As the days get warmer, and yet another school year comes to an end, everyone knows that summer is just around the corner. And what’s not to love about it, right? No midterms to worry about, tons of travelling to experience, pretty girls at the beach; it’s just an all around great time. It’s also the time for just about everyone’s favorite seasonal trend: nautical style. It’s youthful, it’s sporty, and most of all, it’s classy. Besides, if you’ve ever watched Some Like it Hot, you know girls love a man who owns a boat. It may be tempting during the summer to ditch the layering and reach for your flip-flops and bro tanks, but here is your guide to keeping it sharp and looking like you own a boat, even if you don’t (props if you do).

The Sailor Stripe

One of the key rules to pulling off the nautical look is maintaining a navy-white color motif, and there is nothing more essential to the navy-white motif than a sailor stripe shirt. The sailor stripe goes way back with origins in the French navy, and it was officially made cool when French cool kids of the 1960s adopted the look and sported it in various French New Wave films such as Breathless. It’s been cool ever since. The best part about the sailor stripe shirt is how ubiquitous it is, and you can easily cop one at any price range, whether the one shown here by Steve Alan for $140 or an H&M design for less than $20. You can dress it up with a navy blazer, or keep it simple as its own piece, it’s up to you how you want to rock it.

The Navy Blazer

The other most essential piece to pulling off the nautical look is the navy blazer. There is nothing that exudes more preppy sophistication than a navy blazer. Bonus points if you have the brass buttons. Double bonus points if it’s double-breasted. However, if you’re anything like me, you might find that the blazer is a bit too formal and impractical for day-to-day wear. If that’s the case, then consider a navy or royal blue cardigan, which serves the exact same purpose as the navy blazer while still letting you feel like a college student as opposed to an admiral on a ship.

The Pants

With pants, I’m going to present you with three options that vary on a spectrum of “safe but solid” to “increasingly bold and cool”. For those of you who aren’t interested in buying anything new or experimenting too much with style at the moment, it’s always fine to pull out your pair of chinos (preferably in British khaki) and you’ll absolutely be ready to hit the beach with your sailor get up. However, perfect for the nautical theme would be a pair of white pants to complete the navy-white motif I mentioned earlier. If you want to go even further, to the very right I have a pair of navy shorts with a whale pattern from J. Crew Factory. Critter patterns are the newest trend that’s just about everywhere this spring and summer, and for $24.50, why not?

The Shoes

You’re gonna have two options for what shoes you want to wear. Something conventional that is immediately going to come to mind are boat shoes, and like your pair of chinos, they’ll definitely do the trick. However, another alternative that never gets as much rep as it should are espadrilles, or any sort of canvas shoe, really. While your Sperry’s are quintessential to New England Yacht culture, espadrilles seem to have a much more worldly vibe, like a cruise down the coast of Brazil. Depends on what you’re going for.

The Accessories

Here’s where the real fun comes in. If you’re looking for a personal touch that completes your boating look, this year’s name brands have given you a countless range of options that will fit any price range. Here are some my favorites:

A: Fishbone D-Ring Belt by Brooks Brothers, $48

B: Navy Anchor Bowtie on Etsy, $45

C: White Pocket Square w/ Navy Piping by The Tie Bar, $8

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