Hello Internet, it’s been a while.
Can you believe it’s already almost the end of the August? While I have achieved some great things already this year (finally getting my dream job and doing something about my mental health); some projects (especially this blog) have taken a little back seat this summer. Quite honestly, the heatwave and the stress of flat hunting in London sucked the sartorial mojo out of me and even though I wanted to keep on top of posting regularly, it just didn’t happen. So, I thought I’d finally get back into blogging with an outfit that sums up my summer uniform – dresses and trainers - while reflecting over summer and having a general catch up ahead of the new season (which I am so damn excited about btw).
For me, this summer has been about moving, working and switching off. The move was stressful. We gave ourselves two months to find a new flat in London and after an anxiety-ridden 6 weeks of searching, we found an adorable little place in Streatham Hill. We’re super happy there.
Because we needed to move by the end of July and Lewis is going to do a Masters in September, we were unable to have a summer holiday. This must be the first time in years that I haven’t been away in summer despite it being something I couldn’t have craved more. South of France, Portugal, Italy…these places were all top of my list but unfortunately we couldn’t make it happen.
So I spent a lot of my summer working (which is not too bad because I love my job), enjoying World Cup fever (remember that?!) and struggling through the heatwave. In a way, the weather in London made up for the lack of summer break but dressing for work in 35 degrees rather than wearing mini dresses and bikinis in the same temperature on the Italian coast* totally zapped my inspiration and motivation. But I’m rather proud of me – rather than letting it stress me out (too much…), I accepted that heatwave London dressing just isn’t my forte and decided to take some time off for me, my relationship and switching off, which is never a bad thing.
*I just wrote coats – can you tell I can’t wait for layers?!
One reason I struggle with hot weather dressing is because I can never find my footwear jam. I love a block heel, ankle boots and Converse and this doesn’t always translate well into summer in the city dressing. However, I did buy these Veja trainers a couple of months ago and I’ve barely worn anything else. Low-rise, white plimsoll in style with on-trend ivory rubber details, they go with everything and have been all I needed in a summer shoe.
I have particularly loved wearing them with dresses. Their retro vibe lends itself well to pairing with my many vintage dresses, such as this gorgeous floral 70s one. I picked it up back in April at a vintage kilo sale in London (always the best place for vintage bargains in London FYI) after saying I wanted to wear more green this summer and it’s now one of my favourite dresses.
Thanks so much for reading this summer reflection and general brain dump/explaining myself that I felt was needed! I feel you're all up to date now and I'm super excited for transitional and new season dressing so see you very soon for a new post. X
