Breton top devotees look away now, because you’re not going to like what I’m about to say. Nautical-themed summer fashion can get horribly naff. It is the self-consciously tasteful grownup’s equivalent of festival fashion. Yup, sorry, I’m talking to you, in your stripy top, your navy and white, with the espadrille/yachting plimsoll thing you’ve got going on for a weekend morning, the vaguely basket-ish tote. It is just as much a summer cliche as the 18-year-old on her way to a festival with her hair in complicated plaits and wearing those denim shorts where the pockets poke out at the hem.
So, how do you wear a summer classic without looking like a summer cliche? Don’t ask me; ask Coco Chanel. Now, there’s a woman who knew how to make nautical style look ultra-chic rather than travel-supplement generic. On the beach, she wore flowing, wide-legged, white, sailor-style trousers, with a simple black sweater tucked in and ropes of pearls around her neck. This style of wide-legged, high-waisted trouser – with two vertical rows of buttons for the full monty – is the simplest way to wear nautical-themed fashion without drowning under it.
Sailor trousers fall into the surprisingly useful category, because smart summer trousers are hard to find. The inky, tailored numbers you rely on until May look wrong at this time of year, when a sunny mood is called for, whatever the actual weather. If you doubt me, consider the case of white jeans, which appear in stores every year because they fill the smart-summer-trouser category, for which there is little competition. You could wear culottes, but I would argue that button-detailed, full-length sailor trousers are just as eye-catching, and more leg-lengthening.
As if daring to criticise the saintly Breton top were not controversial enough, I have another suggestion to avoid nautical cliche. This is the one scenario in which top-to-toe navy, or navy with white accents, is not the chic choice. Yes, we all like to be beside the seaside. But – as Coco, in her black sweater and pearls so elegantly demonstrated – nautical is nicest when you don’t go overboard.
• Jess wears blouse, £185, lkbennett.com. Trousers, £49.50, marksandspencer.com. Heels, £250, lkbennett.com.
Styling: Melanie Wilkinson. Fashion assistant: Hannah Davidson. Hair and makeup: Sharon Ive at Carol Hayes Management.
