My ultimate summer style combo

Trainers and dresses are the perfect postlockdown marriage, says Alyson Walsh

Now that we are all keeping things local and walking everywhere, the dress and trainers combination has come into its own. Everyone and anyone can wear this versatile pairing. But first, please banish any underlying fear that trainers make the feet look ginormous – an issue that has quite possibly been lurking in the back of women’s minds since PE with Miss Ibbotson. Sneaker Chic is too splendid a comfy shoe option to miss out on. In the words of hip-hop collective A Tribe Called Quest: can I kick it? Yes, you can!

Both practical and pretty, this is the perfect coming-out-of-lockdown outfit. Choose a dress that’s a midi or maxi length and add simple, pareddown trainers. Shirt dresses look crisp and pulled-together with classic white tennis shoes. Or go for a patterned midi dress and old-school sneakers. As for the voluminous dress and clompy shoes trend, it’s a bit too Villanelle in Paris (rewatch Killing Eve, series one) for my liking. I know it’s a popular silhouette to post on Instagram, but that’s not real life – and I don’t want to look like a six-year-old playing dress-up.

Avoid excess ruffles and tiers – metres of surplus fabric will only make you feel hotter, and we have the menopause for that – and opt for a streamlined dress shape. This lovely, slightly fitted, embroidered cotton frock is by Brora, £98 (was £215), and could be worn to the shops, the seaside or the pub garden. I’ve teamed it with my own Adidas SL 72 trainers, a vintage design that first appeared on the athletics track in Miss Ibbotson days (1972); £69.95 at adidas.com. The light nylon upper and narrow fit suits my long, narrow feet and the raw green/white colourway goes with a range of khaki clothes in my wardrobe. The SL 72 is also available in super-chic white and silver, a bright scarlet and a lovely electric blue. (For a wider fitting, check out Adidas Falcon shoes in pink, Vans classic slip-ons and New Balance’s many sports shoe styles).

When it comes to trainers, overpriced designer merchandise makes me feel queasy. I much prefer proper sports shoes designed for running around (if not properly running) in. Adidas Stan Smith tennis shoes go with everything and are a 10th of the price of some designer kicks. Veja is the sustainable alternative.

And there are loads of easy-to-wear nylon trainers in lively colours out there. Have a look at: Nike Cortez, £69.95, and Nike Daybreak from £79.95 nike.com, (the yellow and orange design at End Clothing is summer in shoe form), and the New Balance 420, from £65, or the 670 from £140. I find Converse All Stars too flat, but Vans’ ComfyCush collection (from £65) features added arch support and a padded insole – and the blue on blue colourway looks great teamed with an indigo and white maxi dress, in summer. While sustainable footwear brand Po-Zu has organic cotton canvas sneakers in white (Butterfly, now reduced to £35) with a “foot mattress” made of natural rubber foam and coconut fibre for added bounce.

A couple of years ago at Paris Fashion Week, Bianca Jagger arrived at the Dior show in a long white dress, worn with trademark sunglasses and white hi-top sneakers. The woman who designed the outfit, Dior’s first female creative director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, believes that fashion is about how a woman looks, thinks and feels, from the shades to the shoes. Enough said.

Read more from Alyson at thatsnotmyage.com

Avoid metres of surplus fabric – it’ll make you feel hotter, and we have the menopause for that When it comes to trainers, overpriced designer merchandise makes me feel queasy