This little project has been in the making for months, and before I begin, I'd like to thank the wonderful folks at Anthropologie for so graciously working with Little Girl Big Closet. This wouldn't have been possible but for the efforts of the Anthro community team, Lara Licciardi, the personal shopper at Anthropologie McLean, and the lovely staff at the Chevy Chase stores. It's hard to believe summer is right around the corner. When I first pitched my idea to Lara last year, I could never have imagined it would snowball into the amazing collaborative effort that it has.
  
As someone who obviously doesn't have the typical "model" build, I am happy to have found "my style"- a general formula that seems to work for my body, that I stick to for the most part. But when I see my favorite store doing seasonal fashion trends in the beautiful, refined way that is typical of them, I must admit I feel a twinge of jealousy towards women who dare to explore these looks without the restrictions I put on myself. When Anthro gave me the green light with regards to this feature, I thought I ought to take advantage of the opportunity and put myself in the expert hands of someone who would, while helping me stay true to my personal aesthetic, push me out of my comfort zone. And my, what a push it was!
   
The three of us arrived at the Chevy Chase store on a Monday afternoon: I, a petite, pear-shaped lover of all things feminine and whimsical, our friend Stormie, with a slim, hourglass figure and a love of anything vintage and edgy, and our volunteer photographer for the day, my wonderful husband Daniel. Upon our arrival, we found a section of the dressing area cordoned off for us, with our gracious hosts waiting to welcome us and make us feel at home. The entire set-up was so adorable, and the flowers and hand-painted signs really won me over. It was sweet and humbling: just the kind of personal touch that keeps shoppers like me coming back to Anthro season after season. They even had a spread of refreshments and champagne for the occasion, which helped steady my nerves a bit.
 
Lara had really been paying attention to my style cravings. Not only had she picked out pieces that would allow me to explore all the trends I was fascinated by and yet, afraid to try, I would have to complete the look by facing one of my greatest fears: accessorizing! The focus of the outfitting session for me, per my request, was to help me "dress down" without compromising my very feminine aesthetic (something I have a lot of trouble with), while the focus for Stormie was to help her explore her bohemian personality through summer's new silhouettes. Without further ado, here is a round-up of the top summer trends at Anthropologie:
     
One of the biggest trends that Anthro is standing behind this summer is the maxi. This is a look I have craved for what seems like eons, but have been extremely wary of because of my height. As it turns out, I have never felt or looked taller than I did in a maxi dress in all my life. For our first look, we were each outfitted in nautical-inspired, floor-skimming dresses:
   

   
Next, we were both given the gorgeously earthy Macias Maxi Dress, but while my outfit had a modest, feminine flair, Stormie's had a bohemian-chic vibe to it:
   

Next, we moved on to skirts. With skirts, too, the summer trend is veering towards longer lengths in airy silks and chiffons. For my third outfit, I tried on something a little closer to my tried-and-true style: a below-the-knee skirt, paired with a solid tee: the twist was a scarf, casually draped over in lieu of a necklace, dressing down the beautiful silk skirt. Stormie wore a full-length skirt and tee in eye-popping colors, with flats to keep it all casual.

  
Next, Lara helped me tackle a wardrobe problem I've been grappling with for a while: wearing my many pencil skirts casually, without looking like I'm headed to the office. Watch closely, because what she did here really wowed me in a big way. Stormie's outfit was focused on taking a summer trend: translucent whites, and making it fun and fresh rather than too ethereal.

  

Next, we both tried on flared jeans, a summer trend you may have noticed is making a huge splash, especially at Anthro. Being petite and pear-shaped, my only concern was finding a pair that wouldn't draw too much attention to my hips, and would fit high enough on my waist to create a long, unbroken line at the leg. Lara pulled out all the tricks in the book to make the trend work for me: a dark wash for a slimming effect, a wide leg that wouldn't cling to my thighs, and more. Stormie had a different dilemma: being short-waisted, the high-waisted flares ran the risk of making her torso look disproportionately small. Wearing an eye-catching blouse and leaving it untucked gave her the illusion of a longer torso.



Of course, what's a summer catalog without a nice pair of shorts? This was the one thing I wanted to fight tooth-and-nail, since I almost never wear shorts unless I am in imminent danger of death by heatstroke. To my shock, this was one was by far my favorite of all the outfits I tried on that day. Since the shorts were high-waisted and tailored, they didn't seem overly casual or sloppy. Stormie's outfit featured two more summer trends that at big at Anthropologie right now: the peasant trend, and the safari trend.


  
The final trend we explored was crops. Once again, I was completely out of my element, but Lara managed to put together pieces that worked for my proportions, and Daniel said it was his favorite outfit on me, which makes it a success in my book. Stormie was pushed a little beyond her comfort zone in pairing her crops with an ultra-feminine peasant top, and looked fantastic in the ensemble.