Every year, as autumn approaches, I ask myself regretful end-of-summer questions. Like, why did I miss so many festivals this year, but catch every episode of 24 Hours In A&E? Why have I spent so few hours in pavement cafes, and so many in Ikea? And why has it proved impossible, thus far, to organise a picnic, or even to wipe the rain off my rusty, unloved barbecue?
Late summer regrets extend to fashion, too. Most years, I fail to buy a decent summer coat – who can be bothered unless it’s cold? – and see out the warm weather in a range of not-quite-right cropped jackets. Because, while denim jackets look brilliant with, say, tailored trousers and a hip-length T-shirt, they are a bit useless in many other scenarios. Wear one with an oversized, mid-thigh-length shirt, for example, and five inches of flapping shirt fabric will be exposed in a higgledy-piggledy clash of hemlines.
Thankfully, this year the high street has brought forth a chic solution. Most shops are calling them kimonos, but that’s not really an accurate description for these louche, robe-like garments. Most of them are longline and straight – they don’t have belts – and feel more like a posh dressing gown or a housecoat, or a jazzier, slimmer duster coat. You can fling them over anything simple. They bring pizzazz to skinny jeans, feel suitably loungey to wear over shorts on holiday and, unlike other longline summer options such as trenchcoats, are so lightweight that they can be worn indoors over a vest, like a cardigan.
On a practical level, these lounging robes – as I have decided to call them, because that sounds legitimately fabulous – do the same job as that much-maligned nadir of style, the waterfall cardigan, while giving exactly the opposite impression. This is the sort of thing a rock star would wear before a gig, while a minion ensured his stage outfit was steamed, or what Holly Golightly would fling on while she applied her eyeliner. Even if your summer, so far, has not been as louche as you might have liked your outerwear absolutely can be.
• Hannah wears kimono, £178, allsaints.com. Silk top, £215, by Rag & Bone, from selfridges.com. Distressed jeans, £185, donnaida.com. Snake-skin shoes, £34.99, newlook.com.
Jess Cartner-Morley is away.
