August Slipped Away

Madewell blue striped shirt + denim shorts + white baseball cap casual summer outfit — Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair
Everlane baseball cap in off-white late summer outfit with striped cropped shirt + denim shorts — Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair
Vintage Coach Court bag in navy casual summer outfit with striped shirt and baseball cap — Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair
Denim shorts casual summer outfit with Madewell blue striped shirt and Salt Water sandals — Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair
Blue, white, denim casual summer outfit with baseball cap + cropped striped shirt + denim shorts — Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair
Madewell blue striped cropped shirt late summer outfit with Everlane baseball cap, ModCloth denim shorts, Salt Water sandals — Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair

If I had to describe August 2020 in the western U.S. in one word, it would be: smoky. It certainly isn’t unusual to have hazy skies at this time of year, but we were lucky last year and had little to no smoke impacts throughout the entire year and it would have been so nice if that had continued this year! But, like every other year, we were smoky this month, and the smoke negatively impacted our air quality here in Idaho and in surrounding states. Luckily, it finally cleared yesterday with the passage of a cold front and wonderful upper level flow coming from the northwest instead of from the southwest, the latter which pulled the smoke from California into our area.

You’ve probably heard about the devastating wildfires in California that CalFire is calling the August Lightning Siege of 2020, since the two main fires, the SCU Lightning Complex and the LNU Lightning Complex, were started by lightning and grew rapidly. These fires are now two of the top three largest fires in California since 1932 (when record keeping started). Thankfully, the fire crews are starting to make progress, and they’re now around 50% contained. “Contained” means that the crews have successfully dug out a perimeter around the fire to stop it from spreading further.

Korri and I shot these photos on one such smoky evening. I don’t typically like to shoot in full sun due to harsh shadows, but the sunlight was diffuse a little bit due to the smoke. I really liked how moody these photos turned out, and I was inspired by the moodiness when editing. It kind of gives me folklore vibes. I maybe would have preferred to do these shots with a different outfit. Maybe something boho? That’s what comes to mind first. Of course, I don’t really own anything boho, haha. I often daydream about frolicking in certain locations in a long, flowing dress that doesn’t exist in my closet…maybe I should just try to find one! (Or would my beach caftan work?)

Anyway, I’m hoping the worst of the wildfires is over for the year for everyone impacted by the fires and for everyone impacted by the smoke. I hope y’all in the midwest, south, and eastern U.S. are enjoying your clear skies, haha! It is certainly nice to see blue sky here once again.

OUTFIT DETAILS

Madewell shirt / old; similar options: 1 / 2 (limited sizes)
ModCloth shorts / old; similar by J.Crew or American Eagle (curvy style)
Salt Water sandals / exact
Everlane hat / exact
Coach bag / vintage; exact style on eBay
Le Specs sunglasses / exact style
Dior Lip Glow in pink / exact

outfitsKimi, Cotton Cashmere Cat HairsummerComment