This red and white stripy dress is a find!  Good old Zara.  They produce gems season after season.  And the great thing about Zara is that they don’t generally repeat their designs (or at least not the exact design in the exact material) and the turnover is extremely fast, once something is sold out then that is it.  So unlike with other high street stores where if you find something lovely, you are more than likely to bump into someone else wearing it, with Zara the risk is less high.

This dress would be flattering on most figures.  As long as you come in a little at the waist, then it will create a feminine and flattering silhouette.   The full skirt skims over any lumps and bumps and the long sleeves hide any top arm action that you would rather keep to yourself.  What is the expression?  Bingo Wings?  Ouch.

This particular style of dress has come back into fashion in a big way.  Brands such as Gul Hurgel and Lisa Marie Fernandez design to-die-for dresses, with a price tag to die with too.  If money is no object though then do check them out.

I couldn’t believe my luck when I came across this bag, also from Zara.  To me it looks so much more high end than high street.  It would look equally good worn with a pair of jeans and a jumper.

Shoes are a great way of wearing a nod to the trends without going full on flares and cropped top (yes, a trend this season).  The catwalks were awash with flat, super pointy shoes and as always, Topshop have produced a great, affordable version.  These espadrills are brilliant for summer as they can be worn with dresses and jeans alike.  They also don’t cost the earth so you won’t feel too bad if you’re not digging them out next summer.  Mum said that they’re not the easiest things to walk in though so maybe something to bear in mind.

My skirt on the other hand is expensive.  I got it in the end of end of end of season sale at Liberty but I think that originally it was over £300.  It’s by Vivetta which is a really lovely label.  I believe that you generally get what you pay for though so it fits beautifully.  However there are lots of similar things on the high street.

Here I am wearing the skirt with a simple T-Shirt.  I am a big fan of mixing traditionally ‘smarter’ items with casual pieces.   It’s also incredibly comfortable.  However this skirt would look great with a white blouse or a round neck cream jumper.

I would always be inclined to wear trainers with an outfit like this but I realise that this is not for everyone so I have also shown the skirt with suede loafers.  These particular loafers were also quite expensive (I bought them for myhoneymoon) but there are absolutely loads of cheaper alternatives on the high street.

SUE

Dress (blue and white version) Zara  Bag Zara  Shoes Topshop  Earrings J Crew

HANNAH

Skirt Vivetta  T-Shirt      Jumper Sezane  Loafers Paul Smith  Trainers Adidas  Trilby Reiss  Scarf Zara  Sunglasses 3.1 Phillip Lim   

Photography and artwork by Alexandra Mooney