Yahoo Finance Summer holidays are on: time to ditch the lockdown doldrums
It was on about week four - or 13, or 84 - of lockdown that I learned that my nickname with the barista at my local coffee shop was the ‘blue sweater guy’. My extensive wardrobe was reduced to an old blue sweater that had become my mainstay. But as we gingerly start to scroll on Skyscanner once more and are eyeing up the safe spots that we’re allowed to travel to this summer, it’s time to relegate the tired old jumper. Which means that the panoply of casualwear we've been sporting instead of office-worthy suits can be put aside in favour of something more joyous.
Under normal circumstances at this time of year my Instagram feed would be awash with pictures of Mykonos sunsets and Amalfi boat selfies. And at last, this past week, friends have been snapped in their swimming shorts in Capri or setting sandal to soil in Saint Tropez. It feels like the world is unfurling again.
This was underlined by bonafide Masters of Having A Good Time, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who last week unveiled their Alta Sartoria ‘men’s couture’ collection devoted to the glamorous coastal spots of their native Italy.
Models in polo shirts were clearly calling out for an aperitivo on the shores of Lake Como, while others donned swim shorts designed to catch the eye in Portofino. Yes, these are clothes for the top 0.01%, but we can take a tip from their splashy, playful, cocktail-umbrellas-with- everything approach. It’s never been a better time to dress as if you’re heading abroad this summer... even if you're not.
Of course, there’s a basic checklist of holiday attire for men - polo shirts, good quality swim shorts, relaxed shirts and trousers for evening - but after months of indoors hibernation, a little bit of extravagance is called for, surely. We’ll never take sitting down and ordering a cocktail on a sun-drenched terrace for granted again. It deserves to be an occasion.
That doesn’t mean arriving at the bar dressed like Liberace, but there’s a continental style that balances flair with function. A neat white polo shirt, for example, with bold blue shorts and colourful driving shoes. A patterned shirt, perhaps, but with plain white linen trousers. Ralph Fiennes in the Pantelleria-set A Bigger Splash springs to mind; printed and pastel-hued shirts worn with everyday shorts and a casual ease.
I’ve long been a proponent of the ‘dresspadrille’ too, which coincidentally is a mainstay of Messrs. Dolce and Gabbana's holiday offering. Casual summer shoes, yes, but elevated with some jolly stripes, vivid colour or luxurious materials like suede. After the year we’ve all had, the urge to fly and flop has never been more great, but it’s also a wonderful chance to put on something that makes you feel polished and fresh, temporarily forgetting the trials of the last few months. The blue sweater will always be there when you get back.
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