Weekend · July 25, 2026

Summer, three ways: linen, pleats, wide legs

the stil editorial team · 2 min read

A woman in white linen trousers and a patterned headscarf sitting on a wooden bench in front of palm trees and mountains; baguettes in a paper bag on her lap.

This photograph holds summer's whole code: white linen, warm stone, palm shade, and bread fresh from the bakery. The outfit itself is nothing but two pieces (a fluid top, loose linen trousers) and nothing about it feels unfinished. That is exactly the job of summer dressing: staying cool with few pieces, and making that scarcity look like elegance.

The three moods below answer three different summer days: linen for a small-town morning, pleats for a sunny afternoon, and a khaki-and-white balance for a summer day spent in the city.

Linen and the right to wrinkle

The creases in the cover photograph's linen trousers aren't a flaw; they are the fabric's identity. Linen is one of those rare fabrics that turns beautiful the moment it looks lived-in; pressed flat, it behaves like a starched collar, against its nature. So there is only one rule for dressing in linen: leave it alone. A loose cut, natural colors, and a plan for the day that doesn't mind a wrinkle. The headscarf and the thin gold jewelry are the two small touches that carry the look from the beach to the town square.

Pleats that filter the sun

In a sunlit forest, a white ribbed-pleat midi dress glowing with the light coming from behind; a small white bag in hand.

Everything this dress does happens where the sun behind it filters through the pleats. Pleating gives a fabric a surface that carries shadow and light at once: where a plain white dress would stay one flat plane, pleats split white into a hundred tones. The folds opening and closing with each step add movement too. This is the least risky, most rewarding way to wear white in summer: not flat white, textured white.

A black-and-white summer

In front of a honey-colored wooden door, a white pleated tennis skirt, a white tank top, and a black sweater tied over the shoulders; slim black sunglasses.

Pleating's sporty relative: the white tennis skirt. The outfit here runs on summer's oldest color agreement: white cools, black pulls things together. The thin sweater tied over the shoulders is both practical (the evening chill) and a visual decision: it places black on top of white like an accessory. The honey-toned wooden door counts as the outfit's third color; a black-and-white pair always reads softer in front of a warm ground.

Summer in the city: khaki and white

In a white-walled room with large windows, a khaki shirt and loose white wide-leg trousers; an iced coffee in hand.

Summer doesn't always happen by the sea. This look answers a summer day with an office and a street in it: a light khaki shirt, loose white wide-leg trousers, flat sandals. The wide leg does the same work in summer that linen does: it holds the fabric away from the skin so the air can move. And the balance khaki strikes with white is the summer edition of the neutral-ground principle from our color guide: two calm colors, one airy silhouette.