Does your kaftan have a sequin trim? Adorable! Does your holiday tote bag have a shell bag charm? Cute. Does your maxidress have pom-poms dangling from it? Um, OK, I’m sure it’s lovely, but let’s take a moment here, shall we? Are you completely sure you need to coordinate your beach jellies with your candy-striped shorts and cropped top? Look, I’m going to come out and ask the question here. Have our holiday wardrobes got a bit … overexcited?
I don’t want to be a killjoy. But there is a fine line between a cheerful holiday aesthetic and looking as though you bought the entire contents of your suitcase while on a sangria-fuelled shopping spree at Gatwick. Beguiling though all this stuff is, there is a point where tomato-print sundresses and sandals with ric-rac lacing stop looking delightfully Dolce, and start looking a tiny bit overwrought. Take a deep breath and put those fringed palazzo pants down.
The holiday wardrobe is now as relentlessly marketed in summer as baubles at Christmas and roses on Valentine’s Day. The powers that be have figured out that “holiday” is a magic word when it comes to unlocking our purse strings. You can be sensible the rest of the year, but holidays are all about the treats, right?
Yes, you absolutely do deserve a treat. I’m on your side here, believe me. It is precisely because I am an absolute sucker for the chic Provençal promise of yet another straw basket that I am getting a bit fed up with how much the holiday glamour industrial complex takes out of my salary. So I’m trying to take the rosé-tinted sunglasses off and remember that living my best life is not actually the same thing as bankrupting myself on loads of gaudy tat.
Also, the style tide is turning. I’ve been to a few fashion shows in the south of France and Italy in the past few months (I know, hard life), which provide excellent opportunities for close study of what fashiony people wear when it’s hot. And while long, dramatic dresses and slick tailoring are still pulled out of the bag for fancy evenings, the daytime and travelling looks are distinctly low-key. Think loose trousers or shorts, T-shirts or linen shirts, boat shoes or Birkenstocks. No perky sundresses, no bright co-ords, no bedazzling sandals.
The name for this deliberately low-key look? Bore-core. But here’s the thing. In the sea of sunny pastels and jaunty polka dots that is the airside Pret queue, it is the traveller in sleek, muted neutrals who stands out. Of course, it has to be done well to work. Good quality fabric is key – but investing in quality linen or Supima cotton makes sense when the pieces you are buying will unpack straight from your holiday suitcase to your home wardrobe.
To build this look, start with separates. You want soft tailoring, not athleisure. Look for shorts and trousers with belt loops – a belt adds sophistication without looking fussy – sleek tank tops as a bottom layer, and breezy collared shirts that can be buttoned up smartly or worn open as a beach cover-up. Keep everything in neutrals, but within that, tonal shades are good – not too matchy-matchy.
But we still want to feel special, right? As soon as M&S online was back, I snapped up their gold flat sandals (£29.50), which have a comfy adjustable slingback. They are a soft metallic, so easy to wear all day, but glam enough to create a holiday-dinner look with the simplest black dress. As well as gold, I’m backing pale pink as a neutral. Cos has a slim linen waistcoat (£135), which fastens with one button and is in a colour they call apricot, that would make a great travel-day layer but will also work at home.
Going on holiday is exciting, but our clothes don’t have to be.
Model: Amaka at Milk. Styling: Hair and makeup: Sophie Higginson using Sam McKnight and Charlotte Tilbury. Blazer, £198, Reiss. Necklace, £59, Ottoman Hands. Top, £85, shorts, £165 and sandals, £195 all Me & Em. Bag, £180, Cos