Summer in London isn’t known for being hot (usualy: mild, pleasant, a bit drizzly), but this year Europe has been experiencing one helluva heatwave. And I just don’t have enough season appropriate clothes to keep up.

THE OUTFIT

Dress: Little White Lies (past season)
Shoes: Topshop (past season)
Bag: Zara (past season)
Headscarf: vintage
Sunglasses: Rayban, prescription

Yes, it’d be very easy to go out and buy a lot more summer clothes. London is a great city for shopping, after all. But I don’t want to for several reasons:

1. I don’t have the need for lots of summer clothes most years.
2. My flat doesn’t have much storage space, and I don’t want to overcrowd it more than it already is.
3. Fast fashion adds to our world clothing waste problem (watch a great CBC spot on that here), and I don’t want to continue the cycle of buying and donating cheap clothes.
4. I’d rather save my pennies for traveling.

So while I have bought a few items like these Topsop pool slides in the sales when my sandals from last summer gave out on me,  most days I’ve started to get inventive with how I dress.

Recently I was off to a picnic in the park, and bored of wearing my two pairs of denim shorts and one denim skirt on repeat, I browsed my lesser-worn summer clothes and settled for this strappy occasion wear dress that I bought for an event last summer.

Normally I wear this dress with heeled or city sandals, styled hair, and layer on the bracelets. And as much as I enjoy over-dressing, for a picnic that might still be a bit much. So I dressed this dress down with more casual shoes (enter the pool slide), pulled my hair back, added a vintage scarf and complimented myself on finding the right level of over-dressing for the occasion.

How often do you shop your wardrobe to wear old pieces in new ways?

Much love, Katie xo