Conquering summer fashion...

Spring/summer fashion has always been a bit less exciting to me than fall/winter fashion, probably because I just LOVE autumn and all that comes with it. I love sweaters, jeans tucked into boots, wonderful plaid scarves, chunky knits, fingerless gloves, velvet tops and dresses, leather jackets ~ well, you get the idea. I adore all that comes with dressing for fall and winter.
I have always found dressing for warm weather, however, more difficult. Less pleasing. As a result, I have just never put the time and effort into it that I put into my fall wardrobe every year.
This year, I decided, was going to be different. After all, I work in advertising for Belk, a Southern fashion retailer/department store, so I figured it was time to up my game.
Working for a fashion retailer, I am aware of all the trends/colors, etc., for each season long before any of it goes to market, so I started thinking about this last year ~ how I would approach it, what I would look to buy, etc. It helped that I had pretty much gotten rid of all of my summer clothes and had no choice but to outfit myself ~ in other words, there was no backing out, like in past years.
I decided the way to go for me this year was going to be dresses. They are easy, fun to pair with a variety of summer shoes, and, this year in particular, very feminine and pretty. Most needed to be suitable for work, but I allowed myself a couple that were just fun or weekend/going out dresses. I also decided I wanted to invest in some pretty tops that pair effortlessly with summer pants and jeans. And last, but not least, accessories ~ I needed some new summer purses and scarves, etc.
So far, I am making out really well on my new spring/summer wardrobe, which means I have a bunch of things to show you over a few posts. Who knew shopping for summer clothes could be so much fun?
Please bear in mind I am not a fashion blogger by trade ~ I just love fashion and thought I would share some of my summer finds since dressing well is part of living beautifully.

First up: the clothes hanging on my bedroom door above. From left are a gorgeous boho maxi from Wonderly (love the velvet up top ~ so unexpected in summer), a bright and fun sleeveless sheath dress and a preppy mint top by Crown & Ivy (perfect for pairing with summer jeans), and a cute black floral dress from Torrid (florals are EVERYWHERE this season). Below is a pink envelope clutch from Kaari Blue and a Crown & Ivy scarf. Pink is clearly my favorite color this year for accessories.

I found all of the items featured here during a weekend shopping at Belk. In the photo below, you can also see my new Spartina 449 purse ~ that gorgeous red bag ~ and a new red Vera Bradley tote to carry my stuff back and forth to work.

Last but not least, I found this absolutely fabulous floral black pantsuit by Kaari Blue. Now I wasn’t thinking I would buy a pantsuit, but this one was pretty cute and cut appropriately for my shape, so I thought I would give it a try. It looked fabulous, so I brought it home. A bit of a splurge, but like I said, my spring/summer wardrobe was non-existent.
I have a few more bags and accessories to show you, and several tops, as well as some more work dresses. Come back for those.

Photos by The Art of Living Beautifully