Summer wishlist and inspiration

June 17, 2015

I've spend this day in a very glam activity of scrubbing the floors (we're repainting the house). I'm exhausted, but on the upper note, I must have burned plenty of calories, It has been raining for hours and the weather is quite chilly. Perfect timing to create a summer wish list and day dream a little.

How I wish I was on a beach somewhere, enjoying the sun and reading a nice book. Well, maybe next week, who knows?

The Art of Layering a Summer Dress

Layering in summer, can be a bit more tricky but it is by no means impossible. When weather is hot and sunny, we feel the impulse to simplify things. Nothing wrong with that. Layering is something we connect with the warmer months but should we? Yes, layering is a perfect way to keep warm but that doesn't mean there aren't ways we can't layer our outfits. You know some people live in warm climates. Should it mean they should give up layering. By no means no! Layering is fun. Layering can even help to protect us from the sun. Think of desert people and their multiple layers. I don't know have you heard but there is even such a thing as clothes that are made to protect us from the sun. I suspect that sun protective clothes will become a thing in future. Until then, sun protection creams combined with clothes can be the perfect solution. Prompted by my love for this lovely yellow dress, I gave this matter some though.

HOW TO LAYER A SUMMER DRESS

Once you've thought about it, you'll realize there is a number of options. I'll write down some of them for you. You can layer your summer dress by:

- wearing a vest with it,

- wearing a blouse, a t-shirt or a shirt over it,

-wearing a cropped top over it,

- wearing a body chain over it,

- wearing a scarf around your waist,

- wearing a scarf as a poncho,

-wearing a regular poncho,

- wearing a skirt over it,

- wear it with jeans or jeggings,

- wear it with leggings,

- wear it with shorts,

- wearing a crochet or sheer jacket over it.

But why limit ourselves to words when we have pictures? Put your clothes where your mount is Ivana! Here is how I put these words and action into action. Some of these outfits are a few years old, some are new, but all of them are all about layering a summer dress.

LAYERING A SUMMER DRESS GUIDE: TIE A SCARF AS A BELT

Wearing a scarf as a belt or a sarong around our summer dress is such a great way to make it look more fresh. I often wear scarves with dresses. Another way to layer a dress with a scarf is to wear the scarf around our shoulder and then secure it around our waist with a belt of something of the sort. This way of wearing the scarf is known as ' belt the scarf' look, but you can always play it up a little. In addition, you can also wear an oversized scarf and tie to create a maxi skirt look. The possibilities are almost endless.
1. LAYERING A SUMMER DRESS GUIDE: WEAR A SKIRT OVER IT

Wear a skirt over it! That sounds terribly simple but you know what? It works like a charm. All you need to make sure that you match the lengths....or if you want to get a really creative- don't. Here, however, I matched the lengths by wearing a mini dress (you can see what it looks like here) over a vintage midi dress. I love this polka dot pencil dress. Wearing it under a dress gives me an opportunity to match what I love the most: dresses and skirts. Another skirt that I often pair with dresses is one vintage grey midi skirt.

The Art of Layering a Summer Dress: Ivana's Guide For Easy Summer Layering (part two )

POST UPDATE 2024

The links have been removed because the site they were linked to is no longer running. Instead of those picture, I put some of my Summer inspiration.

MY SUMMER STYLE ESSENTIALS

What makes today's outfit proposal so fun is that it features many of my summer style essentials. As far as temperatures are concerned, summer has definitely arrived to Mostar and that means it's time to think about my summer style essentials. I've already started wearing summer outfits. This stripes on stripes look I'm sharing with you today is a good example of my typical summer styling. At every change of season, I think it makes sense to take some time to consider what we will be wearing in the next few months. You know, it really doesn't hurt to take a few minutes to think about what we want and need. This might save us time in the future (and we all seem to crave more free time in summer). Summer themed social media posts are everywhere and I love it! However, while it certainly doesn't hurt to look for inspiration in figuring out what our summer style should look like, it is also important to consider our habits and personal style.

If you're the type to enjoy casual outfits the most, then that is the kind of summer outfits you can plan. On the other hand, if you prefer a more dressier style, then that is what you can work with. I feel like my style is a mix of the two, so that's what I'll be working with in my head. Getting dressed up in the morning is always easier if we know what kind of outfits we are going for. Style essentials can really help us, not only in planning our outfits, but in organizing our wardrobe as well. So, what are my summer style essentials? Some of my key summer items can actually be found in this outfit, such as for example: straw accessories, sunglasses, striped items, puffed sleeves and heeled sandals. You can figure out your essentials by asking yourself a few simple questions. Is there a print or a trend you love for summer? If yes, that can help you plan your outfits around it. Do you like straw accessories? If yes, then you already have yourself a summer style essential. Figuring out our summer style essential isn't terribly difficult. You just have to think about the items you like to wear and the way you like to wear them.

Let's Talk Summer!

Summer ante portas! So, why not talk about hats? We all know that sun protection is a must all year round, but special attention is necessarily during the summer. We all know the importance of regular application of sun screen. Most of us do our best to find good sun protection products, but sometimes we forget that fashion can be helpful in protecting ourselves against the sun. Fashion can be useful that way! Cheers to the fact that we can be both stylish and protected during the summer months. That's all I want to talk about today. Using clothes and fashion accessories as a protection against the sun. It is worth noting that while sun screen is mandatory, there are other things, such as clothing and accessories (most notably hats) that can offer additional protection against the sun. With that in mind I created this fashion illustration. If you want to found out more, scroll down. I've prepared tons of summer hat style and outfit ideas & inspiration for you. A bit of fashion illustration mixed with some outfits and we're ready to talk summer hats.

Recently I came across a piece of information according to which every additional inch of a brim hat lowers the chance of skin cancer by ten percent. I'm not sure was that information based on an actual study, but it is certainly something to keep in mind. Wide brim hats are a wonderful choice for summer. I have quite a few of them. Even without the sun protection benefit, I would probably still wear hats because they look tres chic. The best thing about wide brim straw hat is that you can buy them for practically nothing. I'm pretty sure that I didn't pay more than three euros for any of the summer hats I own, and let me tell you they have all withstood the test of time- I've had them for years. To buy a nice summer hat, one doesn't have to break the bank. I'm not a snob when it comes to the material, some of my hats are made from polyester imitating straw, some are regular straw hats. I enjoy wearing them all. When I get bored of the hats I have, I tend to just paint on them or freshen them up by wrapping a scarf around them.

HOW TO SPICE UP A NEUTRAL DRESS FOR SUMMER ?

and if dresses aren't your thing, I have a post about chic summer outfits that don't involve dresses....

FIVE EASY CHIC SUMMER OUTFIT IDEAS

Today I'll share with you five simple summer outfit ideas that you can wear for a number of occasions and that don't involve dresses. A nice dress is always a fantastic option for summer but there are other chic options as well. Summer can be as busy as any season and sometimes you just want to keep things simple. We'll start with a summer outfit featuring a printed yellow jumpsuit. Jumpsuits are great for when you're in a hurry. Moreover, jumpsuits can be easily layered with a vest, blazer or an oversize scarf. You can dress them up with heels, like it did here or you can go more casual. Yellow is such a happy colour, one that I love to wear. Almost every summer I devote a post to wearing yellow (see here HOW TO WEAR YELLOW IN SUMMER? 2018 and 7 EASY WAY TO ROCK THE YELLOW TREND 2019).