011/ What I'm Wearing: 2023 Week 11
A closer look at this week's outfits: "vacation wear" and swimwear + a minimalist approach to packing + the fine line of respecting socio-cultural dressing norms.
What I’m Wearing is on location this week in the French territory of Guadeloupe, a lush, rainforest-covered island in the Caribbean, where my family has been vacationing for the kids’ March Break. Oh, beautiful, generous, powerful sea. It’s been eight months since I last was in communion with you; how joyful it is to be in your presence again!
If you’ve landed here expecting a glitzy e-comm style newsletter with the best vacation-ready pieces, you may be disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, I look forward to the daily escapism of Moda Operandi’s newsletter (tbh, I read them all in Lauren Santo Domingo’s voice). My outfits this week, however, are devoid of the usual floral/ruffle/eyelet/boho/shell/turquoise embellishments typical of vacation wear because, for the most part, I don’t feel enough like myself in these pieces to spend money on them, let alone incorporate them into my daily wardrobe.
My approach to vacation wear is to take my everyday pieces and give them a holiday vibe with some minor tweaks, which speaks to my last WIW about taking “ski sweaters” out of the chalet and into the school run, office and even a night out (if/when that happens — #momlife).
Beyond the non-vacation wear (is this even a vacation wear post at this point?), I’m usually quite a light packer, especially on family vacays and even more so on warm weather ones. For our three-week honeymoon in India during monsoon season (not sure I would recommend this lol), I only took a carry-on of linens and cottons and washed them every few days; and last summer, our family spent six weeks in France, Italy and Germany with just two suitcases and one carry-on — with tennis rackets and swim floaties packed!
If it’s a warm weather holiday, I keep my outfits as comfortable and unfussy as possible, because, in reality, I’m drenched in sweat and sunscreen most of the time. Worrying about high maintenance fabrics like silk or fidgeting with extra styling details while my clothing becomes increasingly saline greatly detracts from my vacation enjoyment.
Because of the limited number of pieces I have with me, I appreciate that my outfits this week are not as complex as what I usually wear in terms of styling details, but importantly, I still feel great. If I didn’t, I’d have different advice! Instead, I try to keep outfits interesting in small ways, which I’ll elaborate on below.
I get that many of you would prefer to take more luggage and use your vacation as an opportunity to dress at your most fabulous — and that’s totally cool! No judgement, what I’ve outlined here is just my preference and what works for me.
SWIMWEAR
My swimsuit round-up of the week:
DAY 1
The photo on the left was taken at 3:30am after two hours of sleep — and it shows! I try to wear pieces on the plane that I’ll wear during the trip to avoid packing extra clothes — within reason — since it was -3C and snowing when I left Toronto.
At first glance and on its own, everything about the Nensi Dojaka bustier on the right screams “going out top”: the underwire, the sculptural cups, the mesh, the bare torso. Yet when paired with these particular vintage shorts, the bustier takes on a different character. It’s still sexy and sculpturally interesting, yet somehow…chill? Like the ski sweater examples, what you pair with this unabashedly sexy bustier can change its vibe completely: the khaki mom shorts (I think my mom actually owned a pair like this in the ‘80s/’90s) and sandals dial it way down for the beach, whereas the shorts with a black oversized blazer and Toteme Sharp slingbacks take it into a chic dinner look. You can visualize that, right? Because I can, and I’m going to try it out when I get home!
DAY 2
I put on actual clothes (rather than beachwear) on the morning of Day 2 because #momlife never ends and we had to take our son to the doctor and walk into town to pick up some meds from the pharmacy.
I wore these silver patent Tibi Rudolph flats with most of my dinner outfits. I find that a silver or white shoe often adds the dose of freshness that is otherwise missing from a classic outfit. Imagine both of these looks with a black or brown flat or sandal; they would still look good, but (especially for the classic outfit on the left) the silver patent plus the shape of the shoe edges them into modern. For that reason, I think silver and white shoes are key investment pieces and the definition of compound interest — I explain what that means here!
DAY 3
Day 3 will go down in infamy as the day my son asked (pleaded with?) me to dress more “basic” to dinner. After emerging from the washroom in the outfit on the right, his exact words were: “Can you wear something more basic like t-shirts and shorts? Can you just wear what you wore yesterday?” I mean…………….I was speechless.
Then the next day (Day 4 below), upon seeing my outfit, my son said unprompted, “Good mama, that’s very basic.”
I asked him what he meant by “basic” and he said, “by basic, I mean normal.”
Other than the fact that I died that he used “basic” in the most literal, unsnarky way only a child can, it got me thinking about the fine line between dressing for yourself and being mindful of social and cultural norms. I will expand on this in a separate newsletter in a couple of days because Substack is telling me I’m reaching my word limit on this post. I hope you’ll contribute to the conversation, and I’ll be sure to link to the post here!
I ended up changing into the Tibi dress on the left, which I had planned to wear on another day anyway. It wasn’t because of what he said (I swear!), but because I didn’t feel comfortable with how I styled the original outfit. (Okay, maybe it was 95% the styling, and 5% that I didn’t feel it was appropriate for the environment. Arguably it may have been a bit much for a buffet dinner at a family-focused, all-inclusive resort.)
I didn’t have time to play with it more, but I got the nagging feeling that it was too busy. Maybe there were one too many details? Perhaps it would have worked if I took the earrings off, or if I kept the earrings but changed out the bra top underneath to a plain nude? I’ll play with it at home and try again another day. Stay tuned!
DAY 4
I love these read-as-a-skirt culottes from Zara. They’re airy and breezy enough for summer but have enough weight that I’ve been able to easily wear them with tall boots during the winter. Tibi fans: imagine a blue or caramel patent Bronson boot with them! A white tee with beige bottoms can get boring quickly, but once again, these silver flats are doing the heavy lifting.
I also regularly tuck the sleeves of my short-sleeve tees under my bra. Sometimes the abrupt line of the short sleeve feels too blunt or too masculine for an outfit, and rolling or tucking the sleeve can help soften it.
DAY 5
This outfit is a variation of Day 1’s outfit but with my Magda Butrym swimsuit worn as a top. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of the beautiful sweetheart neckline on this one-piece and imagining myself in a Slim Aarons photograph circa 1960s Italy.
DAY 6
I rarely wear stripes because they usually feel too preppy for me, but I loved the relaxed slouch of this classic marinière which I paired with my cotton pull-on CDG skirt. Nautical stripes plus navy and white is a formula that could easily steer into yacht club territory, but for the modern cuts of the top and the skirt, and of course, the silver shoe.
You nailed it! I struggle with packing so much. Would love to see the entire packing list. I liked the color theme of this packing also. Very pretty, chill, and modern, and not trendy at all.
I struggle with the "looking normal" thing too! Sometimes I find myself wearing things that are downright unflattering, but caring less about this than being seen as "basic.". I know the word "flattering" is a dirty word these days, but I can't think of a replacement.