So July slipped away like sand through our fingers (or, more accurately, like a Fourth of July PBR down the hatch) and we’re kind of in mourning. Sure, it’s humid and being cooped up indoors at work is no high school summer vacay, but July is our never-fail favorite month for just about every other reason. The patios. The park lounging. The before, during and after of festival season. Independence Day red, white and blues. The incessant sporting events that we can pretend to be extreme fans of while secretly Googling “is football the same thing as soccer?” under the table. Ahh, bliss.

But we’re the first to admit summer dressing is tricky—pairing work-worthy lengths with beach-worthy temperatures is a recipe for failure no matter how you slice it. Luckily, we think we’ve finally found the secret to mastering the July dress code. Behold, our summer fashion hit-list. Go nuts.

Cottage Classics

An expertly curated array of everything you wish you could find at a flea market.

Imagine you hired a team to go flea market-hunting on your behalf (the dream, right?) and instead of the usual moth-eaten and ill-fitting wares, they brought back a treasure trove of antique jewelry, kitschy housewares and vintage Guess ad-worthy denim. Current/Elliott’s latest offshoot Loved & Found is just that—an expertly curated array of everything you wish you could find at a flea market. And in case you had any doubts, yes, you do need that one-eyed Boston Terrier statue and brass walrus paperweight.

Designer Spotlight: Tanya Taylor

She's about to reach collectible status

Her eponymous label may not be on the tip of your tongue just yet, but you already know Toronto-born Tanya Taylor. Formerly a designer for Elizabeth & James (casual), Taylor is a proponent of girl-next-door goodness—bold graphics, tiled triangles and sanguine stripes splashed onto ladylike silhouettes. Plus her paper-doll branding is the cutest thing we’ve ever seen. Is it bad that we’d stock up for that reason alone? She also may just reach collectible status having just been named to the top 10 competing in this year’s CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. Start stocking up on this label while it’s still early days—you saw it here first.

Mirrored Lenses

Reflector referendum? We vote hell yes.

In case you don’t have enough repeat purchases to justify to your significant other, here you have it—all of your favorite sunnies now come in mirrored versions. In various marginally different shades, no less! Just when you were thinking about finally retiring those Aviators, too. Reflector referendum? We vote hell yes.

Now put on your best Cher Horowitz and say it with us now: “Uh, these ones are blue? Duh.”

White Washed

It ain’t Labor Day just yet.

It ain’t Labor Day just yet. Now’s the time to over-wear white like it’s going out of style (or at least like you’re not having a glass of red with lunch). Our trick for doing white-on-white(-on-white) right? Stick to the staples—an alabaster Equipment blouse paired with blanched boyfriend jeans and a pair of Chloé python slip-ons to break up the monochrome. Now tuck a Tide To Go stick into your shirt pocket and you’re golden—er, ivory?

The Carry All Tote

That's a really huge bag you've got there.

Long ago, the following line may or may not have been used on one of us as an underage clubgoer who clearly hadn’t gotten the clutch-or-crossbody memo yet.

“That’s a really huge bag you’ve got there.” 

True story. Needless to say, our obsession with totes into which we can wedge all of our prized possessions hasn’t faltered in the slightest since our teenage years. (Albeit now they’re filled with less snuck-in Smirnoff and more snuck-in snacks. We’re getting old.) We’re talking the size of bag used to mask pregnancies in TV shows. Ridiculous? Maybe. But just ask that friend who desperately needed something random that no one else could whip out of their Céline Nanos—long live the Huge Ass Bag.

—Chelsey Burnside