Summer threads

Summer has truly arrived. I unpacked some of my summer dresses and hung them outside to air, which led me to thinking about the stories these pieces of fabric hold. These days I don't buy too many clothes. As much as I love clothes, I try and buy second hand or buy less and make sure they last me. I like the thrill of buying something new as much as any girl, but I also love like pulling 'old' clothes out of storage too. It's like meeting up with old friends you haven't seen for a while. The green silk dress reminds me of a lovely day in Kensington, of hot summer weddings and drinking pimms barefoot on the grass, and a visit to Lucca in Tuscany last summer. The blue dress started its life off as bright pink, bought for a birthday party which didn't quite work, and niether did the colour of the dress. It lay ignored and unloved in my wardrobe until I tried dying it blue, which gave it a new lease of life. It reminds me of sweltering week at the Avignon theatre festival in the south of France, and a night of dancing, drinking and hilarity, one of those nights that cements certain friendships and that you talk about years later.

The blue bird skirt I picked up on a holiday to San Francisco a few years ago, my first time in America and probably my best holiday ever. One day I wandered off by myself to the Mission district and found this in a thrift store. I would love to know who wore it before me. Its twin sister is worn by one of my favourite bloggers too. The red dress is a vintage Marks and Spencers dress, bought as present on a rainy day in Suffolk last year at the end of the summer. Its first outing is yet to come. I wonder what memories it will hold by the end of the summer?

What are your favourite summer clothes?