Last week I was prompted to take inventory of my summer wardrobe by a question about my summer attire. I already knew that I was lacking summer jackets which is why I tried the Uniqlo jacket, but this question was about casual wear. So, what am I missing? As it would turn out, I am missing more than I thought. Enough to make me sit down and write a list. My personal list is much longer than the one below, but I picked my top five to share.
1. White Canvas Shoes – I currently have zero athletic sneakers for casual wear. I think that a pair of white canvas sneakers will be very versatile in the summer months. I am leaning towards a pair of Sperry CVO’s, but there are a lot of other options such as Keds Champion, Converse Jack Purcell, Vans Authentic, etc. For more on white canvas sneakers read this great post by Billax.
2. Polo Shirts – A polo shirt is the perfect Saturday shirt. It is the adult version of the t-shirt. Treat it as such. I am not picky about my polo shirts. Almost any brand will do for me as long as they do not have a logo. I need one in navy and one in white.
3. Button front Short Sleeve Shirt – I used to be dead set against them, but I used to be dead set against a lot of things that I now embrace. So, maybe I was wrong about short sleeve button front shirt, too? Time will tell. My first choice would be a white/blue seersucker with madras and blue OCBD are fighting for second place. I will probably buy a Lands’ End version of this shirt.
4. Short Sleeve Popover – The popover shirt seems to be getting more and more attention these days. I used to have a madras short sleeve popover from PRL as a teenager and I loved it. It is hard to tell if I will love them now, but I just saw some on the J.Crew website (see pic $69.50) and I could see it being a very useful shirt, especially on vacation. I could wear it to lunch and I think that it would look great on the beach or by the pool.
5. Motif Belt – Summer means fun and nothing is more fun than a motif belt. I am still going back and forth on which motif, but there is no doubt that I will be going to Eliza B for this purchase.
