Summer Clothes

British Summer Time -  Has it been and gone now? Was that it?? (Yes, I know that, technically, it's still Spring, so don't come plaguing me with your pedantry!)

I don’t know if you've noticed, Reader, but I am trying to alternate the heavy-going blog posts with more frivolous, light hearted ones. Hence, a post about depression, followed by one on biscuits...It’s a bit like alternating heavy-going, Russian literature with a bit of chic-lit. Or, in my case, following up the magical realism of Like Water for Chocolate (Laura Esquivel); where the bitter disappointment one of the characters experiences when the man she loves marries her sister, is transferred into the wedding cake she makes for them, leading the whole wedding party to projectile vomit everywhere, with the plain, old realism of The Night Manager (John Le Carre).

So, anyway, I thought I might write about that, sometimes tricky, transition from full -on winter clobber to summer clothes. What to wear when you’re not sure what the weather is going to do. Men - I will try and do a male version of my personal choices for your benefit :)

Transition clothes:

1. The cropped trouser.

I don’t know what it is about cropped leg trousers that makes them a bit problematic (for me). On paper, they sound ideal; loose, modest (if that’s what you’re looking for), time saving - you’d only have to shave half your calf but I find them horrendously unflattering. Perhaps it’s all to do with balance - they give you a boxy, rectangular shape which is only emphasised and thrown into relief by your skinny ankles.

I bought these last week: £18 from Next.

Bargain , I thought, but only if I actually wear them… They looked nice when I tried them on in the shop and I liked the slightly shimmery effect of the material, but when I put them on the other day, they gave me a look of an overstuffed sausage!
They do cropped trousers for men too...I've yet to see some that look really nice but feel free to prove me wrong.

2) The wide-leg, floaty trouser.

These get my hearty seal of approval, they are graceful and flattering (at least, I like to think they are). They are also relatively cool and perfect for days like yesterday when it was scorchio at lunch time, but raining in the afternoon. I joined my friend for lunch and we sat on a log, in a clearing and ate in the blazing sunshine! This lovely, lush, green area in (one of) my places of work, always reminds me of that bit in Twilight where R-Patz and Kristen Stewart are lying in a meadow and he's glittering away like a candied almond. Here it is (where we sat: not the location from Twilight):

(I was a bit obsessed with Twilight when it first came out and with R-Patz (Robert Pattinson) - I don't know which is more shameful, the film obsession or the actor one...)

Anyway, the log was ever so slightly damp and I did feel it seeping through to my summer trousers but said trousers then served me very well when I was walking home, a few hours later, in the puttering rain. Floaty trousers = perfect for British Summer Time! They can take you smoothly from sunshine to rain with minimum discomfort.

Men: you could go for some light, linen trousers instead.

However, when it’s really scorching so then you might want to progress to:

3) The long skirt:

If you don’t quite want to get your pins out but need a bit of a breeze. 

I bought this one last year in the Monsoon sale - half price!

(Men, you might want to sport the long, cargo pant.)

But if it’s really hot then you could move on to:

4) The on-the-knee, A-line skirt.

(I couldn't be bothered to iron it)

Denim isn't the coolest fabric but sometimes a thick fabric can be a bit more flattering than a thin, clingy one.

Combat shorts for the blokes.

5) The Summer dress

Some fashion magazines make bold claims for ‘the dress that will suit everyone’! Really? Is there such a thing? Perhaps they should have a ‘a dress to suit everyone’, as in a different one for different body shapes and tastes (am I being a body fascist in saying this, though? By all means, if you want to wear a skin-tight, gold lurex tube, then please go ahead, regardless of body shape).

I went through a phase, as a teenager, of always wearing a jacket, even when it was scorching outside! I wasn't even fat, I just wanted to hide my bum. People really should be able to wear whatever they want. What I tend to do is find a dress shape that I think suits and stick to it, oh so rigidly, hence the reason that most of mine look the same! This is a recent purchase:

Originally £25, reduced to £15 from New Look. Most of my dresses are black and white and am trying to buy different colours, this is a slight foray into a different category in that it is black and...er sort of pink-ish and green, so there you go

Going back to the Twilight movie (do we have to? Yes, we do) it features a very good soundtrack, including one of my favourite songs by Radiohead, so I'll just leave you with that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7UKu8s84S0