'Of the Summer'

What's your seasonal mascot? Mine hangs long and often twirls. Plus, Haim's new album, a 'gaff' about fireworks, and more!

Jul 03, 2025

Currently overthinking…

…what to wear when it’s a gazillion degrees outside—in NY, Paris, and beyond.

NYC finally got the memo that it’s summer, and my Paris friends group chat has been buzzing with complaints about the weather. (Recent soundbites included: “This is hell” and “I legit don’t know how we’re going to manage.”)

While staying huddled in an air-conditioned space isn’t an option in Paris (unless you cave and buy an AC like I did, or decide to hole up in Picard), it’s nice if even for quick relief here in New York. That said, a girl’s gotta get out there and live. Especially because a girl’s got an entire wardrobe of cute summer items to wear.

But what to put on when it’s so hot that your thighs stick to the subway seats and deodorant is merely a moisturizer for the pits? A long skirt, my friends. The answer is a long skirt.

I love a long skirt for a variety of reasons:

For those of us with knobby knees, it covers them. (Don’t come at me. We all have something.)
It tends to either accentuate a genetically-given, Kim Kardashian “bubble bum” (if straight and fitted) or a voluptuous chest (if cinched at the waist and full).
It covers stubble on those days when you forgot it’s now the season of having to shave daily.
The extra fabric is great for wiping away excess sweat and fashioning a makeshift picnic blanket if you forgot one.
The potential for a “made-up outfit”1 is high. While my friend Jess is a big fan of the dress because she reasons: “It’s like buying a top and a skirt, therefore you halve the price in your head and that’s how much you’re paying.” (Girl Math!) I prefer skirts because they allow me to create various new ensembles out of a single item, swapping out tops, accessories, and shoes to form something different each time.

There’s also been a pair of floral shorts, a denim jumpsuit, and even some bubblegum pink pants. But, mostly, my heart lies with the long skirt. And while long skirts can pose a problem while biking (anyone else have PTSD from a time when fabric got caught in the gears and almost sent you flying?), my hack is to hike it up and gather it into a sideknot just above the knee. Not only does it keep the skirt from getting twisted or torn, henceforth causing a casualty, but it creates some nice natural air conditioning in the process.

So, you see, long skirts are solution-driven and enterprising. Without further ado, I present to you this year’s Skirt of the Summer:

I honestly didn’t realize I tend to get a new one each summer and wear it pretty religiously in various ways from May through September, until I looked back at photos from past summers. I don’t toss the old skirts, to be sure. At least not for several years—and as soon as I do, I tend to regret it. (Because, of course.) I just play favorites for a while, and then, later on, associate that particular SOTS with specific activities from that season.

I also remember where and when I purchased each of the skirts. This year’s SOTS comes to you from a boutique in Brooklyn and has pockets! Last summer, I found an indigo linen number at a shop in the West Village. In seasons past, I scored a high-low blue floral skirt with removable suspenders from the Parisian chain Suncoo on rue de Charonne, and there was a parachute cinch-waist with pockets from Israeli label Ruti on Abbot Kinney in LA. Oh, and I can’t forget the colorful rainbow-striped beauty I got that one time I popped into a Mango to kill time before a yoga class. It made for a great backdrop for food-on-the-lap snapshots and was fun to twirl around in, except when a gust of wind showed up unannounced.

2024’s Indigo Linen from the West Village

2022’s Parachute w/Pockets from LA

2021’s Floral High-Low from Paris

2018’s Striped Rainbow from Mango

Other Skirts of Summers’ Past

Clockwise from top left: stripes in Como, denim in Versailles, vintage in Hydra, floral in Brooklyn.

It’s a funny thing this whole “_of the Summer” construct. We’ve long had a “Song of the Summer,” of course. There’s often a “Movie” and a “Series of the Summer,” too. But in recent years, it seems anything and everything now gets the “_of the Summer” treatment. This year alone, I’ve also received emails and read newsletters delineating a“Restaurant of the Summer” and a “Drink of the Summer.”

What is it about this season that designates it as ripe for a mascot to represent it?

My theory is simple: Because of the 3 Fs.

Summer is Fleeting. Summer is Freeing. Summer is Fun.

With all these characteristics, we tend to make particular memories. And how do we hold onto and file these memories?

Sights. Sounds. Feelings.

Movies. Songs. Self-expressions.

Skirts.

There is no constraint on what one can pick as a mascot for their summer season. Maybe it’s a new fragrance. Sunglasses. An iPhone case. A hairstyle. Whatever your “_of the Summer” is for 2025, may it be worthy of your memories in the years to come, and allow you to look back on this time with a clear knowing of who and where you were when. Bon week-end, mes amies. xx — Sara

Also overthinking this week…

…whether to stay in my old neighborhood in Paris during an upcoming visit or to diversify and change it up.
… whether to book the first service (18h45) or the second service (21h15) for a six-step tasting menu on the day I arrive.
…whether to continue searching for a temporary furnished sublet, or to bite the bullet and sign a one-year lease.

Clickable

Too many TV shows showcase the rich. | The Atlantic (gift link)
When a writer and a bot go head-to-head in a chat. |
Everything Is A Wave
I’ve never “done Tracy Anderson,” but I’d like some heartstone weights, thanks. | The Atlantic (gift link)
“We are all, decidedly, not having fun online anymore.” | Slate
Turning 40, and comprehending the milestone through a French lesson. |
Lindsey Tramuta
No surprise, but dating, according to Candace Bushnell, does not get easier with age. | The Cut
Are you on Team Wrap, which, “like garbage cans, can hold anything”? | The Atlantic (gift link)
When your bestie starts dating your ex-husband. | Cosmo
The business of out-duping dupes is booming. Does anyone care? | Bloomberg
“How often do we misjudge the burdens others bear?” A beautiful missive on hiking and what we carry. | Off Assignment

Watchable

Jim Gaffigan’s take on fireworks made me LOL. Happy 4th, ’Merica. Let’s hope we’ll have more to celebrate and be proud of as a nation in the second half of the year (and beyond).

Listenable: “I Quit” by Haim

I’ve been waiting for Haim’s new release since the three sisters dropped their first single, “Relationships,” and subsequent TikTok dance, some three months ago. Now that it’s here, I can’t stop listening to it! Despite its title, I Quit, many of the numbers prove the Angelenos are very much in their prime and, one can only hope, not going anywhere anytime soon. I especially love the tunes that sample nostalgic riffs, such as “Now It’s Time” that remixes U2’s “Numb,” and “Gone,” which slips in George Michael’s “Freedom.” Can’t wait to see them live in the fall!

Available for iOS and Android

Souvenir: Z Cavaricci Pants

From left: iconic Z Cavaricci pants; AC Slater wearing a pair on Saved by the Bell; me rockin' my $18 pair last weekend.

While we’re on the subject of fashion, and after a recent successful run to a second-hand shop, today I’m throwing it back to the Patron Saint of Pleated Pants, Monsieur Z Cavaricci. These wide-at-the-top, tapered-at-the-ankle pants were all the rage when I was in middle school. Aside from the pleats, they were unique because of their label, sewn not on the back, but vertically along the zipper. Unfortunately, they were pretty expensive, and I’m pretty sure my Mom got me some forest green knock-offs instead. Fast-forward 30+ years later and I’m at Buffalo Exchange two weeks ago, looking for a ’fit for an ’80s party, and what do I find? Not only a pair of original Z Cavs—in my size, no less—but for $18! Who had a pair? And would you wear them today? I’m kinda diggin’ them.