A week of high summer dressing...

A week of high summer dressing...

Monday 9 July 2018

Jane and Beryl are knee-deep in high summer dressing in temperatures which just keep on rising. First stop Henley, where they are hanging about like Ratty and Mole on the banks of the river. Beryl is clearly Mole, as Jane is always Ratty, mostly because it's too hot. They and all the other WOACAs are entrenched in the thoughtfully provided deck chairs. Beryl is slightly cross because some fool seems to have placed the seats to face the water, therefore limiting her people and fashion watching. She cannot understand why no-one is complaining, but surmises that this must be because everyone is British and therefore too polite to mention. 

Dress Alice Temperley £130, boater, a holiday buy in New Zealand, bag Hush £59

Jane is in her already much-worn dress from Alice Temperley's Somerset line for John Lewis balancing, she thinks, the line between comfortable, decorous and fashionable - one has to be so careful with those beady-eyed Stewards watching one's every move. Jane and Beryl have already been told off twice for misdemeanours at this point...

Shoes Jigsaw reduced from £98 to £68 in the sale

 

Louise Kennedy jacket (designer resale £130)
 Dress The White Company £150, shoes Unisa £39

 Beryl has had a meticulously planned outfit for Henley for some weeks now which, of course, it is too hot to wear. Twenty-seven degrees and Beryl has compromised by wearing this white flow-y dress of last year. But she is damned if she is not wearing the jacket. So what if she ends up in the St John's Ambulance tent with heat stroke, do you suppose our own dear Queen sheds her outer garments willy-nilly every time a warm weather front blows through. She thinks not. 

Jane and Beryl's top fave outfit: how stylish is she?

Next stop, Jane is lurking among the roses at Mottisfont: she has tried to go for the cool, calm and collected look by keeping the colours pale and interesting and in any case she doesn't want to clash with the flora. The top she stole from Beryl who, on reflection had decided that it was too voluminous for her small frame, and the linen trousers are her old perennials out for their third year's airing... not bad for £18.

Dress Squashed Lemon £85, sandals £27

Beryl is at a 60s inspired garden party drinking Hugos, virgin or otherwise. Quite honestly Beryl has gone off this dress. She, as we know, can be very taken with a garment in the changing room with not a thought for how long her enchantment will last. This was like the one night stand of dressing. She was caught up in the moment, but now feels cheap. 

Despite the fact that her birthday was three weeks ago, Jane is still celebrating naturally, this time with an afternoon of punting. Obviously she is not actually punting herself, but making her poor friend Milla do all the work - and a fine job she made of it. Jane drifts down the river in a linen dress from TK Maxx bought for her daughter, but then spurned. She has decided to stop trying to buy anything for her daughters aged 17, 21 and 23. Still, their loss, as she was much complimented on the elegance of her attire.

Dress TK Maxi £24.99, sunshade Thai market

Esme's dress £57 Emily and Finn sale. Beryl's dress £85 Little White lies,
Ted Baker bag (sale) £130, Bertie wedges designer resale £29 

 Thirty degrees and Beryl is encased in tight black pleated chiffon for her daughter's school's leavers' service. This is the very stuff of Englishness, mad dogs and all that. By the time she has waded through Zadoc the Priest, Jerusalem and I Vow To Thee My Country, she is a hot teary mess, but also filled with a bittersweet cocktail of love, pride and sadness for the passage of time.

Esme's dress Vintage Jean Varon £75, Beryl's dress vintage Rixo £120,
Hobbs jacket £40, both designer resale, basket £24 Top Shop. 

It's the night of Beryl's daughter's leavers' ball and the temperature at 7.30pm on arrival is still 27 degrees. Hair, which was going to be soft and floaty, is now pinned up; big sucky-in knickers have been abandoned and so have the high heels. She arrives cool and comfy but incredibly short of stature in her Rixo dress. 

Next time: Class v sass