SUMMER HOLIDAYS ARE ON; TIME TO DITCH THE LOCKDOWN DOLDRUMS
After months of lockdown, writes Stephen Doig, get ready for some fun and flair abroad
It was on about week four – or 13, or 84 – of lockdown that I learnt that my nickname from the new barista at my local coffee shop was the “blue sweater guy”. My entire wardrobe, which is fairly extensive, 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 litany of casualwear, which in recent months we’ve substituted for our usual office attire, can be put aside in favour of something a tad more joyous.
It’s already started to creep on to my Instagram feed, which under normal circumstances at this time of year would be awash with pictures of Mykonos sunsets and Amalfi boat selfies. In the past week, friends have been snapped in their swimming shorts in Capri, their sandal-clod feet in the south of France. 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, with polo shirts calling out for a Como aperitivo and swim shorts designed to catch the eye in Portofino. Yes, these are clothes for the top 0.01 per cent, but we can take a tip from their splashy, playful, cocktail-umbrellas-with-everything approach. It’s never been a better time to dress up if you’re heading abroad. 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 vim and fun is called for, surely. We’ll never take that simple thing of sitting down and ordering a cocktail on a sun-drenched terrace for granted again, so make it an occasion. That doesn’t mean arriving at the bar like Liberace, but there’s a way of dressing, especially amongst our continental brothers, 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 pared back white linen trousers. Ralph Fiennes in the Pantelleria-set A Bigger Splash springs to mind; printed and pastelhued 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 and their holiday offering. Casual summer shoes, but elevated with perhaps some jolly stripes, vivid colour or luxurious materials like suede. After the year we’ve all had, the urge to just fly and flop has never been more great, but it’s also a wonderful chance to finally put on something that makes you feel polished and fresh, temporarily forgetting the trials of the past few months. The blue sweater will always be there when you get back.