Anna Harvey Timeless Style
Mix your brights and channel Frida Kahlo for supreme poolside chic
I’m looking forward to a holiday in the sun. I try to catch a few rays every year and so am annually faced with the what-to-take-with-me conundrum. I have a drawer of summer holiday favourites that I shall recycle again this year; mainly pretty tunics and cotton trousers collected on my trips to India when I was working with Vogue there. Similar items can be found at Monsoon and Maharani, and gloriously beaded ones at Juliet Dunn.
I love bright colours in the sun, and looking at the array of tops and wraps on my bed as I pack, I’m cheered by the wonderful colours. Forget matching, go for a mix instead (visit the Frida Kahlo exhibition at the V&A if you need inspiration). If in doubt, take white trousers or a skirt with you. I found a very good pair of narrow trousers at M&S in a range of different summer colours. I bought a lovely giant sun hat there too, which can be folded to pack. I always take three or four swimsuits, as I find putting on a damp one is horrid. The high-street selection is not at all bad this year: I have bought two, from M&S and Next. Some of the patterns are a bit overpowering, so I chose the simplest two-tone designs I could find. I have also bought a new and rather expensive Esther Williams swimsuit online from the US. Other very good brands include Gottex and Heidi Klein. I also love trendy Hunza G suits, but they are very much for the younger figure I feel. For a good selection of swimwear and cover-ups, beachcafe.com is worth a look. It’s also worth considering what to wear poolside, especially if, like me at a certain age, you are self-conscious about your body when you need to move about and present yourself for lunch and so on. I always take a few sarongs (look at the scarf selection in Zara and Mango) to tie around my waist or wear halter-style (like the Duchess of Sussex’s white evening dress after her wedding) to cover the thigh and midriff area when wandering about.
For lunch, a change into something dry and comfortable is a good idea. You don’t need to spend a fortune. I visited two specialist underwear and swimwear boutiques in my local area, Amazing Grace in Haslemere and Guilt in Petworth, in search of something suitable and found the help offered reassuring. I have also seen some very good cotton cover-ups and long shirts in Next and H&M. I like to buy a bigger size as the last thing I want is to feel restricted on holiday – and frankly, I find that too much cleavage, or flesh generally, is quite off-putting around the table. And that applies to men, too!