right. Like I said it’s just a continuation of spring. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t fun new looks to try. It just means that instead of these big, overarching trends, what we see is smaller trends or individual trending pieces. This actually makes it really easy to update your summer wardrobe. Because you can just pop a couple of these pieces in and look refreshed. And remember the best way not to wake up and have that OMG have I been stuck in a style Time Warp for 20 years feeling is to slowly but consistently be updating and calling your wardrobe adding a few things pulling out a few things. When you do it a little bit at a time. You never need that major closet edit or wardrobe overhaul are huge shopping trip and you stay stylish. In the meantime, it’s a win win. So with that in mind, here are 10 Easy wearable trends for summer 2024. That will keep you looking current. As always head to the shownotes on our website to see examples and shopping links of all the trends we’re talking about today. starting us off number one is tie front tops. Now if you’re thinking about the tops that have little tie detail at the waist, that’s not what I’m doing I can about here, although those are kind of sneaking back in when I was doing a Google search for Thai friend tops to shop for this episode, a ton of those came up. So, you know, you can add those into your list as well. But what’s really trending is tie closure tops, so instead of like buttons, it closes with ties. I first noticed this trend a few weeks ago, when I was judging a high school shark tank competition, which sidenote is literally the highlight of my year. I love these kids in their innovative minds. And you know, I love high schoolers, so I am just super blessed to be involved with this. Anyway, during the competition, I noticed a lot of the girls who were presenting and a few in the audience, were wearing these tie front cardigans, and I was transported back to the early aughts and I remember having something similar in my wardrobe. So then I started looking around at like what’s new in stores and I saw a tie front blouses and cardigans up plenty. This is a super easy one to just pop on with a pair of denim shorts and sandals for you know casual dinner out or with a pair of trousers and slingbacks for work. The tie closure is definitely still in the early wearable phase. So if you want to be a little bit of fashion forward, this is a very good one. Now if you want to play it safe, the tie waist is a good alternative. By the way that tie waist thing is also a great thing for those of you who have curves but also don’t want to show off your midsections. I would say that’s like the number one question I’m asked right now is how does an hourglass who wants to show off curves not show the tummy area and I always say you know like a little tiny detail or a half tuck something to give it some shape without cleaning those tie from tops are good for that. Alright, moving on. Trend number two is an accessory trend. And I love an accessory trend for summer. It’s a great way to add style without adding extra clothing. Especially when the item is something you are going to wear anyway. In this case I handbag you have to carry a bag right? Midas will be one that makes a statement. So in this case, we’re talking about embellished handbags from Farmer’s Market totes to evening clutches and all kinds of bags in between. We’re seeing sequins embroidery pearls, just little details like that. And I think this one is a great reminder to have fun with your wardrobe and not take summer style too seriously. There are a couple of big motifs happening this summer. One of which we’ll talk about later. That are a great way to do what I call the twofer trend right where you combine two trends into one. The one we’re not talking about on its own which I guess you can consider a bonus trend is fruit and food theme patterns. I have seen this everywhere. So this summer, a simple linen pants and white tea outfit would get just a little pop of style with a fun lemon embellished handbags, strawberries are everywhere. Cherries are everywhere. It literally doesn’t get any easier than adding an on trend summer handbag to your wardrobe. You don’t even have to try it on it will always fit I promise. Moving on to Trend number three, which is a color trend. Okay, quick pop quiz for my longtime listeners. Why do I love color trends so much? I’ll give you a second answer.
If you said because they don’t really go out of style, you are right. There’s literally no color out there that you can say Wow, I’ve never seen that color before. And very few that you can point to and say that color is so out the date slowly if at all. However, this one hasn’t been a big summer staple in a long time. And that’s my friends try number three is deep chocolate brown. This summer if you are a warm toned woman who just doesn’t look her best and black. Even if you have a little bit of a tan, stock up on all the Browns out there. Chocolate is the most standout shade trend wise, but really we’re seeing all shades of brown this summer. Personally I love brown with neutrals like crisp white or tan for summer. To me it just looks really fresh and current and elevated and chic. And for me when it’s paired with colors like light pink or light blue. I kind of am brought back to early on nursery decor and baby shower themes to remember that it was everywhere. This season last paired their chocolate brown with a brighter pink and a coral. It’s pretty unknown. I still have mixed feelings. Little PTSD on the brown and light pink thing but anyway, J Crew paired their chocolate with crisp white and off law chefs kiss is absolute perfection. So depending on How you wear it. The vibe can be very different so you can make it work for your individual style. Trend number four, which is one I shared in a spring bonus trend episode in our Member private podcast is Capri pants. We’ve been seeing longer shorts Bermuda shorts for a few seasons now, and they are still going strong. Consider that another bonus trend. But shorts finally crept over the kneecap into Capri pant territory, meaning just below the knee to like upper mid calf territory. And I will tell you what I told our style circle members a few months ago. This is a trend that has the ability to go sideways real quick. And here’s why. The women who tend to gravitate toward more leg coverage in the summer are women who don’t love their legs. I don’t love to show them off. And I respect every woman’s right to like or dislike any body part. If you want more coverage, go for it. I support that. There are lots of ways to achieve that. However, what you’re trying to do with the extra leg coverage when it comes to long shorts and Capris is often not giving you the results you are going for putting a line across the widest part of your leg or the widest part of your calf, draws attention to it and makes it look bigger. Is there anything wrong with drawing attention to your calves and making them look bigger? No, of course not. But if that’s not what you’re trying to do, proceed with caution. Also, as I’ve always said, every body has sweet spots on the leg where shorts, pants and skirts look best. You have to take into account your legs Yes, but also your vertical proportion. Capris cut the leg in half. Which if you have shorter legs and a longer torso like I do, can make this situation even more noticeable and throw your proportions off even more. The last thing I want to say about capris, which I obviously have some strong feelings about is if you’re hanging on to your lands and sport Nick Capris from 20 years ago, thinking, woohoo, I’m trendy again, slow your roll into. In order to stay on the right side of the trendy frumpy Devine on this one. You’ve got to style these with intention. I looked at the new sportnet Capris on lands NS website, I have this thing where if the item looks bad on the models on the website, I know there’s not a lot of hope for the rest of us. For us mere mortals right? I’m going to link to options that are a little more stylish and a little more current looking in the shownotes. And if you like this trend, again, I fully support you, I just want you to look your best. So proceed carefully. Spoiler alert, there are no Capri pants in the capsule guide. Although we were joking that next summer, we’ll all be like omg these Capris are so cute, we have to put them in. So you know what, never say never. But for this summer, personally, I’m going to pass I’m not ready. Okay, Trend number five isn’t a new thing. But it’s finally hit the mainstream in a big enough way for me to talk about it. And that is linen vests. And if you’re like I’ve been seeing those for a couple of summers, you’re right, give yourself a gold star. You know the trends but like I said, they haven’t really been everywhere. I’ve wanted to put one in a capsule guide for quite some time. But we always preview shop to make sure any item that we put in the capsule guide can be found in a wide variety of prices and sizes. And we would find like one here one there, lots of fast fashion, lots of really expensive higher end designers, but not a lot in the middle range. This summer. However, they have made it to the stores where our listeners and members actually shop, so it’s time to talk about them. Finally, the only thing I want to say about these is they look best when worn as a top, buttoned up on its own or with a tank underneath. If your vest is cut lower, I can maybe get behind wearing it over like a fitted white t. But layering it over a button up shirt or doing lots of color blocking is not the trend we’re talking about. If you choose to wear your vest that way, cool, do your thing. But sometimes I think women think what they’re wearing is the only thing that matters and looking current, but how you style it is just as important. You’ve probably heard me say that in order to look dated, you’ve got to wear dated items in a dated way right? The same thing applies the other way. In order to look current you need to wear current things in our current way. So if you have that vast just cite the urge to like wear it open over a graphic T or something funky just let it be simple and chic and elevated on its own.
Trend number six is one I’m calling beach inspired. Could I have called it mermaid core? Yeah. As I could have, but I simply refuse. I just feel like a mermaid core is not where I’m at in life or my listeners or members. So we’re just going to call it beach inspired. What I’m talking about here is beach and ocean inspired motifs and details that have moved into non beach clothing. So this includes things like the crochet trend that’s still going strong bonus Trend number three, especially crochet with like little sequins on them. It’s very beachy, very mermaidy but we’re still not calling it mermaid part. This also includes shell details, pearls, beachy motifs, beachy pattern, it does not get any more summery than this one. And again, it’s an easy one to pop into your wardrobe with a shell pendant necklace or a fun T I’ve got a really cute one in the show notes I think you’re going to love. One thing I saw when I was shopping with my younger daughter a couple of weeks ago was lots of graphic tees with like printed shells or like starfish where your TA TAS should go. Again, sorry to my editor see, and if any of you try this one, please tag me on Instagram. I just need to see this. Also though, be sure to get a bra fitting first. You don’t want the graphic on your shirt to be like up in the sunlight zone or the ocean when your girls are down in the trenches if you know what I’m saying. Little ocean metaphor for you. Just make sure the girls are up where they belong. Okay, bottom line, have fun with this one. This is an easy, easy trend. And summer is supposed to be easy and fun. And that’s what this trend is Don’t overthink it. Just have a good time with that. Trend number seven which kind of fits into beach inspo. But it’s also another color trend is sky blue. This was a capsule color in the spring. And it’s a capsule of color again this summer. To be honest blues in general are having a moment. Behind the scenes we have been calling our capsule palette, the Mediterranean summer. Lots of blues, lots of whites, lots of neutrals, we love it. The first thing we do when we’re putting together a new capsule guide is challenged everyone on our team to come up with a few color palettes and then we sort of mix and match to come up with a final version. What’s in stores, what will be easy to shop What have we used before what can we reuse this season in stores colors are all over the place. Lots of brights, but also lots of neutrals, lots of brown but also lots of black. It’s it’s very varied out there. But every pallet our team submitted featured a shade of blue and when I hit the stores to shop for the capsule photoshoot. I was like Yep, thank God we got it right. I always hold my breath until I see our palette actually show up in stores. We usually pick it a little bit early and we’ve been burned before but this season it is all about the blues baby. This kind of How Green Was for spring all shades all across the board something for everyone. Sky Blue, though, in particular is everywhere. And if you’re thinking oh, I wish I could see what you guys came up with these sample pallets these other ones we give you all the pallets we come up with as a bonus in case our final pallet isn’t quite right for you. So as a member you get all of them. Okay, Trend number eight is white skirts, Maxis in particular. In the spring I talked about white dresses which was noteworthy because normally there’s summer items not spring which you’re going to find white dresses everywhere this summer. Because I don’t know because summer that’s what happens we wear white dresses. Anyway. If you want to dial the trend factor up a little bit. Go for a white skirt instead especially Maxis and middies gauze is a great choice for summer. I personally like it even better than linen. But linen skirts are super easy to find. And if you want a little more interest, you can try an eyelet version something with a little texture to it. You can pair it with a tea or a crochet tank pair of sandals. Easy breezy on trend summer outfit. Trend number nine is polo collars on shirts, dresses, sweaters, you name it. Technically polo collars have buttons on the placket while Gianni colors don’t. But since retailers don’t care about technical terms, a lot of what you’re going to see in stores right now are actually Johnny collars, which is a holdover from the college sweaters that have been big for a few seasons. This is sort of just the summer version. But polos were definitely on the runway. This is a part of the preppy aesthetic we’ve also been seeing and either way, whether it’s a Johnny collar, whether it’s a polo collar, a collared shirt is just a bit of an uplevel from just a basic T literally again can’t get any easier than swapping a T for a polo shirt. They take the exact amount of effort to put on but it’ll give you a little trend boost. In the show notes. I’m going to try to find just polo collars but don’t DM me if a Johnny color or two makes it into the lakes. I know the difference. You know, I know that our friends, I’m just looking for the best of what’s out there for you. Our last one of the season Trend number 10 is one more accessory and that is trucker hats. These have been trendy for a hot minute but again, they finally made it to the stores where you are likely to shop so I wanted to include them. Also, this is as easy as swapping a baseball cap for a hat with a mesh back. That’s it. Same amount of effort. These are great to keep the sun off of your face or to hide your hair that gets a little fuzzy at the beach in case yours doesn’t get those pretty beach waves either. And they are cooler than a baseball cap due to the mesh back. If you are a fan of baseball caps This is a great example of how swapping the things you’re already wearing for a store lightly trend to your version can elevate and evolve your style without any extra effort. There you have it my friend 10 wearable trends for summer 2024 And a few bonus ones to look out for. I hope this episode has inspired you to have fun with your wardrobe this summer, and not take yourself or your style too seriously. If you are a style circle member, you’re probably anxiously awaiting the bonus trend episode that I normally do every season where I share five more trends with you. Well, we’re not doing that this time around. First, there really aren’t five more noteworthy trends that I want to talk about this season. And I don’t believe in making stuff up just to put up content. We’re doing something different instead, we have something very special happening on the extra credit podcast this summer, I am doing a series sharing three simple tips for dressing your most challenging body parts. Whether you struggle with big calves, narrow shoulders, prominent tummy, whatever. This season, I am doing eight short and sweet episodes, giving you tips to make getting dressed even easier. So we’re not doing the bonus trends. But we are diving into how to dress those tricky body parts. coming very soon to the extra credit podcast. Stay tuned. If you’re not a member yet, come and join us. So you get the summer capsule guide and you get that eight part series. Don’t forget to head to the show notes on our website for links to everything we talked about today. You can do a little shopping makes your life easy. And while you’re there, sign up to get our free mini capsule wardrobe guide that shows you how to make a month of outfits out of just 10 pieces. It’s just a little taste of what we do each season. I will see you next time. And until then, remember that your everyday matters. So get dressed for it