Cheryl Shops

Carmel-by-the-Sea is one of my favorite places in California, not to mention the world, so I always jump at a chance to go, even if it’s for Car Week. As I mentioned last week, August weather in Northern California can be all over the place, but we were really lucky last weekend with warm-ish weather; in years past, I’d been bundled in jeans and sweaters. Well, I was still wearing sweaters—it’s Northern California after all—but at least with dresses and skirts this time. Here’s what I wore last weekend in Carmel.



Day one
It was really warm in San Francisco last week—like actual summer weather—so I started out wearing my new Isabel Marant dress, which I bought on my trip to Stockholm. Of course, by the time we got to Carmel in the evening, it was noticeably cooler, so I threw on my new favorite Halogen cardigan, which was a Nordstrom Anniversary Sale score. (Note to regular readers: you’re going to be seeing a lot of this one.) We had a rooftop party to go to, and I was perfectly cozy. Also, we took this photo at our hotel—doesn’t it look like a magical wonderland?


OUTFIT DETAILS: Halogen cardigan | Etoile Isabel Marant dress (still available in yellow) | Staud Bissett bag | Birkenstock Arizona big buckle sandals



Day two
Just like San Francisco, the Monterey Bay area has microclimates—it could be foggy and cold in one area and blazing hot and sunny 10 minutes in another. We went to the racetrack on Saturday for the historics, and it’s further inland from where we were staying, so we figured it would get much warmer (and sunnier), and thus layers were in order. I started out wearing my Halogen cardigan again for the morning, but ditched it by noon. I also decided on sneakers, because we always do a lot of walking at the track, sometimes in dirt. Fun fact: the dress I’m wearing here is the same one I wore in the very first Cheryl Shops outfit post two years ago!


OUTFIT DETAILS: Halogen cardigan | Gap dress (similar here) | Staud Bissett bag | ZeroUV sunglasses | Golden Goose Superstar sneakers


Day three
This was the clearest day of the three, but as sometimes is the case with sunny weather, it was kind of cooler at the same time. So while some people were walking around downtown Carmel in shorts and T-shirts, I was all layered up. And speaking of things you’ll see a lot more of on this blog, I impulse-bought this J.Crew jacket last week (I’m not supposed to be shopping at the moment, but it was on mega sale)—it’s a heavier version of the field jacket that I wear all the time, and it’s so soft and warm, I have a feeling it will be in heavy rotation this fall. I bought the hat at the Ganni Postmodern store in Copenhagen, and everything else you’ve seen before, most recently the skirt, which is one of my go-to pieces at the moment—it looks polished but it’s so freaking comfy.


OUTFIT DETAILS: J.Crew jacket | Proenza Schouler tee | Free People skirt | Ganni hat (similar here) | Focalook necklace | Staud Bissett bag | Birkenstock Arizona big buckle sandals


P.S. I'm going back to Carmel in the fall and will be posting an in-depth travel guide then, so please come back for that!