How to buy now, wear later

IF you are yet to set forth for your summer holiday, chances are you have a few essential (or lust-after) items still to buy to complete your getting-away-from-it-all capsule wardrobe.

Even if you aren’t going away this summer, it’s far too tempting not to check out the tail-end of the summer sales to see what bargains there are left.

As ever, it’s best to avoid fashion wastage by making sure you splash out on items that you will be able to pull out of the closet for next summer, or even better by choosing pieces that will carry you through into the coming autumn, mixing judiciously with new season pieces and accessories.

Fortunately, this isn’t at all difficult to do, as fashion actually changes in a geological, rather than a rapid fire manner. Fads die out quickly, of course, but the broader fashion landscape moves quite slowly, often returning to themes that it might have touched on a season or two ago, to explore them in more depth. There may well be devil in the detail, with all sorts of tricks thrown in to make those who consider themselves to be smoking hot fashionistas feel they have to have the newest bag, and simply can’t have last season’s version, but that sort of thinking is dying out, thankfully, due to the recession and also perhaps a realisation that Essex girls and their ilk from so-called reality TV programmes are not role models any sensible woman would want to aspire to.

Anyway, my point is that maxi dresses have been around for seasons and seasons now, and they are still going to be around next season, with some gorgeous evening ones coming, especially as we approach the party season.

Thing is, we love them. Choose the right one and they are beautifully flattering (and yes, petites can wear them too, but must try on a variety to make sure they don’t look swamped – check out what Kylie wears). Plus they enable the wearer to key into a variety of themes and moods, depending on the style, colour and pattern of the dress chosen. The way in which even budget retailers have been selecting prints that emphasise the skirt of the dress, or the top half, or the central panel, or the sleeves, has been inspired. Maxi dresses can be real head-turners and usually for all the right reasons. Plus you don’t have to get you legs out, so no tights but also no fake tanning needed. Added bonus.

For those who do want to get their legs out, summer shorts are also available both in the sales an in new collections, and come autumn, you can just add you opaques, which would work really well with the look above (Peter Pan collars will be everywhere too).

So last season, so totally perfect for next.