Wednesday 1 June 2011

British weather wardrobe woes

British weather wardrobe woes

We all anticipate the British summertime every year with misguided excitement and anticipation. The retailers tease us with their fantastic array of new season collections by mid-March, fooling us into believing that the World outside the changing room curtain has been transformed into a perfect paradise of palm trees and scorching sunshine. For a short, we experience a case of amnesia and imagine this picture perfect scene where you are sitting on a balcony, sipping cocktails in the little Hawaiian dress you are currently fashioning and posing in front of the mirror wearing. The only problem is, when you step outside the shop and back onto the high street armed with your carrier bag full of exciting new purchases, you are faced with the rather dismal reality that is the sub zero temperatures that are actually currently hanging in the air over Britain.

If you are anything like me, come April you are overcome with the sudden urge to pack away the chunky knits, leggings and Uggs, that you have been happily sporting all winter and revive your summer wardrobe that has been packed away in a case on the top of your wardrobe for the last 6 months, waiting to make its debut performance of the year once again. This year, we were given the perfect excuse to do just that, as we were teased with a beautiful summer heat-wave in April that lead us into a false sense of security that summer had finally hit home in the UK, however, we were harshly mistaken. Not only was April the hottest on record, it was followed by May, the wettest month on record! So after snapping up all the exciting new trends in April and excitingly sporting them for almost a month, we were suddenly forced to hunt out our chunky knits and leggings that had been hapilly stowed away at the back of our draws and cupboards only a few weeks later. Leaving us wondering whether the summer had been a blip, a sudden freak of nature and had now passed us by for another year.

So, despite the ever-decreasing and non-existent, British summer that we are all slowly becoming accustomed to, us fashionista’s need to find a way to be able to sport the latest summer trend while being warm enough to face the reality of the climate we are depressingly bound to, but while still looking chic and trendy. All I can say is thank god for tights, summer cardie’s, denim jacket’s and the silky oriental kimono’s that have arisen in store of late or else we will all be migrating to somewhat warmer climates as soon as we see fit.

Here are a few of my favourite things to help keep us warm but chic & summery this season:

KIMONOS

From Topshop this brick coloured kimono is easy wear and will go over a lot of summery tops to add a chic finish to the outfit

Brick Co-ordinating Cutwork Kimono

Boo Hoo has a number of fab oriental print kimonos that are bang on trend for the season and certainly add a cute summery finish to any outfit:

Lexi Floral Chiffon Kimono

Tina Printed Satine Kimono

BLAZERS from Topshop
Pale Peach Co-ordinating Linen Blazer
Smart pale peach blazer that will add a certain chic-ness to any outfit
Multi Paisley Print Shrunken Blazer
A very funky blazer that will certainly make you stand out in a crowd
School Boy Ponte Jacket
A school boy blazer to give your outfit a retro edge
KNITWEAR
This one incorporates the block colour trend this summer too!

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