My Friends Always Ask for My Shopping Advice—These Are the 5 Trendy Spring Items I’m Buying

When my friends want a second opinion, I’m usually one of the first people they ask. The topics they come to me for most? Relationships, feelings, and—of course—shopping.

Most recently, one texted, “You know when you’re online shopping, narrow down your cart, and your total is still $450? I’d love your help deciding what else to get rid of.” Another lovingly said, “I wish we were online shopping next to each other. Can I send you the shoes I’m choosing between for spring/summer?” And just the other day: “Can I pick your brain (in a fun way)? I’m trying to pick out a designer bag from The RealReal for under $300.” It always feels like the biggest compliment when someone trusts my taste.

Even before I was an editor, I’ve loved thinking through purchases, giving my opinions, making recommendations, and doing “shopping research”—aka compiling products into spreadsheets. I’ve always dreamed of having my own advice column, but until then, here’s my guidance on shopping spring’s trends—from lace dresses to ballet sneakers.

Lace Dresses

Lace was all over the Spring/Summer 2025 runways—hard to miss. I noticed it at Kim Shui, Masha Popova, Valentino, Ann Demeulemeester, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, Gucci—the list goes on. It’s undeniably one of this season’s biggest trends.

Mini Skorts

As someone who’s paranoid about their skirt blowing up, I live in skorts during the spring and summer. At this point, I don’t think I’d ever go back to a regular mini skirt. My most-worn (and most-complimented) skort is actually a swim bottom that I originally bought as a budget-alternative to the Maryam Nassir Zadeh one.

Ballet Sneakers

Even as a child, I was never much of a sneaker person. I’ve always felt more like myself in girlier silhouettes, so I was glad to see sneakers take more of a feminine turn last season. For example, the Sandy Liang x Salomon series. Dubbed “ballet sneakers,” the trend isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Just last month at Copenhagen Fashion Week, OpéraSPORT’s Fall/Winter 2025 runway featured a Puma Speedcat Ballerina and H-Street collaboration. I’ve also been seeing mesh mary janes everywhere. And I’m sure many of us probably been targeted by the same Instagram ad for J.W. Pei’s pair.

Pencil Skirts

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting the pencil skirt to make a comeback, but in hindsight, I should have seen it coming—especially with all the ’90s minimalism and Calvin Klein runway references. I’ve always been wary of this trend, thinking it’d look too corporate on me, but I’ve realized it’s all in the styling. Personally, I’d dress it down with a simple Hanes Comfortsoft Tank and a pair of kitten heel sandals.

Single-Breasted Trench Coats

Trench coats resurface every fall and spring—though, to be honest, they never really feel like a trend to me since they’re such a wardrobe staple. That said, it does seem like everyone is wearing them right now, even beyond the usual chic dressers. Personally, I gravitate toward single-breasted styles.