The Color Was Butter

A 90's mood board of clean lines and heat haze

May 18, 2025

Well, summer’s upon us, friends. Sweet May in the rearview. And I gotta be honest: I fall apart this time of year.

For starters - I can’t do direct sunlight. Sweating through linen is a drag. Everything smells like coconut. Sand is … chaos in granular form. And I turn into an all-you-can-eat-buffet for mosquitos.

I swear I’m fun at parties.

Point is, these hot months have always been filler - a stretch of time I just have to power through to get to the good stuff (autumn- winter).

But folks… that’s ancient history.

Past tense.

Because- color me shocked. Slap me silly. Dial me sideways. Tape a frog to my back and roll me downhill. This year- for reasons still unexplained - I’m excited. Dare I say.. I’m looking forward to it.

This newly piqued interest led me straight into a Pinterest rabbit hole, where I landed on ‘90s summer runway.

And my god, is it a gold mine.

We’re talking Prada and Calvin Klein at their cleanest. Carolyn Bessette. DKNY. Ralph Lauren. Kate Moss. Jil Sander. Retro meets minimalism. Patterns that pass as neutrals. No fluff. No fast fashion - just really, really good.

It awoke something feral. And now? I’m all in.

So - should you be in a hot gal summer kinda mood, this post is for you.

Otherwise, I’ll be back in a few weeks with another short. I know - edge of your seat.

P.S. Substack’s formatting has been unhinged lately. So if anything comes out wonky… pretend it doesn’t.

Alright.

Let’s roll it out with Ralph. The East Coast cowboy himself. The button-down baron. The gingham gangster.

Yeeeeeee!