This week, Bob and I are thrilled to be invited on a blogger trip showcasing Southern Tide’s 2025 summer collection. So exciting! It’s such a rare treat for both of us to have time for an event like this, and I can’t wait to spend time with the Southern Tide team. Bob gets to come too? It’s a dream come true!

Southern Tide Apparel Collection

I couldn’t believe it when we got the invitation from Southern Tide! First off, we’ve been dying to travel somewhere warm. You know, escape Chicago’s rainy weather and storms, right?

Additionally, this marks our first collaboration with the brand. We’d long heard about its exceptional reputation, as it’s one of the sister brands to another favorite of ours—Lilly Pulitzer. Everyone raves about their collections, but we’d never had the chance to experience them firsthand.

We both feel incredibly honored to have made this happen!

The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island
Moreover, our destination for this trip is the stunning Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, located near Jacksonville, Florida. We’ve long wanted to visit this hotel, and it truly looks breathtaking. Beyond its beautiful surroundings and comfortable accommodations, it will also be the perfect setting for styling outfits during our stay.

Moreover, boasting 13 miles of coastline, it’s the perfect beach getaway for families, couples, solo travelers, and everyone in between. What excites me most is the award-winning spa—we’ll definitely be indulging in its offerings!

In short, we’re thrilled to experience every facet of this luxurious hotel.

Just getting to know Southern Tide? This coastal brand was founded in 2005 and initially started out as a simple polo shirt. Since then, it has grown into a curated collection of men’s, women’s and even children’s wear. One of my favorite brand philosophies is: “We believe the South is not just a place, but a state of mind.” I couldn’t agree more!
This series features easy-to-match and timeless pieces that perfectly embody the coastal style. Stripes, floral prints, solid colors, and more are available in blue, pink, green, and neutral tones. Moreover, the entire brand is reasonably priced and affordable, which I really like. It’s great value for money!

Southern Tide dress
So, what am I going to bring for our Amelia Island trip? Dresses! All kinds of dresses! 🙂 After browsing the Southern Tide website, I immediately fell in love with this beautiful pink and orange long dress. Its pattern and color are bold and vibrant. This style is suitable for both beach vacations and dinner out at night.
Which other piece of clothing immediately caught my eye? It was this blue striped poplin dress. It has both a collegiate style and a beachy vibe, is light and flowing, and is perfect to wear as a cover-up by the pool or for a casual lunch.
The next item to introduce is this elegant lace-up dress, available in a bold emerald green (white is also an option). I love this dress because it’s extremely versatile and can be paired with espadrilles, sneakers, sandals, or even high heels. Moreover, green can be effortlessly matched with almost any color, ranging from light purple to pink, from metallic tones to white.
When it comes to cutout elements, no summer trip is complete without a perfect white dress. The Sylvie cutout dress by Southern Tide is the epitome of a perfect white dress, and I can’t wait to show you the accessories I paired with it!

Click to view more information about Nadine’s multi-layered cotton lawn dress. Click to view more information about the London lace-up dress. Click to view more information about the mini wicker handbag. Click to view more information about the striped poplin dress. Click to view more information about the striped straw hat beach bag. Click to view more information about the foldable wicker beach hat. Click to view more information about the wicker travel handbag.
Southern Tide is not only renowned for its clothing but also for its impressive array of accessories. The brand truly has everything needed to create the perfect summer look, including hats, sandals, and handbags suitable for the beach.
I especially love this straw travel tote bag. It comes with a strap that can be used to secure a sun hat, which is just amazing! Besides, it’s very convenient to fold and store, and it has enough space to hold all my summer essentials, such as sunscreen, lip gloss, and so on.
I brought a collapsible straw beach hat that fits perfectly with my travel tote. While getting a little tan during this trip would be nice, my rational side reminds me to avoid sun exposure as much as possible. I’ve been working hard on my skincare routine recently and don’t want to undo all that effort by sunbathing. This hat is sure to help me achieve that!
Last but not least, the most important point is this breathtaking mini wicker handbag. My heart is melting! I just love the shape and texture of this bag – it’s simply the perfect summer bag. I’m sure it will be the one I use most during this trip.
Southern Tidal Pickleball

Pickleball Equipment Packing
What are the other essentials for our trip? Pickleball equipment! Isn’t that fun? The itinerary includes pickleball lessons. Bob is particularly excited about this activity and immediately picked out his clothes from the men’s sportswear collection – brrr °®-die 8-inch high-performance shorts and Skipjack Polo shirt.
As for me? Well, let me put it this way, I’m more into taking some trendy fashion photos on the court. To be honest, I prefer to relax after playing pickleball, hahaha. Running is really tiring, friends. Hahaha! Seriously, my left shoulder has been bothering me for the past few months. Isn’t that strange? It’s driving me crazy. I always thought it would get better on its own, but now it seems to be a big problem. Sigh.
I hope I can master the skills of pickleball without straining my muscles or sweating! My mom always says, “Jennifer – we glow, we never sweat.” 😊
We are very excited to learn more about this sport that has swept the nation. No, it should be said that it has swept the world.
Are you a fan of tennis, golf or pickleball? If so, I think you’ll be impressed by their range of sports gear. In fact, I was torn for a long time before making my final choice because I liked so many styles. Eventually, I picked their Frances zip-front sport dress and Runaround quarter-zip pullover. To protect my face, I also paired it with a Game, Set, Match leather-banded cap. So cute!
Oh, we both love their Recess + Southern Tide Skipjack Stripe pickleball paddles so much! They are just so cute!

Fashion items
Sure, I love pretty dresses, but Southern Tide also has a range of trendy and fashionable items, including skirts, pants, shorts, tops, vests and T-shirts. Spoiler alert: The actual items look even better than in the photos.
Friends, the size guide on their website is just so accurate! We didn’t encounter any problems at all. All the clothes fit perfectly and we are very satisfied. In fact, as soon as he got the clothes, he couldn’t wait to throw them in the washing machine, ready to wear them to work the next day.
Both of us really liked a certain piece of clothing, so it was easy to decide because we would wear it the next day. I can’t wait to show you Bob’s outfits (here are a few preview pictures first)! Every single one suits his style perfectly. It’s really fun to see him light up when he wears these clothes.
Bob has never received such treatment. He is an indispensable and important member of our company. He has been helping me write blogs and take photos since 2008. Without him, I simply couldn’t have done all this. The Southern Tide team hopes that he can feel (and look) like he is one of us, which means a lot to me. Thank you