Dear Belle,
I wear a lot of blazers and cardigans and I’m always looking for tops to wear under them. I’ve been shopping for some printed or patterned sleeveless tops, but everything I find has a tropical print. I do not want to wear palm fronds to work. Help!
Tara
I laughed when I read this because if I see one more palm-frond print, I may lose it. From wide-leg, linen pants to sundresses, it seems like every fashion blogger is suddenly dressing for a beach vacation. But what is stylish on vacation is not right for the office.
You didn’t specify a price range, so I pulled from the under-$100 price point. Here are a few options that caught my eye.
Maison Jules Sleeveless Blouse ($47)
Calvin Klein Mandarin Collar Blouse ($59)
Classiques Entier Sleeveless Blouse ($89, also in petite)
Rebecca Taylor Summer Rain Print ($99)
Pleione Sleeveless Faux Wrap Blouse ($35, also in petite)
Some of these are very cute, but I see you have the same problem I have had recently.
So many tops these days are 100% poly and I cannot bear wearing polyester, especially in the summer. Wish I could find some shells that are a comfortable natural fiber, but it seems you have to go with silk or linen which seems to increase the cost or maintenance quite a bit. Dry cleaning for silk and hand washing for linen!
Pure silk washes well. So does linen. People washed both for centuries.
+1. Gentle cycle, cold wash, hang to dry. Iron on the silk setting (warmer than poly, cooler than cotton).