Anticipating Summer: Espadrilles

Summer means many things to us at R. Williams: hydrangeas, fresh tomatoes and basil, watermelon, iced tea brewed in the sun, escaping the city to the beaches of Nantucket, the Cape or the Hamptons, swimming, sailing and tennis. All the things that we daydream of on a cold, snowy day like today in New York.

And then there's the clothes: fun beach totes, gauzy Roberta Freymann tunics, Shoshanna bikinis, Tom Ford or Ray-ban sunglasses and flip-flops for the beach, Tibi and DVF dresses and Jack Rogers for parties, and espadrilles....

Oh, the espadrilles! We got to thinking of espadrilles and summer in an interview for an upcoming feature. Here are some of our favorites for this season. We love the bold stripes of the Tory Burch straps and the light-enough for daytime gold stripes on the Kate Spade flats. The neutral Corso Como pair would look great with other summer neutrals as a blank canvas for some bold statement accessories.

Corso Como, $159 at Bloomingdales

Kate Spade, $99 at Bloomingdales

Tory Burch, $165 at Bloomingdales

Summer in New England

When the dead heat of New York finally forces a mass exodus from the city to much more natural and spacious locales. With sand...

Miles of sandy beaches and dunes... nothing like the dunes of Cape Cod

And summer communities...

And houses with gardens full of Hydrangeas (which apparently love the acidic soil of the Cape)

And sailing and boating and picnic-ing on the beach....

And shady expanses of freshly cut lawn...

And beautiful views...

And houses slightly bigger than our minuscule 1500 sq ft apartments (shared with roommates) back in New York...

I never want to go back to New York!