A ludicrously crustaceous bag

and other finds perfect for summer vacation/staycation/beating the heat

First off, I just want to begin with a big ol’ thank you for reading, sharing, commenting, texting, and talking about this tiny baby corner of the internet. There is so much content to consume on a daily basis and I am truly blown away that many of you take the time to soak up the words, vibes, and finds of Trash Panic.

Many of y’all have called, texted, commented, gushed to their pals (I got screenshots of DM convos! I felt famous!) about the first lil installment of “10 Things.” I am abso-tootly blushing that you want to hear more about what goes on in my brain and what I’m getting into every week. “10 Things” will be sticking around as a permanent staple, going out every Friday except the last, which will remain reserved for “The Dump.” (Sorry there was no June “Dump”— I had a whirlwind 48 hours in California for a wedding but the wait will be worth it for the July drop!)

I finally feel like I’m finding rhythm/focus/vibes/purpose in this space and I’m feeling very groovy about it. If you’re feeling groovy about it, I would like to *nudge* you to show your support for this tiny bby newsletter by sharing it with a few folks you think might also enjoy it. As I dedicate more of my time to this space, I feel eager to grow this community and find like-minded folks who are looking to embrace secondhand living and develop style through thrifting, antiquing, and being more conscious of the ecosystem around their personal belongings. I promise more cool things are coming and with more reader support, some of my bigger plans and schemes can become a reality 😊

Onto the good stuff!

Though I myself haven’t any “big” summer travel plans (I did, however, just book a solo semi-spontaneous trip to New York at the end of the month - please give me your recs, this is my first time as a tourist and not a miserable stylist!) I’ve been pondering summer dressing, vacation dressing and the trends/expectations that live somewhere in the middle.

I grew up believing that summer dressing and vacation dressing were two very different things. My grandmother made vacation shopping an annual ceremony— a summer pilgrimage to the hallowed walls of JC Penney, where my sister and I would each pick out a handful of new outfits. The clothes were not to be touched until they were washed and packed, and not to be worn until our feet touched the sacred ground of the Marriott hotel, located eight blocks from Disneyland. The suspense of newness I couldn’t touch killed me! How slow time goes when you’re seven years old, counting the minutes until you can rip the tag off your new brightly colored leggings, wiggle into them, and unlock a whole new feeling of fabulous.

Though this memory put to words sounds gluttonous, my grandmother was a thrifty spender who sewed, mended, and crafted most of the things in our childhood world. In the thick of family ick, she created wondrous magic, spoiling us rotten when she could, despite feeding the monster of my budding inner clothes horse. I spent years into adulthood thinking a whole new vacation wardrobe was something between a luxury and a necessity. Could this likely be the root of some of my retail addiction spending habits? Most signs point to yes, but it’s not just Shirley’s fault.

The seasonal push of clothing in retail is wild, rushed, and frantic and has most of us thinking we need to buy a new bikini in the deepest depths of winter. Retail doesn’t aim to just push product, they want to push a capitalistic ~ fantasy ~. Bundled up in a puffy coat, itchy and sweaty beneath your wool sweater, the faint aroma of coconut-y sunscreen becomes stronger as you approach the fresh entry display rollout at Target one dreary February morning. A rainbow assortment of itsy-bitsy-teeny bikinis, brightly patterned cover ups, and oversized straw totes overwhelm your senses like a fever dream, your mind planning and scheming the perfect beach afternoon filled with easy beach reads, bottles of wine, and large blocks of your favorite cheese….

We are pulled into the fantasy of vacation dressing because it gives us the opportunity to become someone we aren’t in the four walls of home zip code comfort. The opportunities feel endless when we get to unlock our main character energy and strut down a new street, in a new town, in a sea of strangers. And while I am a firm supporter of “new town, new me”, I think there’s a soft, cushy little space that lives somewhere in the middle of “business as usual” and “pleasure.”

a wildly fucked up movie with a flawless cast and impeccable costume design lol

It’s that soft, cushy little space I am yearning and learning to live in as I build a closet ecosystem. In the pursuit of finding my personal style, I’ve been moodboarding my way to finding where “vacation Glenn” and “summer Glenn” meet. It’s a hard task, mostly when confronting the reality of my ever present Baby Yoda Debacle™. There’s a reason why we want to dress like the cast of The Talented Mr. Ripley when we walk the streets of Italy, or pay homage to Carrie Bradshaw when clip-clop-hopping through Manhattan. The balance is finding workhorse pieces that mix and match, ideally fit in the cramped confines of a carry on, and work in that the classic, overly used catchphrase of “dressing it up, or dressing it down.”

the most insufferable character perhaps in television history, but these looks went hard.

In dissecting what I love about summer + vacation dressing, the commonalties lie in the accessories category. I am already a firm believer that bags, jewelry, shoes, etc are the core building blocks of style vs. fashion, and summer dressing most definitely reaffirms this. You can live your “new town, who dis?” fantasy with clothes you can still wear and love in your hometown zip code with deliciously funky jewelry, a perfectly retro bag, and a perfectly light and airy summer dress.

While I certainly lean more eclectic over classic, my magic equation is taking classic fits and adding my own personal accessory touch. I’ve rounded up some looks I find to be timeless/chic/classic that I regularly reference when vacation packing.

In the spirit of transparency, I must admit that I often fear wearing these silhouettes on a day to day will make me stand out too much, look too put together yadayaaa blah blah. I’ve let my lack of self confidence, mixed with living deep in suburbia prevent me from accepting that dressing well doesn’t mean too dressed up, and the most important point of all - most people aren’t paying attention or just don’t give a shit.

So this summer I’m taking these looks, making them my own with vintage accessories, and merging my approach of vacation and summer dressing.

Bags - The Straw/Wicker/Woven Basket Bag

Jane Birkin and her classic basket bag.

Perfectly practical, with a wide array of funky and festive options, a vintage woven bag makes literally any summer outfit feel like you’re roaming the streets of an ancient town, even if you’re just grabbing your morning coffee in a strip mall down the street from your house.

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The Funky Layered Necklace

Though she may be insufferable, she does layered necklaces well.

My lack of self confidence has led me to believe at some point in my life that I “don’t have a neck for necklaces.” I can’t even begin to tell you what that means or where the logic is because there is none. This year I’m embracing the Carrie layered necklace - something gold and delicate meets something funky and chunky and vintage.

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The Summer Dress

Audrey Hepburn being perfectly petite and cute and barefoot and playing golf.

Whether the punk rock Baby Yoda, or the flirty girly Baby Yoda, a breezy summer dress has a place in almost everyone’s closet. They literally go with every type of shoe, accessory, bag, you name it and *takes own advice here* are great to throw on and run errands in instead of rolling out of bed in the shirt you slept in and running out the door.

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So here’s to challenging myself to stop staring at all the fun things in my closet and start wearing them. I hope it inspires you to do the same. Stay tuned for a follow up where I actually hold myself accountable and document my summer/vacation dressing in July — because wearing workout clothes in public is bumming me out!

Until next time,
G