Uniform Concept 016: Lemon Yellow
Building your uniform with one trend color.
Butter yellow has officially taken over Instagram and TikTok as the summer color of choice, and while I normally don’t subscribe to trends I couldn’t totally disregard this mood boosting shade. I've always loved a deeper yellow for summer, I’ve played with it for summer via accessories here and beachside here. Several months ago, Toteme showed their Spring Summer 2025 collection with the soft shade styled tonally as well as small hits with accessories. It unexpectedly acted as a neutral, which made it easy to digest.
This past week yellows filled my feed- Morgan’s take here was chic as always, Laurel’s post with all the colorful ways to wear it was fun. Even my 18-year-old niece is wearing it, which means it’s officially on the cool kids’ radar.
As I combed the market for the right piece for myself I landed on this lightweight Toteme sweater. If you don’t wear color often, a sweater is easiest way to incorporate it. This knit has a slightly more saturated tone, a lemon yellow, and it’s slightly sheer, which makes it perfect for summer layering. As per usual, I paired it all with neutrals.
Also important note- while tempting, I think it’s best to not overdo trends. Just buy one piece that you love and make sure it works with several other pieces in your closet.
Paired with Black
You could definitely wear this with a flat black pant, short or skirt, but I like the shine in this Comme Si pant to contrast the brighter yellow color. It picks up the light a bit. These pants are cut on the bias, which makes them very flattering. Underneath the sweater I’m wearing the matching yellow Toteme tank, which I also have in black and has been a favorite tank for many, many years. It’s super thick and a very compact knit; you most likely don’t need a bra with it.
Paired with Cream
The cream tone of these shorts is buttery enough to soften the outfit without matching the sweater exactly. Overall gives it a tonal look. If the shorts were stark white it could read a bit preppy for me. And I like grounding the lighter tones with a black leather bag and a closed-toe suede shoe.
Paired with Chocolate Brown
I like how the textures worked together here, it all felt a little sporty. The dark brown sandals keep the look more clean instead of mixing in one more color. Also important that the brown is super dark to create a high contrast with the yellow.
I am wearing a white tank here underneath, this really good AGolde one, you can barely tell a difference from the matching Toteme tank.
More Lemon
So many great yellow pieces out there (and all in such good tones). Here are more of my favorites. I am into the crisp, polished pieces to make it feel very deliberate vs the color in maybe a tee, loungewear or even linen.
See you next week,
xo
ali
Thank you 💛
Thank you, Ali! I purchased the yellow cos shorts and I think they will look fabulous with the brown attersee polo and brown Jimmy choo sandals from your previous posts.