People you notice at a wedding: the bride, obvs. Adorable children. Very good-looking or famous people. Everyone else is chopped liver, except the Most Fabulous Person – the one with the outfit you notice straight away because you’d never have thought of wearing it to a wedding, but wish you had. You check the table plan in the hope they are sitting near you, because you have a feeling they will be fun. Their outfit is different because they haven’t gone formal and stuck-up but aren’t sloppily casual or too cool for school.
My best guess for most-fun-guest-at-the-wedding look, summer 2015, is an off-the-shoulder top, known right now as a Bardot. Not the hint-of-collarbone, boat-neck T-shirt type; you need a full milkmaid, a neckline that goes straight across your torso and upper arms so your shoulders are bare. If you want to go for one with ribbons that tie at your outer arms, you have my blessing; but I hope it is self-evident that the neckline stays well above the top of your breasts. (This is someone else’s wedding – what were you thinking?) You might want to add big earrings, or a necklace, so you don’t feel too bare. On your bottom half, you want a floor-length skirt: slinky and narrow, or full and majestic, as you wish. But go for pattern over ruffles, and brights over pastels, to avoid Little Bo Peep territory. I like the contrast of the tribal pattern skirt with the crisp white cotton top.
You need worn-loads-guaranteed-not-to-hurt sandals. (The most fun guest at the wedding is never in painful new shoes.) You won’t have freedom of arm movement, though, as you’ll need to keep your arms clamped to your sides to stop the top riding up. So you might as well take that clutch bag you never use because clutch bags are soooo annoying, and clamp it under your arm. You don’t have to save this look for a wedding. You could wear it for a summer birthday, Saturday night cocktails or Sunday lunch in a pub garden, since you could top up your tan while tucking in – multitasking par excellence. It is, essentially, the go-to fabulous look of summer 2015.
• Jess wears top, £232, by Tibi, from matchesfashion.com. Skirt, £35, riverisland.com. Heels, £275, russellandbromley.co.uk.
Styling: Melanie Wilkinson. Hair and makeup: Laurence Close at Carol Hayes Management.
