Sod’s law, number 338: the heatwave will come, not the week when you’ve booked a week’s holiday and rented a seaside cottage, but the week after that, when you’re back at work. And those days when you wake up to glorious sunshine and still have to go to work are really hard to dress for. But wearing the wrong thing will make them only worse, so it’s worth figuring out a workday heatwave gameplan.
Most people get hot-weather-office-dressing completely wrong. The problem is psychological: you don’t want to be in the office on a day like this, and it’s hard to dress well for somewhere you don’t want to be. Your heart is just not in it. The most common misstep is to act out your state of denial via your wardrobe by dressing as if you’re on holiday when you aren’t. You might even find a way to justify this to yourself, reasoning that being able to wear your favourite high-waisted shorts will cheer you up, or that it’s only right to get some wear out of that new backless halterneck sundress. Do not do this. An outfit like that will make the not-being-on-holiday sadface feeling worse, as a daylong reminder of what could have been.
Also, hello, your professional reputation: the woman who goes to work half-naked and semi-hysterical just because the temperature rose above 25C isn’t doing her “cool and calm under pressure” vibe any favours.
Do not flick through your workwear and find things that look most like what you’d wear on the beach. You’ll end up hot and sweaty in a sleeveless, fitted dress that’s technically office appropriate but as tight as a swimsuit. This is not chic.
Loose shapes, nothing bodycon, is the key. You can get away with bare arms and shoulders if your racer-back top is trapeze shaped, but not if it’s vest-tight. A full, pleated skirt to just above the knee looks more polished than a tight one of the same length. And you know what else works? Something thoroughly summer 2015 but not at all beachy? Culottes. That’s right, culottes. And if they seem a terrible idea in a few weeks, you can put them down to heatstroke.
• Jess wears top, £245, and culottes, £295, both studionicholson.com. Heels, £295, kurtgeiger.com.
Styling: Melanie Wilkinson. Hair and makeup: Laurence Close at Carol Hayes Management.
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