Sprezzatura Quarterly Spring/Summer
really Summer 2025 at this point
Rain rain go away - seriously go away! If you live in Toronto you’ve been facing the whiplash of cold wet weather with warmer days interspersed. Its been challenging as there is nothing more that I dislike than being wet or cold. Lots of layering abound and a delay of putting away my fall/winter coats. (timestamp: beginning of June)
How Canadian of me to start off with commenting on the weather.
Ok last weather topic and now we seem firmly in the nicer weather timeline and I have to dig out my summer clothes from my parents place. #smallapartmentwoes (timestamp: mid June)
“We reachin Woodbine?” Weather is finally here (very Toronto phrase)! I can pretend I’m on a beach vacation (one can dream). If I was on the beach I'd be listening to this playlist.
Welcome to Sprezzatura Quarterly Spring/Summer - mainly summer at this point!
So much has happened since I last typed lol but here we are. Since we last spoke our neighbours to the south have continued on their deranged spiral and ignited the type of nationalism only reserved for Canada in international Hockey tournaments. With this nationalism a flurry of Buy Canadian has possessed all of my social media. From a styling/fashion perspective its highlighted a number of things:
There are a ton of local brands that I’ve found and look forward to shopping from
There are a lot of Canadian brands that I had never heard of
Across the country plus size sizing seems to be a continued gap
Some of our biggest brands rely on US customers to keep going
Some of my favourite Canadian brands have closed this year
The Canadian fashion eco-system is in danger! However, it's complex and I’m not going to lie overwhelming to think of and even create possible solutions. I will say as a consumer your favourite small brand can't survive if you only shop there on sale. On top of this with the economy shaking like jello, it's only a matter of time before people severely cap their spending on fashion which brings me to my next thoughts.
“As a consumer your favourite small brand can't survive if you only shop there on sale.”
Developing a personal style and being a discerning shopper are more important now than ever! I find summer can be a great time to experiment with your style as it's a short time frame and there are lots of accessories you can play with - sunhats/hats, sunglasses, shoes, scarves, bags etc. If you’re into thrifting and consignment excluding shoes these are easy to find for a really reasonable price. Example: Scarves!
I also feel like summer style is easier to personalize as you have basic silhouettes that you can play with tee-shorts combo, all the dresses, skirts + tank/tee, linen or cotton sets.
Being discerning is a bit more challenging as it takes time to develop the skill but here are some quick tips:
Don’t impulse buy!
Have a list of clothes and accessories you want overall and focus on those items.
Think about how these items fit into your current wardrobe.
If you’d like to be a better clothing shopper - sign up for my Mastering Online shopping course. This will help you identify scam websites, cut through marketing lingo and figuring out what a “good price” is for an item.
On Nostalgia - this is one fashion trope that I’m very over! Are there no new ideas? I feel like everyone is pulling on nostalgia (80s/Y2K/2000s) instead of imagining something different. At first I thought it was just laziness but I’ve been thinking maybe it's a lack of imagination for something different. In order to have imagination you have to live life and experience different things. Given the pace in which everyone is living (the hustle and bustle of life) - even the couture houses are moving at such a fast pace when do you get to truly be creative or innovative?
Summer Dressing
When it comes to summer dressing I only have a few rules,
You should be comfortable - nothing should be pinching you or you pulling it down to adjust.
Light breathable fabrics or fabric blends
No shame or hiding yourself be FREEE
On #2 Light and Breathable fabrics
The best fabrics for summer are Linen and Cotton hands down. A plus is that they are both accessible. Pros: Both are light and breathable, Cons: wrinkly and will get wet when you sweat. You can get both at different price ranges but the easiest way to spot cheap linen is by how rough it feels. Better quality linen should feel softer and smoother and the best quality linen can feel as soft as silk. For more details see Linen and Cotton.
I’m sure as you’ve been shopping you have come across Tencel aka Lyocell, Viscose and Cupro. I would say these are semi-natural fibres as they are made from plant fibres but may be treated with chemical treatments. In terms of breathability I’ve found Tencel/lyocell and viscose to be good but from my friends that are more sweaty they disliked viscose.
For the sweaty people I would lean into more technical fabrics like what is used in gymwear as your base - body suits, bras, panties, tank tops, tshirts. Moisture wicking and drying fabrics like used in gymwear will keep you from feeling wet and gross in the hot weather. Then you can wear the cute blouse//top/dress on top. OR you can embrace the sweaty (not musty) and live your life in perfectly wrinkled linens and cotton looks.
On #3 As user @faylane14 on threads said:
Y’all I have more yaps to yap but I think I’ll end it here.
See you outside - Yateh
P.S. Thank you for reading this far and sticking with me! If I’m being honest I’ve been going through it and sick most of this year (thanks to lil chicken and her fellow gremlins at daycare). It's been a struggle to get things done as I try to adjust to my new normal with full-time work, styling, toddler (+ partner) and the chaos of this timeline. I appreciate you all for subscribing and reading this newsletter 🙂.