How To Stay Excited To Dress Up When Its Warm

Like most menswear guys, I dread when summer comes around. It’s especially abhorrent for me, since I’m the crazy motherfucker who is into this mostly for suits and ties (in LA of all places). It doesn’t help that summer feels like its gotten longer or at least shifted its flight. Thanks to climate change, we Angelinos start to get warm in June and it lasts until October, making it even harder to wrap your head around seasonal dressing, let alone making fits for warm weather.

Now even though summer menswear is certainly a thing (and always has been, mind you), it’s hard not to think of menswear as being cold coded. After all, all of the best menswear stuff is worn in fall-winter: fair isle sweater vests, hearty denim, big coats, and leather jackets. Drama works for this season. Jackets and ties also inherently make more sense to be worn in the cold, or at least what passes for cold here in SoCal; at the very least, I’m simply unable to wear my favorite tweeds, flannels, and sweaters that I find cool.

This is an unsustainable mindset. We shouldn’t just be excited for one (or two) seasons and pout when we’re in the others. As someone who believes in having a deep connection with all of their clothes and outfits without any “defaulting”, I knew that something had to change. There was simply no room for a defeatist sentiment. I knew I had to reconcile my approach with the philosophies I’ve been spouting on this blog.

So I did it. And I can honestly say that I do enjoy dressing for summer. I have garments and particular outfits (uniforms??) that make me happy to wear and helps me look forward to their season. And to be clear, it took a while. That’s because it required the typical Ethan-core approaches necessary for personal style: thinking critically about details, finding a POV, and evaluating what you do in your everyday life.

This blog post (and companion pod) is my attempt at recounting how it worked for me. Because if you’re anything like me, you probably dread summer dressing simply because fall/winter excites you more. But if I could boil this down to one thing it would be that spring/summer is also exciting. And once we find that, then the summer fits will follow!

Have Summer Items You Enjoy

*Summer clothes should always be interesting. That way you’ll get inspired to wear them!*

The first step to embrace getting dressed in summer is to simply have clothes that you are excited to wear. This sounds like a no-brainer (it is), but believe me when I say that it took me years to figure this out!

I didn’t have to look too hard to figure out that my fall/winter garments were disproportionately more interesting than my summer stuff. This wasn’t just in my head, it was almost by design. Even early on, my fall/winter garments were full of interesting tweeds, sweaters, and coats while my spring/summer was just about tee shirts and shorts. This was because I spent more on fall/winter and let my summer attire languish to being a bunch of “whatever” pieces. At most, I would simply wear the same shirts and pants, just open and without a jacket. It was no wonder why I felt so defeated. My warm weather closet wasn’t exciting. And I don’t have to tell you that excitement is really the name of the game when it comes to the hobby of making outfits.

I figured out that if I was excited to wear sweater vests and flannel trousers in summer, there certainly were some things that gave me the same sense of joy for summer. Yes, mindset was a part of it but that can only go so far. The clothes (and ultimately the outfits themselves) needed to be exhilarating and inspiring rather than something to simply tide you over for 4-5 months. It was wild for me to have this realization, as I’ve always been someone who talked about how important it is to feel connected with all of your clothes.

Again, this was a gradual process. It was definitely subconscious (or at least it wasn’t as deep as I’m making it out to be) but still quite intentional. Some of this may skip around (I am an unreliable narrator) but here’s what I remember.

One first step was to fully embrace rayon shirts, which resulted in building a hearty collection of rayon sportshirts, alohas, and even western shirts. While these could definitely be worn in fall/winter (and I do), they also are just built for warm weather. Their boxy cut, floppy long collar, and drapey fabric excited me as much as flannel or corduroy, which helped build that inspiration. They became such an easy garment to wear, not unlike how I wear a cotton turtleneck on my non-tie days. But menswear is more than just shirts!

As I continued making moves to up my summer game, I branched out and hit the main point: making sure my suits were warm-weather appropriate. This led me to invest in commissioning suits made in Crispaire fabric, which is not only breathable but has a fantastic drape. I also made sure to only buy jackets made of hopsack or Ring Jacket’s Balloon (another open weave cloth). It meant that I could still wear trad tailoring when it was hot (or at least, not in a way that would make me faint). And the best part is that thanks to living in LA, they were perfect for going year-round. I could have stopped here and simply kept wearing the same styles year round, but I wanted more. I want excitement!

*Its all about having clothes that intentionally send-up summer, rather than just framing it “something to get by for a few months”.*

In the end, the stuff that really gets me excited for the warm seasons were the garments that fully embraced how seasonal they were. After all, my beloved fall/winter garments were just as specific and that made me excited to wear them when it was time, so why not apply that logic to these guys?

One great example was wearing big shorts, be they gurkha repros or the classic offering of vintage RL. These were not the slim fit chino shorts I had in college; these were pointed in a specific aesthetic I liked, which made them exciting. Obviously they were just like the pants I typically wear (high waisted, big, and pleated), but short. And you know what? That was enough! Now I look forward to wearing them whether I’m going for the preppy school boy look, something military-esque, or doing a “suit”. Big pant Ethan became Big Short Ethan when July rolled around.

Other warm-weather items soon followed. Knit tees came courtesy of the Anthology. Tee shirts, a summer necessity, became cool to me once I started to only wear merch ones from my favorite things. Ribbed tanks (does this deserve a blog post?) were an interesting thing to peek out from under my button-ups, allowing the shirt itself to become an outer layer. Summer weight berets were obtained so I could still be Beret Ethan while in the sun. White suits and jackets were always a move and I made sure to re-obtain them when I outgrew my vintage ones. My extremely wide legged linen gauchos exaggerated my slouchy demeanor in a way that galvanized my resolve. Even footwear had a few additions that made me excited, and they weren’t just sneakers: fisherman sandals and white bucks were an incredible boon to my style.

I even made sure to have items that expressed a summer vibe through their design, even if they weren’t exactly made of a seasonal fabric. If fair isles, dark flecks, and deep browns and greens could exude fall/winter, then I just needed to find the same sort of thing for the warm seasons. This came through light colored trousers (to differentiate against my typical dark pants and jeans) and neck ties (cream ties in summer are a move) or even playing with bold patterns like block stripes and abstract prints.

All of these garments are decidedly seasonal. But that’s what made them so exciting! It was all about finding the fun and season specific details that make them interesting for who they are. That’s why I love them. Above all that, their seasonality puts a time-limit on the window to wear them, making them not unlike my fall/winter attire. And you know what? That makes them even more exciting, because it means that to get the most out of owning them, I had to wear them.

And that brings me to the next part: making a specific spring/summer outfit that makes you excited to wear it!

Have A Warm Weather Themed Outfit

*There’s just so many looks to do in summer that I can’t help but be inspired!*

*Prompts always help! When its warm, I like to lean into themed outfits, like wearing a khaki suit and an open shirt!*

*It’s an invitation to get a little dandy and wear a fun seersucker tie and beat up panama.*

*Or by going 70s and getting to break out my band tees!* *It’s a look I mainly wear in summer.*

I’ve heard from a few of my fandom friends that going to conventions year after year can be a bit repetitive– panels and the exhibition hall can get really same-y. What makes it different is the fun of cosplay, whether the fun then becomes about debuting a particular costume each year. In some cases, you can even repeat them albeit with a few touch-ups or alternative approaches. Giving themselves a POV is what makes each attendance that much more interesting!

Knowing “what you want to look like” not only removes anxiety from taking the guesswork workout out of fashion but also gives you something to look forward to. Obviously this can be true of all outfits year round but it presents an interesting prompt that serves to inspire a vibe to lean into. I’m of course talking about having a specific summer look (or looks) that you are excited to wear. And as you may have noticed, I have quite a few themes that I lean into during the warmer months that make the most sense when specifically worn in their appropriate season.

There’s the schoolboy look which utilizes shorts, socks, and loafers which is perfect when you feel like being cheeky and cute despite being in your late 30s. I definitely enjoy doing shorts and blazers for a fun juxtaposition. In a related way, there’s rugged ivy summer variation, where you pair your tried-and-true big shorts with rugged (but light) outerwear like chore coats and jungle jackets; you can decide whether your wear a colorful crew neck tee or tucked-in-but-severely unbuttoned OCBD. Hell you can even just wear the OCBD as an “outer layer” and go untucked.

And on that note of severely unbuttoned shirts, summer is also the moment for going full sleaze ball or something delightfully 70s. When it gets hot, I trade my 60s-70s ivy-trad for something a little more sexy and disco by wearing my flared jeans with my plethora of rayons, with or without a jacket (depending on how hot and bothered I want to be) and with some sort of necklace for added effect (since I’m not wearing a necktie). I could even do something a bit more rockabilly or generally 50s-60s casual here.

If I’m feeling “lazy”, I can still send up the vibes with one of my pocket tees or merch tees, both of which tend to only come out when it’s warm anyway. The look is exacerbated with my messy hair, which gets even more so thanks to my sweat. While all of it can certainly be worn in LA year round, I find that relegating it to being a spring/summer majority look creates excitement around the warm season, since that’s when this Ethan gets to come out and play.

*I still wear a jacket and tie when its warm but the fits I make are still themed after summer. I want to feel (and look) like an old Italian man who gets an Aperol spritz in an outdoor cafe.*

Of course, I can’t forget the misguided and foolish call for a jacket (or full suit) and tie, since that’s where my heart truly lies. Summer means that I get to be the Esquire Man: Warm Weather Edition, which is full of seasonally styled menswear. I’m talking about wearing white, cream, and khaki tailoring with abstract ties and boldly striped shirts. To be “this guy in the summer”, I get to wear bow ties, wear alohas with big pants, pair sandals with a suit and tie, and if I’m really feeling it, I break out my straw boater or panama. I also can’t forget the runaway collar, which was a staple move throughout the Golden Era and even came back in the late 60s and 70s. This about looking like a summer menswear illustration, where I have the leeway to lean into being extra and dandy. When in Rome! [On that note, summer is for dressing like you’re an old Italian man or if you had the opportunity to go to Pitti].

My final summer POV is when I dress not to cosplay a “type” of person but rather a slouchy vibe or just as a “game of proportions”. It’s all about silhouette, drape, and a breeze here, where you look relaxed. The goal is to balance elegance and ease without wearing anything “formal coded” in the slightest (outside of leather footwear, which is always optional), though having the vague theme of menswear is always there. This is where I get to wear my rayon shirts untucked with my exceedingly wide gauchos and fatigues or even do the “opposite” move by wearing a knit or pocket tee (small shirt, big pants anyone?). Minimalism is bound to happen here as most tees and shirts are minimally patterned, even if it’s a sportshirt (most of mine are solid). When I dress in this way for summer, I want to be the physical embodiment of slouch and ease. After all, isn’t that what summer is about?

Thinking about dressing in this way turns the season into a plethora of Occasions where I have the opportunity to dress like any of these guys any day I choose. Many of these things are inherently summer coded and make for a certain look, which should excite you to do them when it gets warm. In that way Having a Warm Weather POV makes summer dressing more than simply having clothes in seasonal fabrics. It’s a rare opportunity to do certain moves that you just can’t during other times of the year. We just need to find our warm weather “character” that excites us in the same way that corduroy sack jack or a big duffle gets us excited to cosplay as a 60s/70s ivy student in the fall.

If you look at my fit output in summer, especially during the last five years where I’ve been able to build up my summer wardrobe and my seasonal references, you’ll find that these looks tend to define nearly all of my spring/summer attire. Rarely do I have an outfit that is “season agnostic”! That’s because at the end of the day, it’s all about looking like someone you are excited to “be”. The fact that these specific looks only come out to play when it’s warm makes them like a long distance friend who gets to visit you for the summer.

Don’t Forget To Do Things In The Summer

*Doing an outing even when its warm is sure to provide you with an idea on what to wear!*

*It helps you get excited to dress for the theme **and** the season!*

Occasions, be they externally or internally motivated, are obviously a great way to provide a prompt. That’s why the final reason why I’ve started to get behind summer attire, is to give yourself activities to dress for!

I know that this can be tough for those of us not in the menswear industry, since we don’t have WM Brown outings or Pitti Uomo after parties that give us an opportunity to flex our summer digs, but that’s no reason to languish! We can always make our own Occasions to look forward to. It’s all about Hanging Out and give yourself something stimulating to look forward to, if not to just distract you from the fact that its hot. There is more to the day than the weather!

Summer is when we get to do picnics or paint in a hopefully shaded area of the park. There are outdoor concerts, whether it’s jazz, the Phil, or a folk singer. You can go out (or stay in) with a refreshing pint or Aperol Spritz. We can eat al fresco and hope that we don’t get some sort of sauce on our white linen suit. You can beat the heat by visiting a museum or embrace the sun in an outdoor garden (my local city has a few of these, which is why I do them often). After you get off work at 6PM and the sun is out, you can always try a new cafe and drink an iced coffee or the perennially delicious taro smoothie (with boba, mind you).

It is hoped that making time for these activities adds a bit more direction in how you approach summer dressing. It certainly does for me: an outdoor Aperol Spritz or Negroni at Capri Club (they make it sweet, so I can take it) calls for something Esquire Man or maybe something a 70s celeb would wear; I put away my dark tailoring and multiple patterns and instead opt for pastels, creams, and blues. A solo coffee date (and a good book on musical analysis) could call for an artsy, big pant look or something schoolboy-esque. If you’re just hanging out at home, a merch or crew neck tee may be needed, where simplicity (or your favorite band or fandom) is needed to keep your spirits up in the heat. And if you treat yourself to a vacation, well then that’s all the inspiration you need to make a cool outfit.

In Conclusion

*Its taken a long time, but we don’t mind dressing when its hot! Though clearly, like most menswear guys, we would prefer if it was cold all year round…*

Overall, this was how I finally got to a place where I actually enjoy dressing for summer. Yes, a lot of this is simply reframing my defeatist (and fall/winter obsessed) mindset but I’d like to think this is more than that. It’s about putting your best foot forward and putting yourself in a position to fully enjoy the opportunities that warm weather offers. It really does make a difference to actually own summer-appropriate garments that you find interesting, having POVs or “characters” that only come out in summer, and of course, getting to d a handful of activities that you can dress for. I can safely say that I no longer dread summer…at least not as much as I used to. I still do prefer the cold!

Recommending a seasonal wardrobe has been repeated in menswear media for eons, but for me, the theme is about embracing specificity and being okay with how temporary things are. For me, I had to realize that I couldn’t dress the same way week after week. Not in an anti-“outfit repeat” way, but that it’s just impractical to wear heavy fabrics and layers in hot weather. This is a good thing– a positive challenge for me to find the nuances in my expression for this particular season.

After all, we already do this for fall/winter. Menswear mfers seldom choose to wear something “agnostic” when they have the opportunity to lean into the season. That’s why (if we have full agency), we tend to skip out on a normal suit, plain shirt, and tie combo and instead, we wear a big coat with a roll neck or wear a knit tie, tweed jacket, and lambswool sweater vest all at once. We simply need to do the same thing when it gets warm.

And now, almost a decade after starting this little hobby of making fits, I think I’ve gotten to a point where I am actually excited about dressing summer. I’ve embraced my warm weather style!

-end of blog post-

*You just gotta find your Florida Stanley.*

Making summer outfits is also the subject of the latest podcast episode! I recap the philosophy I’ve shared here, as well as share fun stories where I was either dressed in defiance of the sun or with its full embrace. Spencer and MJ recount their own experiences with summer dressing and how they too invested in seasonal items that get them excited for increased solar attention. It’s a good conversation that I hope helps inspire you to stay fitted for summer…or whenever it gets hot where you live!