While May leers at us from around the corner, we Texans and other citizens of the American south are beginning to get the first hints of summer, with temperatures already reaching into the high 80s. And while I loath to admit that our mild days are, for the most part, on the outs, I’ve already begun shaping my vision of the perfect summer in my mind.
Others may consider free time spent on exotic vacations, lounging on bright beaches in their perfect bikini body to be their dream summer, but my fantasies don’t extend the confines of my own skull. I’m talking about attitude, perspective, peace of mind. I’m talking about learning how to float on top of the waves and just not care so much. I’m talking about just having fun for once gosh darn it. And the refreshing, lighthearted Chanel Spring 2019 collection helped to solidify my goals of just chilling the heck out this summer.
One of Karl Lagerfeld’s last collections, the Chanel Spring 2019 show perfectly exemplified the youthful energy that Lagerfeld sought to imbue into all of his collections with its pastel palette and playful, oversized silhouettes. The fact that models walked barefoot across a fabricated beach (complete with waves) speaks to the amount of commitment Lagerfeld had for creating fun collections that served no higher purpose other than to delight, and the oversized ’80s-esque silhouettes further demonstrated this sense of carefree wonder by emulating the spontaneous joy of a young girl (or boy!) playing dress up in their mother’s most glamorous attire.
The whole collection spoke to some deep and underutilized part of my heart that yearns for the days of languid, childhood summers where the only thing you had to worry about was how many days there were left until school started again. Just a small dose of that effortless, carefree state of mind would do me wonders- which is why I’m making it my goal this summer to fabricate my own vacation of the mind, to escape the stresses and anxiety of my adult life.
Anyways- some of the best aspects of this beachy Chanel collection are the ones where Lagerfeld plays with your expectations by adding childlike elements to proper pieces, like pairing slick bike shorts with a prim sweater, or splitting the legs of a tweed jumpsuit to give it summery flow. Some of my favorite looks from the collection were rendered in a punchy yellow that immediately drew the eye and, again, transported me back to happy summers that I wished would never end.
Here’s to hoping that my summer will be as nice as the feeling of walking barefoot on a (synthetic) beach.
Check out some of my favorite looks from the collection below:
All photos from Vogue.com
