27 Street-Style Shots Of Summertime Radness

Inside, sandwiched between your laptop and the air conditioner, and scrolling through an endless parade of street-style photos from the the most recent Fashion Week, it's easy to develop a rather lofty intention about the outfits you'll put together. Sheer, frothy layers; structured, sculpted shapes; and playful accessorizing that involves coordinating your mismatched prints and colors — you're gonna do it up. But, as most people who've experienced a sweltering city summer know, something happens between that moment and walking out into an overbearing heat that just deflates all your ambition. What was going to be a bona fide look gets swapped out for shorts and a T-shirt.

The main problem — as far as we can gather — is the fact that those inspiration shots were taken during the style set's version of the Olympics: Show up looking like you just stepped out the pages of a fashion editorial, or don't bother showing up at all. While it's totally appropriate to expect that level of doneness for big-deal events, for everyday life, it can be hard to muster up the enthusiasm. Instead, check out the outfits of women who are doing what you do on the daily — going to work, running some errands, and partaking in weekend libations with some buddies. We stalked the sidewalks of NYC to find real, live summer style that's on-point, and totally copyable. Now that's inspiration you can take right to the steaming sidewalk.