Summer Time Hippies

"The best way to dress LIKE a hippie is to just plain BE a hippie."

There is no point in me teaching how to dress like a hippie. It either comes to you naturally or you end up looking like a fake.

And if your goal is to be a hippie then you should want to do the following:

#1. Take life they way it leads you and just go with the flow.

#2. Protest against injustice and cruelty.

#3. Let your heart be free to love whomever it wants to love.

#4. Make love like there is no tomorrow. (Seriously, you could get hit by a truck and bleed to death today.)

#5. Dress casually and comfortably, while simultaneously looking freaking awesome.

#6. Make a list of evil doers, go to their houses and then toilet paper their yards. Cause hippies follow the non-violent approach.

#7. Make a blog extolling the virtues of community living (aka communes).

#8. Start a neighbourhood garden.

#9. Experiment by wearing your mother's or grandmother's clothing from the 1960s - 1970s.

#10. Swim baby, swim!









Oh to be young, beautiful and free...

What to wear on a hot windy day

Knowing what to wear on a hot day that is also windy can be a challenge. The following is my list of recommendations:

#1. A knitted hat or knitted hair net.

Why? Because it will keep your hair from flying all over the place, its stylish, not uncomfortably hot, and unlike broad brim hats it won't fly away in the gusts.

I would argue it even looks good on men. (Muslim wear a Kufi hat that is basically a knitted hair net.)

#2. Loose fitting shirt or blouse.

Depending on how hot it is you might even want to go topless (cause hey, its Canada and its legal), but going topless isn't FASHION (unless you count tattoos...) so instead I am recommending the loose fitting shirt.

Some of you might even want to go RETRO and get an 80s style tank top, but that is really your choice.

I am however going to recommend that the shirt be so loose that you can pull it over one shoulder and leave one shoulder exposed. Why? Because it was hot in the 1980s and its still freaking hot today.

In the wind a loose shirt will blow around a lot, but at least it will have a cooling effect on you.

#3. Shorts or Mini Skirt

Or even a Skort. It doesn't really matter. I try to find something with lots of tiny pockets because you can never have too many pockets in your shorts.

The shorts shown here are from Ralph Lauren.

#4. Sandals

I hate sandals. They hurt my feet. But they're still better than going barefoot in the summer. (And again, this is a fashion blog.)

My advice is to BORROW sandals from friends and try to find a pair you like that don't hurt your feet. Trying sandals on in a store you won't really know whether they hurt your feet unless you walk a proverbial mile in them.

It doesn't really matter what brand the sandals are (but please avoid flip flops and Crocs), comfort should come first when choosing a sandal that is right for you because otherwise they can dig into your feet and hurt. (Its basically the same reason I don't like high heels.)

#5. Sunblock that is sweat resistant. Remember to reapply every 2 or 3 hours.

#6. If traveling through mosquito infested regions I recommend "Muskol" mosquito repellent.