Summer Must-Have Trendies: Part 1

Much to my husband's dismay, I really, really like clothes. Dress to express, that's my motto. Expressing myself and how I feel in that moment is my main motive when putting together outfits, and I personally believe it should be everyone else's too. (Unless your main motive is simply because otherwise you would be naked. Then, by all means, just get dressed, and it doesn't matter why.) Clothes have a way of expressing who you are, what you do, what you like, what you don't like, how you feel. And so on.

If you put on your Sunday best for church, you're expressing your desire to worship or be reverent and presentable. If you put on some cut-off shorts over a swimsuit, you're expressing your desire to be at a pool or a beach. If you put on a slinky, sassy LBD and some super-high stilettos, you're expressing your desire for some dude attention or a girl's night out, perhaps dancing (although if you do that in said super-high stilettos, bravo to you and the balls of your feet!). If you put on sweats, you're expressing your desire to be lazy. (Which, by the way, is what I express 3 or 4 times a week. Ain't no shame in it. No shame at all.)

Now, before I go on, you should know: I am by no means a fashion expert. Far from it, in fact. But for some reason, Tracey and Sarah have got it in their minds that I should be "The Opinion" on summer trends for this here blog. When they first ran the idea past me, I was skeptical, since my opinion truly is an unqualified one. But then I figured, what better platform to express my unqualified love of clothing than on a blog entitled "Our Unqualified Opinion" and if I really love clothes as much as I claim to (and I really do) then why not share that love with anybody who happens to be reading?

So here you have it. Part 1 in a series I am doing through the month of May that will highlight my favorite trends for this quickly approaching (yay!) summer. These are the items that, in my mind, you should all have at least one of to look slammin' this summer!

(1) B/W Vertical Striped Jeans // (2) Ivory/Blue Striped Skinny Jeans

(3) Blue/White Striped Overall // (4) Harem Taper Trail Striped Pants

(5) Haute Hippie Tuxedo Stripe Jeans // (6) Citizens of Humanity Stripe Cut-Off Shorts

(7) Joie Stripe Skinny Jeans // (8) Warehouse Bold Stripe Skinny Pant

(1) Multi Color Block Flat Sandals // (2) Tan/Metallic Color Block Flat Sandals

(3) Camel/Black High Rise Strappy Heel // (4) Nude Studded Gemstone Strappy Sandals

(5) White High Heel Sandal w/Ankle Straps // (6) Anthropologie Woven D'Orsay Skimmers

(7) Sam Edelman 'Trina' Leopard Sandal // (8) ASOS Heeled Sandal with Metal Trim

(9) Sixtyseven Taupe Peep Toe Strappy Wedge // (10) Chinese Laundry White Ankle Cuff Heels

And, in an attempt to make myself seem just a little bit less unqualified than I feel, here I am, attempting to rock the two trends above (you'll have to excuse the selfie-mirror shots; sorry, I'm not sorry).