5 Essentials for Spring (In the South)

For my grad school capstone, I'll be going to Charleston, SC to cover the Spoleto Festival for The Post and Courier. There are many things about Charleston that I'm a bit apprehensive about...

1. It's in the South. I'm unfamiliar with that part of the country. I'm super Northern. That'll be interesting.
2. It's HOT there. I'm used to weather being in the 50s until halfway through June. Spring barely exists in Illinois. I prefer colder seasons because I like layering. You can only take so many layers off in the summer.
3. Along with the weather comes the wardrobe. I wondered outloud how many pairs of pants to bring and I was instructed by a colleague not to bring any. My summer wardrobe is very short on the bottom half... not exactly professional. Time to make that work.
4. It's near the ocean. I don't even understand. That's like a big lake, right?

SO here are my 5 items that I'd like to acquire in preparation for my Southern exposure. Hopefully I won't stick out like a sore thumb. And if I do... well, I don't like to blend in anyway!

MAXI DRESS

Ok, this is cheating a little. I bought this already. Maxi dresses have been trendy for the past few years or so but I've been avoiding them like the plague. I tried on a plain black one and I looked like a witch about to dance around a fire in the woods. Not that that's a bad thing... but I wasn't sold on the look yet. Luckily, I'm tall and can decently pull off a long dress. I bought this in the taupe color since it'd be cooler than black in the hot sun. And also, it's half sheer, giving it a more interesting detail than a plain knit. I even like the styling here which is really casual for a floor length dress. It's pretty versatile for dressed up or dressed down.

Dress from: Forever21

BLACK SANDALS

I barely have any sandals that I actually like. I'm a boot-girl. But I need comfy sandals to romp around the streets in. Most sandals are usually brown or white, black being the negetive winter color. I don't care, I want some black sandals. And a bit of platform is ok too; platforms are way less painful that heels.

Wedge sandals: Anthropologie

FLOPPY HAT

Hats are so underrated. I honestly think Britney Spears ruined any prospect of wearing a hat and looking cute in the early 2000s. But there's nothing more classy that a huge floppy hat at the beach.

Hat: ASOS

MEDIUM BAG

I need a medium sized bag, one that I can throw a notebook and a big camera in. I hate bags in general (What?! Yes, they're usually shiny and gaudy.) and I usually judge them on if I can fit school books and my laptop in them. Well, I'm about to no longer tote around school textbooks, so I need something smaller. Since I dress in neutrals frequently, I'm allowing myself to go all out on a colorful bag. I'm thinking something in an obnoxious yellow would be nice!

Bag: Chole (...I can dream, can't I?)

APPROPRIATE FOR INTERVIEWS DRESS

Yes, I struggle with buying appropriate length dresses. Usually it isn't a problem, but if I've got my professional face on, I need to have something a bit more conservative. This season sheer chiffon is everywhere, which is a good thing, because it's a breathable and flowy fabric in comparison to say, jersey material.

Dresses: yesstyle.com (BLAST. These are both soft neutral colors, aren't they? I'm hopeless.)