The vacation aesthetic is now altogether more low-key. Take a deep breath and put those fringed palazzo pants down
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oes your kaftan have a sequin trim? Adorable! Does your holiday tote bag have a shell bag charm? Cute. Does your maxidress have pom-poms dangling from it? Um, OK, I’m sure it’s lovely, but let’s take a moment here, shall we? Are you completely sure you need to coordinate your beach jellies with your candy-striped shorts and cropped top? Look, I’m going to come out and ask the question here. Have our holiday wardrobes got a bit … overexcited?
I don’t want to be a killjoy. But there is a fine line between a cheerful holiday aesthetic and looking as though you bought the entire contents of your suitcase while on a sangria-fuelled shopping spree at Gatwick. Beguiling though all this stuff is, there is a point where tomato-print sundresses and sandals with ric-rac lacing stop looking delightfully Dolce, and start looking a tiny bit overwrought. Take a deep breath and put those fringed palazzo pants down.
The holiday wardrobe is now as relentlessly marketed in summer as baubles at Christmas and roses on Valentine’s Day. The powers that be have figured out that “holiday” is a magic word when it comes to unlocking our purse strings. You can be sensible the rest of the year, but holidays are all about the treats, right?
