What to wear and read this summer
Girls weekends, wishlists, bad facials, brand hyper-fixations and books to suit all tastes
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Sorry I’m late! I spent the weekend at a fabulous bachelorette party and was so tired yesterday I was certain nothing I wrote would be coherent. Now, here we are, on the First Monday in May, and I’m not even regaling you with my thoughts on the Met Gala.
and both did chats, I’m looking forward to catching up.Back to the bachelorette: I firmly believe that a well-executed and harmonious girls weekend is a cure for every ill. And there’s one thing the girls weekends that go right have in common: sufficient downtime, especially when something specific happens during those quieter hours. Let’s call it the group cart.
We’ve all been there: sitting around a living room, reviewing the open shopping tabs on our phones, then presenting them to the group like they’re a Board of Directors, deciding whether or not the item at hand is worthy of an allocation of funds.
On bachelorettes, it typically starts with a round robin of what everyone is planning to wear to the wedding. From there, it may evolve into what facial treatments X girl did before her wedding or the ones Y swears by before she attends weddings or the makeup product that makes it look like you got your makeup done at a wedding where you didn’t (Merit complexion stick, btw). Then you’ll move into a general review of what else you’ve wanted to buy, and so it continues.
Capitalist hell? Of course!
But, for better or for worse (the latter, I’m sure), I firmly believe that when you’re with the right crew, these sessions are true founts of feminine knowledge.
What follows are some clothing wishlist items I presented to the group of girls I was with this weekend for approval, alongside a few book recs and skincare tips tossed in. Let us begin
(P.S. buckle up and open this in your browser, she’s a long one).
Summer wedding attire
In the past three years, I believe I’ve attended something like 26 weddings, including my own. Because our wedding rush (the year where we had 12) began in 2022, after COVID had kept us inside for a couple of years, I came sprinting out of the gate with my dress purchases. I also happen to be the same dress size as five of my family members (and same shoe size as three of them, let’s go girls), which means I can rarely justify purchasing a new dress.
HOWEVER: I’m going to a wedding event on the Fourth of July this weekend, and I want to show up in an all-American getup.
In 2019, I wore the OG gingham Daily Sleeper dress (pictured above) to my brother’s wedding. I got so much wear out of it that my mom actually forced me to throw it out last summer, helpfully informing me it was “visibly stained” in multiple places, which I’d known but chosen to ignore. I must’ve worn it 100+ times before its last dance. Now that I’m apparently too old to walk around in stained dresses, I’ve been searching for a piece with which to replace it. And while it’s a far bigger financial commitment than the original, I cannot help but lust after this gorgeous Gul Hurgel gingham number, which feels extremely ME. I think you guys should tell me to get it in the comments.
As far as other dresses go, my sister-in-law sent me this one months ago and I loved it but decided it wouldn’t look good on me, but I couldn’t get it out of my head, so I presented it to the girls weekend council™️ and it was handily approved. I still don’t think it would look good on me, but I love the floaty, silky strapless vibe for a summer wedding. And no, I don’t need a new dress, but I…want this one. (One thing I will always do is make a return. Bullish on purchasing whatever I want and returning everything I don’t think I’ll wear).
Summer skincare treatments
A few months ago, Hunter Harris posted about getting a terrible facial at a place that is much-lauded on Substack. She was too polite to name the spot, but I’m pretty sure I went to the same place and had the same experience (not confirmed in any way by her, just complete conjecture based on how many times I’ve seen this particular spot praised and how disappointed I was). It starts with P and ends with $344 (!!!) I’ll never get back.
I should’ve learned by this point to stick with my tried-and-true (BioLift Facial with Power Peel at Rescue Spa from Maven Sessoms and Maven Sessoms only!), but I am an incorrigible consumerist rat and so, while I will continue to go to Maven (my queen), I will probably also be trying a spot my friend Amulya recommended called JTav Clinical Skincare. She recommended I get the Advanced Glass Facial Treatment which includes microneedling1. I’m not yet ready for Botox (absolutely nothing against it, just to be clear), and apparently this is what you do one step before lasers, and two steps before Botox. The visit is going to set me back about $1,050, but a. I trust Amulya’s recommendations wholeheartedly and b. if it’s only once a year, it’s a far better deal than the facial place that will not be named (unless you ask nicely).
By way of at-home treatments, she recommended the more budget-friendly Solawave wand. There were a number of girls on the trip who swore by their red light masks, and everyone had great skin, so I’m sold. Solawave in particular is having a Mother’s Day sale, so I am considering splashing out for this mask. I’ve never once used red light (behind the curve) but I only stuck with my NuFace for about three weeks before I scared myself into think my face would get used to it and become completely slack and unresponsive over time, so I’m not sure if I’m the right candidate—but I haven’t seen anything about negative side effects, so watch this space.
What we’re wearing (and reading) when we’re not attending weddings
Sometimes I get scared to mention With Nothing Underneath in a newsletter in the off-chance that they see it and think I’m stalking them because of how obsessed I am with the brand. (My mom and I were deliberately 30 minutes late to their second New York City pop-up last spring so we didn’t seem too desperate since we were the first ones at their fall pop-up, but I’m pretty sure we still came off that way✌️).
Anyways: With Nothing Underneath has rapidly become my hero brand, and I’m fairly confident I could build and be happy with an entire summer wardrobe comprised almost exclusively of their pieces. So: let’s try it.
On my way to the bachelorette last weekend, I raced through Holly Bourne’s So Thrilled For You2 and didn’t bring literary backup, so I needed a book for my flight home. I adore that the Denver airport has a full bookstore (called The Tattered Cover), and while I almost went down the ACOTAR rabbit hole, I refrained in favor of Dianaworld, a new biography of Princess Diana that approaches her life not from the perspective of an insider, but of outsiders that felt like they were on the inside: piecing together snippets from books by reporters and paparazzo; diary entries by real people who felt connected to her; first-person accounts of Diana lookalikes; and more. I’m only about 100 pages in, and will report back when done, but, naturally, it brought to mind one of my favorite Diana-inspired summer looks.
The sportswear getup
Obviously, it’s been done to death, but there will always be a timeless allure to Diana’s sweatshirt-and-shorts 80s outfits.
Lucky for me, With Nothing Underneath agrees. A few weeks ago, they launched a basic grey sweatshirt that I happened to pre-order at the aforementioned pop-up back in March. As devoted readers of this newsletter will know, I also happen to have re-entered my running era (recession indicator, since that always happens when I become too poor for my $44 workout classes, xoxo), which means I recently bought a pair of high-slit Lululemon running shorts (if your size is sold out, these are similar). WNU (as I call them, because they’re all I talk about) are launching a t-shirt soon, and I’m holding out hope it’s as perfect as the rest of their pieces are, since I still🗣️can’t🗣️find🗣️a🗣️perfect🗣️white🗣️t-shirt🗣️ (over six months later), and I plan on creating the following outfit with the above pieces.
TO RECAP - THE SPORTSWEAR GETUP:
Top: white t-shirt
Criteria:
1. needs to have a loose sleeve. STOP MAKING SUCH TIGHT SLEEVES ON WHITE TSHIRTS, I HAVE MUSCULAR ARMS AND DO NOT WANT TO LOOK LIKE HULK HOGAN (this is where my otherwise beloved Doen Vivi Tee fails me).
2. tuckable (where my otherwise very useful Le Set Margo falls short—literally)
3. the neck needs to be loose enough that I don’t feel like I’m choked by it (S*ld Out NYC)
Sweatshirt: With Nothing Underneath sweatshirt, tied over shoulders
Shorts: Lululemon red running shorts (or any red track short. I like the idea of them being nylon to make this look purely sportswear forward, but you can go Dazed & Confused and do a cotton pair, too. Please don’t wear lacrosse shorts anywhere near me though, thank you so so much xxx)
Socks: I have the calves of a mountain goat, so ankle socks don’t look amazing on me, but I actually love this pair of Maje socks enough to excuse the physical insecurity
Shoes: my beloved CDG x Salomon sneakers that I purchased for my wedding after-party have received more wear than they probably ever wanted, but we’re leveraging them here too
The matching set hyperfixation
I was probably only seven when my mom introduced me to “jammie watch,” a concept she invented with her childhood friends where they’d go into hometown grocery stores and spot as many people as they could shopping in their pajamas (God bless Corning, NY)
Loungewear in public has been burned in my brain as completely unacceptable. You will not catch me in sweatpants (I wasn’t allowed to own them growing up and didn’t buy my first pair until I was 30) or leggings on a plane. You definitely won’t catch me in pajamas at the Wegmans in Bath, NY. And, because of this childhood conditioning, for a while I thought even the chic matching sets were too pajama-adjacent for me to indulge in at all.
But then, of course, WNU came along. Last summer, they launched the Daphne blouse, an oversized, white poet sleeved Shakespearean-style blouse3 that I scooped up instantly. It’s feminine but not too girly (I might’ve subconsciously stolen that from their website copy, but only because it’s true), breathable but polished, packable for all manner of summer trips, and simply one of my favorite shirts.
About eight months later, they relaunched their summer ginghams. We established at the top of this newsletter how I felt about gingham. And so, knowing I needed summer shorts, I instantly but hesitantly invested in the gingham boxers.
Careful to avoid the wrath of my mom’s watchful pajama-trained eye, I refrained from getting the full set. But, once the shorts arrived, it wasn’t long before I found myself wearing them every time the weather permitted (don’t worry, we’re getting back to the Daphne soon).
The gingham boxers have formed the basis of my new casual outfit hyperfixation: I pair them with a white t-shirt and WNU’s Devon sweater, a positively PERFECT navy blue COTTON (crucial) sweater with an incredible, thick neckline that doesn’t choke me,4 tied around my shoulders (I cannot resist the allure of a sweater tied over the shoulders).
Because chartreuse is a neutral to me (and looks best with navy), I topped this all off with one of my favorite investments of last year, the Margaux x Matilda Goad chartreuse Mary Janes 5 (I’m desperate to buy the denim and red ones if anyone has a secondhand pair).
TO RECAP - THE CASUAL OUTFIT HYPER-FIXATION:
Top: White t-shirt
Sweater: WNU’s Devon sweater (YOU NEED THIS SWEATER)
Shorts: WNU gingham boxers
The utility of the gingham boxers was clear, but it wasn’t until last week, when I saw a girl in the background of one of Strava’s Instagram stories (there are cathedrals everywhere for those with eyes to see) wearing what looked like a WNU Daphne blouse and a matching pair of shorts. Her hair was scraped back into a bun with a positively massive scrunchie. My sister thinks I’m too old for scrunchies, but once I start micro-needling, it’s game over for her. I not only needed the scrunchie (this absurdly priced Good Squish one is, unfortunately, going in my cart).
I checked the WNU site to see if they had a pair of white shorts I could wear with the Daphne, but was instead confronted with a blue set they made for “boat race” (no idea what that is, sorry, God save the King), featuring a pattern that looks like a couch in your chicest friend’s summer house in the best possible way. Immediately, I was convinced that I needed it—and was also very inspired by the images in the shoot (I believe James Harvey Kelly shoots most of their campaigns), which they shot in Cambridge and features the gingham set in all its glory. Naturally, I realized I needed the gingham button down too, PJ watch be damned (sorry, mom). Paired with a slick bun, a scrunchie, and the right shoes, it’d look perfectly polished.
Which is why I have decided that this summer, three years after the trend has passed, is the year I’ll invest in jelly sandals. I love these Loeffler Randall ones, and the girls weekend council also approved (I wonder if
can tell me whether I should size up or down as a true 7.5 since this particular model doesn’t have half sizes😗).I LOVE Loeffler Randall shoes, they’re incredibly comfortable. I wore these bad boys all summer last summer (extra cute with a hyper-feminine skirt like this one, my forever fave) and I wear these all winter. Which is why I’m not only planning to invest the Rhys sandals (once I figure out which size to buy), but also pre-ordering the Cooper Mary Janes in white, which are scratching the itch for a Superga-style platform shoe I’ve been wanting since my sister made me give her back her pair in 2017.
TO RECAP - STYLING SUMMER SETS:
Clothing: Gingham top & boxers; Daphne blouse & boxers, all WNU
Accessories: this scrunchie
Shoes: Cooper Mary Janes and Loeffler Randall Rhys Sandals
A BOOK TO MATCH YOUR LOOK:
While I don’t even want to mentally calculate the sum total of spend I’ve amassed in this fantasy cart, there is one accessory I will always spend on, no matter my bank balance: a book. And, because I am nothing if not materialistic (wait, you guys couldn’t tell?), the first thing I thought when I looked up one of the books my friend Caroline recommended over the weekend was that it’s cover would look great paired with either of these outfits.
Lucky for me, the book sounded as good as it looked too: it’s called We Tell Ourselves Stories and it’s film critic Alissa Wilkson’s cultural biography—of both Joan Didion and the era Didion rose to fame. I can’t wait to read it while wearing one of my blue sets.
Other notable book recs I received this weekend: Lizzy recommended All the Colors of the Dark, a novel about a group of disappearing girls in Missouri in 1975 (she says there’s a true shock twist); and Amulya recommended Island of the Sea Women, about two young girls working at an all-female diving collective of Jeju against the backdrop of the Korean War. I’m certain I’ll look exactly like the model in the shot below as I mosey through the city streets this summer with my sets and my paperbacks.
When I want to look a bit more polished
Between basics and weddings lies an all-important category of summer dressing: the summer night “look.”
Summer looks are tricky because of the way the weather can absolutely destroy them, but when Rachel Tashjian Wise guest-edited Feed Me for Emily Sundberg while she was on her honeymoon and declared “diaphanous” a word of the summer, it felt like a revelation. I’d seen Olivia Regan of House of Olita post a video of herself running through the NYC rain in a sheer skirt, and I’d also seen a few people styling sheer shirts with massive oversized button-downs, which feels like a look I need to lean into as it (hopefully) heats up.
In the meantime, I also purchased both the Edie and the Harling from If Only If nightwear, with the intention of pairing the Harling with my Hoff sneakers (de-influencing you guys; I literally think I blew out my knee wearing them this weekend, xoxo) and my new Loeffler Mary Janes.
That’s all for this week’s MATERIAL GIRL dispatch! We’ll be back next week with more books and less consumerist hell. Maybe. You’ll have to stay and find ouuuuut.
Love ya!!!
And, because I got a second-degree burn on my chest in high school and had a melanoma removed from it just two years ago, I will also be investing in the neck + decolletage add-on. WEAR SPF KIDS, and make sure it’s NOT expired!
It’s a beach read, for sure, but the perfect book to pick up if a. you’re in your thirties and some of your friends are having kids and you aren’t; or you have kids and your friends don’t or b. you want something you can finish in a single day. About a baby shower that goes horribly wrong and four college friends all at different stages of life convinced the others are judging them when they’re really judging themselves.
my best friend once described my personal taste as “William Shakespeare meets Kate Spade”💀
If this sweater were a human, it would almost certainly take a restraining order out on me given how many times I’ve mentioned it in this newsletter since my February purchase.
You can put “incorrigible consumerist rat” on my tombstone
for white tuck-able white t shirts: sold out Nyc or Cos mens section