One of my favorite things about late spring is the sudden influx of great-looking people in well-chosen outfits. All winter long the streets feel empty and lonely, and by mid-summer folks start settling for Havaianas and shorts, but this time of year is like a sartorial renaissance. I’m going to really really try to get out from behind the computer now and again and document some of it.

Yesterday as I was leaving the office I ran into this Belltown resident fresh from a haircut at the Etherea Salon at the Alexis. The clean lines of her black maxi dress, and the clean lines of her new cut framing her time-honored Ray-Bans, immediately struck me as a new summer classic. Noting the low-key metallic shimmer of her goddess sandals (she said they’re from—whisper it—Banana Republic), the look felt classic in that Greco-Roman way, too.

Fashion has been coaxing the widespread use of the casual full-length column dress for about a year and half now; I remember feeling like it was essential to include one in our April ’08 fashion spread. This season, however, I’d say they’ve arrived.

And as much as I love patterns, the more maxi-dresses I see in action on the street, the more I think I like them best in a solid, sedate shades. They make a somewhat pronounced statement just in terms of square yardage, so it’s smart to leave busy patterns and loud colors for another day. And as this real-world case-in-point illustrates, poppy nail color (orange!) and a light cotton scarf in a fresh shade add just enough.

Easy, effortless, classic.