Beach holidays bring a chance to billow about in a kaftan. A quick scan of the queues at the Ryanair boarding gates will confirm a complete bingo card of them, from see-through to embroidered, tasselled and pom-pommed. But you’ve booked a package holiday to the Algarve, not a fortnight in an ashram. If the thought of a faux-ho (that’s fake-boho) kaftan brings you out in a polyester sweat, you’ll be relieved to know that the fashion set are packing an alternative cover-up for their holidays: a beach shirt.
No, this is not some sort of jokey riff on the corporate uniform that you were hoping to leave behind. Didn’t you know that 2017 is (un)officially the year of “shirting”? This means wearing garments resembling shirts, often with added frills, not just at your desk, but also to the school gates, the cinema — and now the beach.
The actress Eva Longoria was spotted wearing a loose white shirt knotted over her bikini at the A-list Playa Padre beach club in Marbella last week. The look has also cropped up on the beaches of Ischia (the actress Lily Collins), Mykonos (the singer Nicole Scherzinger) and Miami (the model Hailey Baldwin). That beach-ready linen shirts have also been seen on the streets of London SW10 is further proof of the garment’s luxe status: the Chelsea set wear Rosie Assoulin’s knee-length style loosely unbuttoned with Hermès’s H calfskin slides and a pile of gold talismanic jewels. When the 1 per cent are wearing a new garment to brunch, you know that a trend is afoot.
Wiggy Hindmarch is something of a holiday wardrobe specialist, not simply because she spends a chunk of the year living on Harbour Island in the Bahamas, but also because she is the mastermind behind the resort label Wiggy Kit. “I’ve always had a penchant for mannish shirts slung over a bikini,” she says. “It’s the ultimate in looking sexy in a totally not trying kind of way.”
Her label’s floor-length style (£225, wiggykit.com) is a good option if you are concerned about that first reveal of pasty flesh, and it doubles as a chic dinner dress come sundown. “I’ve been wearing it with a cotton slip and a pair of leather trainers in London too,” Hindmarch says.
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For the jet-setting boutique owner Alex Eagle — whose summer diary includes trips to Rome, Stromboli and the Hollywood Hills — a beach shirt is a no-brainer. “I only take multi-tasking pieces that will work for day and night,” she says. “I wear a white shirt from my own label tucked into jeans to travel in [£195, alexeagle.co.uk] and then over a Nu bikini on the beach.”
This is not an opportunity to repurpose your staid Thomas Pink, however. The beach shirt is a garment in its own right. Levi Palmer and Matthew Harding of Palmer Harding, whose creations have been worn by Theresa May and Michelle Obama, have released a 14-piece capsule collection of long cotton and linen beach shirts with matchesfashion.com (from £270). Worn unbuttoned to reveal a sliver of bikini with sleeves rolled up, the look is a little bit polished, but very comfortable.
The key is to avoid crisp collars and starchy shapes. Instead go for soft flowing fabrics in 100 per cent cotton or linen that are cool and — between friends — won’t smell. Justine Picardie, the editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, rates Uniqlo’s linen shirts, which come in a range of skin-warming tones (from £14.90, uniqlo.com). Sheer fabrics should be off limits, especially if lunch at a beach bar is on the cards. The deckchair-striped knee-length style from the Lithuanian linen specialist OffOn is suitably opaque (£89.97, etsy.com).
In a similar vein, seek out pieces that are long enough to cover your bottom. Tunics work well, such as Heidi Klein’s pink Chile version (£140, selfridges.com), as do shirtdresses. The surf label Finisterre’s Kernowaii shirtdress is sleeveless, so won’t engulf petite frames (£65, finisterre.com). I also like Nanushka’s cotton twill style that comes with a detachable collar and belt (£108, nanushka.com).
If, like me, you are an ice-cream-down-the-arm type, your shopping criteria may include a purse-friendly price tag. Hush offers quality at prices that don’t sting — I like the blue Crete tunic, which is 100 per cent cotton and costs £55 (hush-uk.com). Seafolly’s chic white Resort shirt is £47.99 (surfdome.com), while Marks & Spencer’s belted shirtdress is £39.50 (marksandspencer.com).
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Finally, for those who think that holidays simply aren’t holidays without a bit of boho, the boyfriend-fit shirts from Eight Hour Studio are hand-block printed with ethnic swirls and finished with agoya shell buttons (£175, eighthourstudio.com). Now all that’s left is a brilliant bikini — and that, I am afraid, is up to you.
Instagram: @rachael_dove