I want clothes for everyday. Why is summer shopping so hard?

Frockadvisor: your fashion dilemmas answered

Q: As we move into the summer season, I realise that, unfortunately, my life doesn’t revolve around garden parties, I want clothes for every day. Why is summer shopping so hard?

Don’t you get the feeling that you’ve been taken for a mug – diaphanous dresses and florals landing in store in January, and shearling coats landing in July? The seasonality of fashion just hasn’t worked for many years.

(L-R)city culottes, €85, at the Design Centre. Thakoon silk shirt dress from Costume. Pastel loafer, €140, by Marco Moreo at Fabucci
(L-R)city culottes, €85, at the Design Centre. Thakoon silk shirt dress from Costume. Pastel loafer, €140, by Marco Moreo at Fabucci

However, now the buzzword in fashion production is trans-seasonal. So what exactly does this mean? Well, it means that the mainstay of our wardrobes, in reality, have applications across probably nine months of the year. This, for reasons of climate, has huge resonance in the UK and Ireland. That’s the way we dress, and now that’s the way we can shop.

Let’s face it, little strappy dresses and sandals have minimal applications in the overall scheme of things, save another heat wave or summering in Italy.

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So trans-seasonal dressing was born, providing clothes that can function effectively in summer but equally carry through to winter. As an example, these city culottes (above) €85, at the

Design CentreOpens in new window ]

are bona fide ‘trans’, as is Lucy Nagle’s beautiful

Ivory Merino wool cropped cardiganOpens in new window ]

(layer up to avoid midriff exposure if required). And the

pastel loaferOpens in new window ]

(above) €140, by Marco Moreo at Fabucci could easily clip clop its way into winter. Even

Thakoon’s silk shirt dressOpens in new window ]

( above) from Costume has immediate applications with tights and boots while at the same time offering a low-key solution for Communions.

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frockadvisor.comOpens in new window ]