The Trainer You Can (Possibly) Wear to Work
Heels are Officially Over right now (stilletto aficionados need not worry, as fashion’s cyclic nature is so dependable that it’s guaranteed flats will be Officially Over in a few seasons’ time), so there really is no time like the present to invest in a pair of grown-up trainers that can be worn anywhere but the gym. Enter Finery London’s Elwood ‘Luxury’ Trainers (£79), which are more of a flatform-skater shoe hybrid than your archetypal sports shoe, but who cares for semantics when you can wear patent croc-style fabric in that shade of inky blue?
The Shirt To Wear Out for Drinks… and Then to Bed
Pajama dressing, underwear as outerwear, luxe loungewear… fashion designers have long been obsessed with trying to get us to wear our PJs out on the street. However, anyone who buys clothes will be able to testify that so many of those pyjama shirts designed for real-life dressing (namely, the kind you’ll find in Primark) fall flat when worn out of the house. Polyester and viscose don’t seem to be able to make the cut, leaving you looking shiny, crinkly or – even worse – like you actually just rolled out of bed. The solution? Stop being stingy and buy a proper silk pyjama shirt. See Ganni’s Fumiko silk shirt (£180), also available in a dusty yellow with cream piping, as a good investment.
The Cornflower-Blue Bag to Keep You Dreaming of Better Weather
A good-quality, classic-look bag always features on those overdone lists of ‘wardrobe staples’ but, to be fair, you really can’t go wrong once you’ve found the right one. Besides, buying cheap bags from the high street is a false economy – you spend more money replacing your tatty Topshop numbers three times a year, every year, than you would by just shelling out once on a more expensive, sturdy bag – so save your pennies and invest in a good’un. The Outnet, Net-a-Porter’s little sister site that offers some amazing discounts on off-season designer stock, is a good place to buy your first ‘investment’ bag (as well as investment shoes – Valentino’s Rockstud range is currently available on The Outnet). Rebecca Minkoff’s cornflower blue Monroe tote (£137.50, reduced from £250) looks summery but, with its classic shape and decent size, will see you through years to come.
The Fashion Editor-Approved Cossie
Pandora Sykes, Fashion Features Editor at The Sunday Times Style and all-round excellent dresser, recently unveiled her design collab with Hunza G. It’s highly Instagrammable – mostly swimwear-based pieces with a few 80s-inspired separates, Pandora Sykes x Hunza G comes with frills and colours aplenty. Although it is expensive on the swimwear scale, the Denise Frill Swimsuit (£120), modelled by Sykes above, is undeniably adorable. For the colour-shy, it’s also available in black, navy, white and the softest shade of peach.
The Coat it’s Totally OK to Buy in August
Now, on the opposite end of the seasonal clothing spectrum, let’s talk about coats. At the time of writing it is early August, a two-week heatwave is supposedly fast-approaching (NB: I call BS on that one) and I’m spending at least three evenings a week sitting in a beer garden. However, British weather is cruel and let’s be honest: our summers are never that warm, even in August. Even during heatwaves. And there’s nothing more British than looking to the 8-month ‘cold snap’ ahead of us by investing in a solid, cosy coat. Toast, a very sensible British brand, has served up a treat with its boiled wool Lavinia coat (£295), available in blush pink or grey.
