The summer dressing vibe is aspirational boredom

Three’s a trend and this season, the most sought after sensation is boredom.

The upside of a very hot June is that the transition into summer feels more immediate and in a way; this makes picking up the familiarity of its routine more seamless. I think it makes picking up what the culture is dropping a little easier too — when you’ve established a routine, you’ve limited your exposure to disorder, and in the absence of chaos you’ll often find a soft, soothing quiet of the mind that can more effortlessly pay attention to the unspoken.

The most pervasive yearning I can sense as a result is for boredom as an aspirational condition. You need time to be bored and time, they say, is our most valued resource, but there’s more to it with this vibe shift. A nostalgia about the yearn-for boredom that feels like an urgent, almost painful longing.

Never mind my own desire to see productivity as nothing more than the simple act of walking to and from a farmers market in a day, or establishing a salad with sumac seasoned honeydew as it base in the next, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Lauren Marie’s “Boring Girl Summer” since I read it in June.

Last week, I came across this essay that reflected the same nostalgia through a broader lens from a Substack called plumfield.

i miss being bored. this summer i want to be bored. i want to lie on the couch not knowing what to do next. to sit by the river and just watch the water flows by, to read on my balcony and eat fruit and drink hot cups of tea even if it’s 35 degrees because i still crave it every afternoon. i want long form content i intentionally choose to consume and to listen to full albums from the first to the last track and to spend whole days reading big chunky books like i did at fourteen years old. i haven’t felt that in a while. i want this summer to feel like childhood again.

My dad used to yell at my older brother every time he complained he was bored — “there is no such thing aa boredom,” he’d say, “Only lazy minds.”

But in fact what I suspect my dad meant is that you need to feel and experience boredom to keep your mind from getting lazy.

It’s the well from which creativity springs, a corner stone of refining your imagination. If I had to guess, this is why there’s a longing for boredom present at all — we want our minds back.

And as a result, perhaps we’re developing a renewed awe for the condition of boredom, beginning to view it as the most valuable resource. But you can’t crave what you’ve never known — if you didn’t experience those long stretchy days, for example, between school and camp when hours melt into themselves and you sit by the air conditioner starting to make music out of the sounds it emits, with your head down on the carpet, the smell of raffia and wool and a little bit of mold salient in your nostrils, how can you know what it is?

We never have to feel bored these days but maybe there’s a practice, a discipline, a lesson to be extracted from intentionally indulging in shapeless time.

I’m throwing my hat in for a boring girl summer. At its most aspirational, it feels like you’re lakeside, laying on a towel under the shade of an ancient tree endemic to the south of Italy.

At its least, it’s a foldable beach chair, collapsed on a sidewalk, overlooking summer perennials with a newspaper in hand. Both are gorgeous, they feel the same — and there is always an outfit that reflects the mood.

The outfits

The easiest way to anchor into a desired vibe is through the lowest common denominators that appeal to you. I’d suspect that’s clothes for many of us, so here’s a shortlist of ways to establish the dressing component.

• Comfortable silhouettes that resemble low-key lingerie/sleepwear (in instances may actually be low-key lingerie/sleepwear) or deliver pure, tourist function (see: cargo shorts)

  

  

• Lead with neutral colors (white, ivory, grey, navy, black, etc) but leave room for potential pops in the accessories (blue suede loafers!)

  

• And airy materials like pointelle, poplin and washed silk (you can anchor their etherealness by adding a belt to the look, or styling a chord necklace with it; also: wear relatively real shoes/bags — sock slippers notwithstanding)

  

  

• The general rule is less starchy, rigid, dressed — more soft, fluid, undressed. Exposed skin is good.

Some full-length examples:

TWP silk shirt (any color goes, but here are there is a good suite of two navy ones), Quince navy blue slip dress, The Row comb necklace (see also: Shtor), Gabriela Hearst sandals (have been wearing Emme Parsons’ Cecilia style often with this look too), Prada sunglasses (still for some reason cheaper here on Cettire)

What a weird year to decide to have my hot girl summer. Another TWP silk shirt (I like this too), Par y Escala halter top (another hit from Gimaguas), Florence by Mills cotton jersey shorts (would also be good with a boxer short), Delarge sunglasses

Savette bag, The Row mesh slippers (Maybe the yellow ones are the next conquest)

Flore Flore tank, Talea Studio apron (here’s a good alt), Silk Laundry pants (or try these), Repetto ballet flats, Blooming Dreamer straw bag (alternatively)

Prada sunglasses, Q House of Basics ‘Dennis’ shirt, Doen nightgown, The Row slippers and bag (here’s an alt for the bag, style alts in a similar color for the shoes here and here or the actual same shoes, but in beige or brownish r here)

This outfit was a real polarizer on the Upper East Side last week: I got “you look awesome!” And “how dare you” stares in equal measure. If an outfit doesn’t do that, is it even worth wearing? Prada sunglasses, Home of Hai sheer yellow dress (this is like the formal sister to it), Dora Larsen bra and underwear, previously linked yellow slippers could be good here

Soeur x Lido shirt dress, Donni pants, The Row flip flops (these, from Old Navy, are the ones a friend I have uses for her lookbooks/presentations)

More beach than bed but anything goes: Matteau striped shirt (alt here), Cleonie shorts (these are good too), Soeur sandals, Izipizi sunglasses (the linked pair is not the exact shape, these are more oval a la, but they’re close)

Here’s the bag from TRR; this could be an alt for the bag (also Toteme) or this (great shape), the silver donut band is from Lara Sonmez, and that’s a By Malene Birger hat behind my head

Finally:

Wardrobe.nyc black blazer, here’s a good pointelle tank top, H&M cargo shorts, Emme Parsons shoes, Prada sunglasses and the floral brooch (cosage) is from Old Stone Trade.

I hereby declare myself dressed ad summer infinitum. Have a great week,

Leandra