The key to the daytime wardrobe of every New York or Brooklynite professional is simple: casual and functional. In the land of freelancers and creative business owners, we admittedly schedule our meetings on one or two days of the week in Manhattan and save the rest of the time for working from home, cafes or bistros in casual gear. For me it’s usually a Ralph Lauren Polo with jeans, a breezy dress or on cool mornings where I just desperately need a long walk around my city — Vermont Flannel.

We fell in love with alpine mountain lifestyle in Austria. That affair took a second course in America when we too our first trip to Vermont where we stumbled upon this darling family-owned business in Woodstock, Vermont (you can read about the story here). Since then, Daniel and I have essentially a flannel-filled closet dedicated to our growing Vermont Flannel collection. It’s the first thing we put on when we spontaneously take a road trip or need to run errands throughout the city.

And no, flannel magic doesn’t stop when warm temperatures hit the city. New York is no stranger to summer storms and fluctuating temperatures, so on those surprise windy cool days, layering a flannel over anything goes a long way.

Here are a few of my go-to Vermont Flannel staples for summer in the city:

Searsucker Collection for Running Around Brooklyn

For summer, we are particularly obsessed with their searsucker collection and can’t wait to take it on the sailboat in Newport, Rhode Island next weekend. Lightweight, breezy and perfect (even beating NYC humidity in its worst moments) — it fits well into spontaneous summer ice cream runs (frequent occurrence), impromptu picnics in Central Park or simply running errands in between neighborhoods.

I love these lightweight searsucker hoodies and often wear it in both green and blue with white jeans…especially for long walks along the Williamsburg pier or beach strolls when we’re in Cape Cod.

Flannel Pocket T-Shirts for Hot Summer City Days

I’ve never been a t-shirt gal but there is something beyond endearing about the absurdly comfortable little flannel pocket tee that boasts one of Vermont Flannel’s most beloved mantras: Made in USA.

Whenever traveling through Europe, I always marvel and covet French or Italian made products simply because that is a nod to the quality of the design and materials you’re investing into — it’s art. When it comes to Made in USA, for me that means a small business pouring its heart, pride and durability into every stitch of a product, as the Vermont Flannel team so wonderfully does every day.

These little pocket t-shirts (the Campbell style is my favorite) are a sure and quick way for me to beat the heat by pairing with white shorts or jeans. Luckily they are easy to wash, since chocolate ice cream melts mercilessly under the NYC sunshine.

Lightweight Flannels for Lounging in our NYC Apartment

We recently moved into our dream apartments and have fallen immeasurably in love with spending time here. It’s such a happy, bright and inspiring space that I’ve opted out of of my regular West Village writing spot for the past few weeks for our kitchen counter. Due to morning winds along the East River (our apartment sits above it), the apartment gets chilly in the mornings when I have the window open…so confession: I come home from my workout around 7AM, shower and keep cozy in my flannels (drinking freshly brewed coffee) until about 10AM as I do the rounds on emails.

We also ditched our TV and have filled our living room with books (so many books), board games and a record player. When it comes to those enchanting evenings of just indulging in one of those pleasures feat a delivery from our favorite pizza place…you can bet we are cozied up in our favorite Vermont Flannel threads.

Flannel & Summer Memories

If 2018 had “a feeling” to it for us, it would be flannel — it’s the fabric of our spring and summer memories. These incredible designs fit into nearly every adventure we’ve had to date so far. I’m so thrilled to continue telling the story of Vermont Flannel not only in New York City and New England…but abroad as we kick off our European travels in the next few weeks. Every adventure is a touch more cozy and miles more meaningful when Vermont Flannel is a part of our story.