The weather is finally consistently warm—well—consistent by Michigan’s standards. With the incoming heat, I retire my puffers and layers and dig into my closet in search of their eager replacements.

For shorts, I without a doubt immediately reach for the nearest pair of sweat shorts. 

I like a variety of lengths. For me, I tend to roll them regardless, so I can alter how far they fall based on the preference of the moment. Elastic waistband or ones that tie, I like either, and recently, a pair of bright pink terry cloth shorts have fallen into my hands, and I can’t get enough. 

Here is the thing, they are so versatile. Beach? They work with just a suit top or tank top when the suns out. At night when you have just watched the sunset and it’s breezy but not quite enough for full-length sweats, they still look cute with a long sleeve beach cover-up—knit or some light material—or sweatshirt. 

To extend, let’s just talk about coverups. 

Now, I am not a big fan of traditional coverups. For instance, there’s that t-shirt cut loose cover-up almost everyone’s mom owns.

If not sweat shorts, I think a simple button-up is a perfect choice. To me, white is always safe to throw on right over a swimsuit. Then, when you choose to take a walk down the shoreline, just enough to get your feet, maybe ankles, wet, it is perfect. No, this isn’t a necessarily warm option, yet still, so cute. 

Now hats, this is a tough one for me. 

The basic baseball-cut style of a hat has never been one necessarily appealing to me. I can’t explain this in any way better than, well, I don’t feel like a hat girl. Upon burning and peeling an entire layer of skin reaching from my hairline to my eyebrows in the Virgin Islands over spring break, however, I came face to face with the dire need of a hat. I think I had somewhat of a breakthrough. 

At first, no. It’s a no for me. But, I was tasked with weighing my options. I love a cute pair of sunglasses in a picture, but they pose some problems in real life: 1. sunglasses tan lines. 2. the whole world is a different color. By wearing a hat, I avoid both of these annoyances.

Hats are really a head-shape-dependent thing in my opinion, in terms of hairstyle that is. For some, hair down works. For me, I usually have braids. 

Color-wise, only solid colors, disregarding words or designs of course. I have never been on the color-blocking craze and that does not end here. As far as designs, keep it simple. Maybe a simple symbol or a few words, nothing more. I think I may be giving hats a try this summer.

My dress predictions have me somewhat stumped. A straight-cut slip dress is a rather timeless piece. But long dresses, especially for teenagers, are up in the air for me. I love long dresses, don’t get me wrong, but I really question the practicality. In beach towns though, I think they are the perfect way to dress up yet cater to that laid-back, sun-kissed, windy-hair look.

As we can all expect, jean shorts will be making their re-appearance, just in a new form. The mom jean, but in its short fit, reigns for this summer. 

For me, I will always be choosing a frayed edge. Cuffed edges may work for some, but for me, I prefer the more distressed look. Whilst addressing shade, I prefer a very true blue to jean shorts or a lighter wash. 

For clothing as a whole, I predict—as well as hope—for the summer’s stylings to be rather laid back. Tanks and platform Birks are definitely on the table, but I hope paired with nothing fancier than a pair of jean shorts and a long dress if need be.