Two Fabrics You Need in Your Summer Wardrobe

Now that it's officially summer, I'm in the mood to dress for the season.   After a cool rainy Spring, the past couple of weeks in NYC have been extremely warm.  Summer has officially arrived!  For me, two essential fabrics for summer are seersucker and eyelet.  

Seersucker looks so light and breezy.  The fabric is said to have originated in India as early as the 1600s.  Its name comes from the Persian words for milk and sugar.  It’s a strong, light fabric.  While the traditional color combination for seersucker is blue and white, the fabric now comes in a variety of colors.  It's almost always a pretty pastel and white pattern though – a combination that looks instantly chic and stylish. 

Eyelet fabric is sometimes a little heavier, since there is usually a layer of lining behind the lacy cut-out exterior.  Eyelet originated as cutwork lace – lace made by cutting button holes in fabric and stitching around the holes.  It has a delicate, floral look that is perfect for Spring and Summer.  My favorite color and pattern for eyelet is white floral, but it can come in any color and pattern.

In this post, I’m bringing you some of my seersucker and eyelet favorites currently in store or online that I have my eye on for my summer wardrobe.  Perhaps you will find a new favorite summer essential among them!

Seersucker

I love this year’s seersucker summer collection from J. Crew.  All the dresses featured below are available in both pink and white and blue and white, and in regular, petite, and tall sizes.  The off the shoulder and strapless dresses would be perfect for summer weddings and garden parties. The seersucker jacket is a fun, summery, office ready accessory.  So much more stylish than a sweater to ward off the a/c chill.

Another purveyor of a large seersucker collection is Draper James.  Draper James is a new company by the actress Reese Witherspoon.  Not only is Reese one of my favorite actresses, but I also love her charming, gracious, Southern personality, which this company epitomizes in sartorial form.  Check out these pretty, feminine dresses and skirts.  I just had to add the lace blouse with seersucker edging too!

I love this seersucker shirt from Brooks Brothers’ Red Fleece line.  It’s striped with red and blue dots.  Perfect to wear for the office with a navy, red, or black skirt or pants.  Or dress it down by rolling up sleeves and pairing it with a khaki skirt.

Although seersucker was originally worn by lower classes, the fabric has gained prominence through its preppy associations.  I was surprised to find seersucker formal wear.  Imagine wearing this beautiful tan seersucker silk gown by the incredibly creative Macedonian-Australian designer Maticevski for your next formal event.  It could also be an excellent summer bridesmaid gown.

Eyelet

Eyelet is a lot easier to find than seersucker, and it was hard narrowing my favorites down to just a few.  The eyelet patterns and pattern sizes are all different.  Check out this very large eyelet lace pattern skirt, shirt, and dress from Ann Taylor.  Each of the pieces is available in both white and black.

On the other end of the pattern size spectrum – this white eyelet dress from Vineyard Vines has very tiny delicate eyelet cutouts.  The dress has removable shoulder straps so you can convert it to a strapless dress.  These two casual shirts - also from Vineyard Vines show the spectrum of amount of eyelet.  One is covered in eyelet and the other has just a touch of eyelet trim.

If you want to add some eyelet to your work wardrobe, this blouse, which comes in both white and black from Banana Republic has just a touch of eyelet on the cap sleeves.  You could even pair it with the J Crew seersucker blazer featured above to combine both summer fabrics in one outfit!   Banana Republic has a bunch of very nice items in eyelet, plus almost all are currently on sale.  The eyelet cami comes in white and pale blue and the casual short sleeve shirt comes in navy and white.  The navy eyelet skirt is a flexible wardrobe addition - you can easily dress it up or down.  

Anthropologie has a particularly large eyelet collection this summer.  If you are loving the off the shoulder trend, you have to check out their shirts.  They have a lot of items in white, but there is also a number of items in other colors.  If you are getting married this summer check out the white Nanette Lepore dress for your rehearsal dinner or bridal shower.  I also really like the patterned eyelet cami top – it looks very cheerful and summery.  If you are feeling into more of a boho summer vibe, check out my picks below.

If you want to add some eyelet to your outerwear collection, look no further than this beautiful white sweater from Ralph Lauren.  Although it’s plain on the front, the back has a large eyelet cut out medallion.  Lauren Ralph Lauren also has a collection of very pretty white eyelet skirts.  They are perfect to dress up or down or even to pair with the eyelet cardigan.

Want to add eyelet accessories?  Yesterday, I found myself walking through Macys and this beautiful pale blue laser cutout leather tote bag from Lauren Ralph Lauren caught my eye.  It isn’t lined, so you can see through the cutouts a little, but it makes a great casual summer tote bag!  I also found a floral cut out wallet and tote from Polo Ralph Lauren.  The cutout floral pattern is so pretty!

Do you have a fabric or pattern that is synonymous with summer for you?  Do you have a favorite item featured in this post?  Share in the comments!
 

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