rare spring layering

By mid-May in the DC region, I am usually abandoning layers, drying my tears at giving up boots,
stockings and cardigans. But spring is sticking around for a wee bit, and I am smiling. I believe I would be content living where is it always between 35 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, but I grew up surrounded by the tall buildings and asphalt of New York City and now live in the swamp of the DC region. Sweltering summers are expected, unavoidable, yet I despise them every year.

Ah, but last week, I wore a mini black trapeze dress with a pink cotton slip, light grey, pink polka-dotted, sweater-style tights, black chunky-heeled ankle boots, and a vintage black crocheted cardigan. I was comfortable, I was happy. And I am rarely just happy (too dark for a frivolous fashion post? Ah, well).

I am a petite gal, lean but not skinny, cute enough, and I like my clothes, but I confess that I sweat easily (blame goes to my father’s genes). I am a runner, too, so these summers really hurt. I keep going, but with sweat dripping off my elbows, my shoes sweat-soaked by the time I am done. I clean up well, but still.

This unusual temperate weather is already fading. What to wear when the 90-degree, 80% humidity days come, oh, very soon (today!)? Since I run hot, I must strip down to tanks and light cotton skirts. No layers. I hang my head, resigned.

But maybe, just maybe, something like this could be summer-friendly.

PS: If you are so inclined, you can get my layered look:

mini trapeze dress, Free People

(bought on sale from FP a year ago)

a breezy pink slip

(mine is a cottony jersey; I can't remember where I found it)

vintage crocheted cardigan

(mine is chunkier and has large black buttons, bought at a thrift store)

Betsey Johnson Sweater Tights
(Mine are the grey version of these)

Vince Camuto Black Suede Boots
(My lace ups are from a thrift dtore)

"these socks, those earrings"

Glenda Adams, late 1980s, Sydney, Australia

My mother, Glenda Adams, died five years ago today. I am her only child, and she was an amazing mother. While our tastes are different, she and I shared a love of clothing and a sense of personal style. She is a well-known Australian writer; I keep a blog about reading her writing here.

In an interview she had with Jan Hutchinson in the October 1988 issue of the journal Fine Line, they talk about whether her writing is autobiographical, morality in her writing, whether writing is political, women and writing, and my mother's two novels (at the time) Games of the Strong and Dancing on Coral.


But my mother also gets a chance to talk about clothing (because Games of the Strong includes a conflict about shorts and petticoats):


"Well, that's in a lot of my stories. What you wear. Nothing much has changed. We take as much care throwing together something casual. We choose quite carefully our tops and bottoms. These socks, those earrings. I feel that to think happily about clothes is quite a wonderful thing and it's been mistaken for -- given the fifties and sixties and the women's movement -- a sign of low self-esteem that you have to doll yourself up. You can also see it as a sign of extraordinary self-esteem. To decorate yourself with some confidence seems to me to be a wonderful urge. And not one that was encouraged in us young Australian women, especially if you were supposed to be good at your school work, which is sad for girls."


Of the many lessons she taught me? Play with and enjoy your clothing.