As summer comes back around and the excitement of the change in temperature and the departure of seasonal allergies wears off, I am left standing in front of my closet contemplating how boring all of my summer clothing is. While this isn’t a new phenomenon, this year my brain seems to be more scrambled than ever. I just feel like this year the landscape of summer trends is just sensory overload to the extreme and I don’t know where to look. Scrolling through Instagram is like being in the grocery store right before a major holiday. Just! Too! Much! Like I am loving the comeback of chunky shoes and funky prints everywhere as much as the next girl but it is getting hard for me to tell what I actually genuinely like or if I’ve just been hypnotized by the checkerboard print and I will wake up one day in August and not recognize myself. I’m realizing that I just need a look that will cut through all of the noise while still making me feel cool and comfortable this summer. Which is why I’ll be taking all my style inspiration this summer from rom com Hugh Grant and also a little bit of real life 90s Hugh Grant.
Maybe my reaction to the contemporary overwhelm I feel in relation to fashion that has me going back into the past. Or maybe it’s the fact that any 90s rom com is my go to ‘I am sad today’ movie. But I’m always fascinated with Hugh Grant’s styling choices. How they dressed him in literally every movie I think was intended to be slightly heinous and unfashionable. As we all probably know he played a sort of plucky, uncool, but unabashedly charming character in most of his filmography, and many of his wardrobe choices were meant to reflect his slightly out of touch nature (ie the oversized floral button up and shorts). But at the same time that they tried to make him look kind of bad, how great is that energy. I, personally, would love to be a little out of touch!! In contrast, 90s Hugh Grant as captured by the paparazzi was known to be very cool. A kind of cool that toes the line between classic and preppy posh boy (ie khakis and Raybans). So if I’m doing the math right...Trans-Atlantic preppy plus a goofy cut and print equals me looking effortless in a sort of nostalgic and just offbeat way this summer without having to buy a single strappy top with a slightly psychedelic print? Something about the aura that both his movies and celebrity give off to me makes me suddenly feel like there is hope that I won’t be dressing like the most boring person on the planet this summer. I can put on my blue and my white and my denim and maybe it’s actually...a look?
While you may think that the look I have proposed is genuinely Not Good, that is okay. Go forth and conquer the summer trend of your choosing. I think it’s really the thought behind the inspiration that can help us all. Summer dressing is hard. It’s hot, there is little room to add interesting layers. Find an idea that sparks a mental moodboard and run with it. Oh and even though I said the trends were overwhelming, I will certainly be adding a beaded necklace to every single look this summer. That is something I can focus on.
-Kate
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