I don't know if you've noticed but it's winter. Still. But, although we're only just past the middle of the season, Mother Nature isn't even really trying any more (I don't blame her given the current state of affairs). The weather in England at present is like a soup of grey, drizzle and wind that's been left out on the side for so long it's not really any discernible sort of temperature.
So if winter isn't even going to put in much of an appearance I'm going to make friends with spring/summer instead. I'm not quite prepared to step outside in sandals but I will wear a breezy summer dress with scant regard for seasonal wardrobe conventions. I picked up this striped beauty at a vintage shop last October after I'd just got back from Berlin and 'wasn't going to buy anything for a while'. I would attempt to feel guilty for falling so quickly back into the arms of consumerism but, 1. it's vintage and, 2. it has heavy Céline overtones (specifically Resort '16).
I hadn't worn it yet and I was determined that it wasn't going to be relegated to single season status so I followed the standard formula of any summer-does-winter garment reboot: anything + a turtle neck + tights + boots = winter. It all added up and my cotton summer dress became an all-rounder.
As usual, Vashka decided she might like to feature in my mini shoot and outshone me instantly. (Please note the homemade tipi to the right of frame that she has never once used.)
But back to the dress. A mere turtle neck is fine if all you're planning on doing is lounging around at home admiring your cat but if you plan to actually go outside? You need to get a little bit more strategic to take the 'summer' out of summer dress.
A kimono jacket, belted at the waist, serves as the logical next step in this outfit. It has the sharp appeal of a waistcoat peeking out from under a jacket at the top and the whimsical appeal of a Victorian over coat at the bottom; it's the mullet of garments in the most positive way possible.
Next up, a jacket. Short, of course, to reveal those carefully arranged layers. And from there you're on the home straight. Wrap a scarf around your neck with the gusto of Lenny Kravitz, pop your boyfriend or significant other's hat on and grab a bag that features all of the colours of your outfit plus a few more for good measure.
And with that, you are released from the tyranny of single season garments. Go forth, retrieve your floatiest dresses from the darkest depths of your wardrobe. Free them from the shackles of summer, dust them down and take them for an off-season spin.
