Chic list: Step away from the florals!

I committed a major fashion crime recently – I attended the opening of the Chelsea Flower Show not wearing a floral midi. The cheek of it! 

There’s hardly been a more controversial subject this year as many believe the days of this wardrobe staple, loved by millions, are over.

God, I really hope so. John Lewis, shopping mecca of the middle class, was one of the first to call time on the floral midi. Can we please find a new national costume? 

At Chelsea, I posted an Instagram photo of myself in a pair of gold silk trousers and a white blazer from Joseph.

Almost immediately I was told via DM that, although I looked very nice, I should really be in a floral midi. It was the Chelsea Flower Show, after all. 

Forgive me, but I didn’t realise it was now the law that you had to attend looking like one of the gardens. Anyway, there were oodles of women there dressed in florals, so I don’t think their champions have anything to worry about.

It seems hell will freeze over before women in this country part with the floral midi. But how fascinating to find it’s such a powerful emotional issue that people felt the need to challenge me over not wearing one. More power to you if you want to follow the floral herd – but I’m not going to.

In fact, as I get older, my relationship with dresses in general has become a lot more complicated than it was when I was younger. 

Trousers are now my safety net, although I do wear more dresses during the summer because there is something lovely about wafting around feeling feminine and fabulous in the sunlight. And on holiday anywhere balmy, they make sense because I am too hot in anything else.

But it’s much more difficult to find ones I like in my 40s than it was in my 20s and 30s. 

When I interviewed French style icon Jane Birkin last year, she told me that she doesn’t wear dresses any more because they make her look old and frumpy. Instead she shops for men’s tailored trousers and lives in shirts.

These days I buy just a couple of special dresses every summer, ones with colours and patterns that speak to me. Quality over quantity is my golden rule. 

My newest crush is Johanna Ortiz, a Colombian designer whose prints and elegant details bring an easy elegance to day-to-night dressing. 

I also love the simplicity of a white linen or cotton dress with a summer tan, natural or from the bottle. Or summer black or uplifting cobalt blue.

Forgive me, though, floral fans – anything but those.

@thestylistandthewardrobe

@youmagazine

BEDTIME SHORT STORY 

Pyjama set, £150, eberjey.com

Listen up, sleeping beauties – as nights get warmer, it’s important to find the right sleepwear; something both

sensual and cool. I’m a fan of short pyjama sets at this time of year and Eberjey has a lovely selection made of breathable soft materials to ensure a good night’s sleep.

Ring, £40, jigsaw-online.com

A BOLD BOLT OF BLUE 

I love a stylish cocktail ring at this time of year while drinking chilled rosé in the sunshine.

This blue resin beauty from Jigsaw is perfect for making a statement.

TRIBUTE TO AN ICON 

It was only a matter of time… Hitting the shelves this November, CBK: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy – a Life in Fashion is the first book dedicated to the effect John F Kennedy Jr’s wife had on fashion and the people she loved.

It promises never-before-published anecdotes from friends and family, and will be the ultimate commemoration of her fashion code, as well as the impact her style continues to make nearly 25 years after her death.

CBK: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy – a Life in Fashion will be published in November. Available to preorder at amazon.co.uk