So obviously you have chosen and booked your summer holidays by now, seeing as it’s nearly the end of February. What do you mean you haven’t?? Get on with it!!!
And then once you’ve done that you can concentrate on what the hell you are going to WEAR. Don’t, please, ask me about bikinis or swimwear. It’s all just totally fucked-up and impossible to find a nice swimsuit, as far as I can see. I am quite pleased with my blue and white Heidi Klein swimmers, I suppose, but God: at what cost!
What I really want to say, or beg you rather, is not to buy a massive floaty white kaftan covered in neon tassels or pompoms. I can confirm that a) we all look horrible in them, like stupid albino bats and b) they are suddenly just totally passé, they are the sarong of 2017.
In fact, dodge neon altogether, it’s gone over to bad.
Look instead this year, when you are doing your summer holiday clothes shop, for light blue, pink and pale yellow.
Replace your giant kaftan with anything that looks like a shirt – like this one from Solid and Stiped but even longer if possible:
This one is particularly nice from J Crew:
If you insist on having something kaftan-y consider this sort of thing, again from J Crew. Beautiful… and no neon in sight.
Then for evening wear, something new perhaps. I was just in Oman over half term (do not be envious, it rained almost continuously) and saw two women wearing really terrific outfits. The first was a lovely white broderie anglaise dress with sleeves and a full skirt to the knee. I really feel like I’ve seen it before: Isabel Marant Etoile? – but cannot find actual evidence online.
The other was a pale pink palazzo trouser with a short white lace top on. Really, really pretty – although I fear you do have to have quite a flat tummy to get away with it.
These are fun, from Anthropologie
Or these, from asos.com:
At night also white broderie dress lady had put her hair in a ponytail and was wearing some dramatic earrings and looked brilliant. I am a bit scared of all these weird, geometric, “statement” earrings but in fact they look great on, very modern.
I like these, just for example:
or these from Whistles:
But the madder the better, really. There will be some crazy ones in the shops soon, I’m sure – with tassels and pompoms and all sorts of crazy shit. Don’t rule them out, is all I’m saying.
On the subject of trousers, I don’t really want to see anyone wearing these sort of tapered printed trousers this summer. They’ve had their moment, put them away for another time.
That broderie dress might have been an old Chloe. They were everywhere a few years ago, at festivals too. This made me think that anyone wearing white broderie to a British festival must have either been shagging Mick Jagger or borne from his loins and therefore benefited from the privilege of having been helicoptered in over the mud and detritus.
Hi Esther – a friend just sent me your post as she thought I may be the girl in the broderie dress and I was! We also braved the hideous weather at Zighy for 8 days (won’t be running back any time soon!) but I refused to not at least dress as though I was in the tropics. Dress was in fact from & Other Stories last year and my earrings were from Zara. Anyway I hope you all had a nice break – at least the children didn’t mind about the lack of sunshine (and us parents didn’t have to waste any time putting suncream on them either!).
Zoe how extraordinary! Great to have you here, what a treat. And thank you for making the effort to look so natty at all times, cheered me up no end. Such a massive catastrophe about the weather – no rain for TWO YEARS. Although I think it is possibly still raining there, so at least it wasn’t just us… xxx
Next have quite good one pieces, I will definitely be wearing my tapered printed trousers still this summer :), like the Ugg they shall never die x
I’m not sure I could pull off those cover-ups – bit Wee Willie Winkie, or Scrooge. I always wear a sundress or denim shorts rather than a Kaftan. Love crazy earrings. Never get the hang of summer trousers – what are the options?!
On completely different note- any feedback on the London Hormone Clinic? I am fed up of the NHS’s lack of interest in hormonally driven murderous rage…sorry to drag things back to basics and thanks!!
Laura! not yet – going for my blood test in the next few days x
I am so utterly jealous of plans for foreign summer hols and beach wear – I will be 8 months pregnant and angry and the size of the house, stuck in the UK, wearing whatever will fit. So I will be living vicariously through you wearing beautiful floaty broderie items.
Emily I’ve been there: horrible, I’m sympathetic. But it won’t be every summer. And summer is overrated anyway. As is broderie anglaise
Accessorize at Gatwick airport currently has some lovely shirt-cover ups for the beach. White linen plain and a blue stripe one which is super. Also Hush do great beach dresses in the summer but the only drawback is someone will always say ‘oh that’s lovely, is it Hush?’ and then you feel like you are not the only one who knows the secret.