You just can’t beat a summer dress, can you? A summer dress is more than a frock: it is a flag of cheer, a totem of good times. It is the next best thing to bottled sunshine. Just to see it in your wardrobe lifts you on a rainy day, and when the sun finally shines, the one-and-done ease of a dress makes a great outfit effortless, leaving you free to go forth and enjoy.
Turns out I was wrong. There is something even better than a summer dress. Let me introduce you to this summer’s hero: the summer two-piece. It is a dress, but it is also – as a bonus ball – a top and a skirt which can be worn separately. This makes it more versatile than a summer dress, and versatility is key if you want a leaner, harder-working wardrobe. So it is more than a dress – but it is also a better kind of dress, because a dress that divides at the waist is more amenable to sitting right on your specific body shape. A dress is often made or broken by whether the waistband sits right, and that depends on whether you have a long or short torso. With a two-piece, you can simply overlap the two pieces at the waist a little more, or a little less.
But first things first. Let’s start with why the dress of two halves is more fun than a one-piece dress: it’s simply because it looks cooler. Picture the scene. You spot a woman across the room in a nice summer dress. Then she moves, waves or turns round, and you spot a sliver of skin and realise she’s not wearing a dress at all, but rather a top and a skirt that look like a dress. It’s just that little bit more modern.
There are some fabulous dresses-of-two-halves around. The Ilana top (£50) by sustainable British brand Aspiga has a shirred neckline that can be worn on or off the shoulder, and a matching tiered Bea cotton skirt (£85) that turns it into a coord. The white polka-dot structured top by Mint Velvet (£99) is the perfect foil to its white polka dot maxi skirt (£129). Zara has a whole online section devoted to two-piece looks: my favourite is the ivory rustic strappy top with tassels (£29.99) and the perforated embroidered midi skirt (£49.99), which together have a pleasingly convincing bought-it-at-the-local-market holiday vibe.
But I really don’t want to sound like an evil planet-destroying consumption enabler, tempting you with pretty outfits, so I’m now going to lay down my strict rules for the only circumstances under which you should buy a summer two-piece. Rule one is the diary date test. This is a really helpful rule when you need to figure out whether you genuinely love a piece, or just have a passing crush on it. The diary date test is: is there an occasion that’s already in your diary – a real thing that you are actually doing – that you instantly want to wear this look to? Not an imaginary party or a fantasy date or an if-I-got-a-new-job, but a real thing in your real life. The diary date test is the best filter for whether the dress will be genuinely useful to you.
Rule two, that must be met before you buy, is specific to the dress-of-two-halves and it is this: you should only buy it if you primarily want to wear it together, as a dress. If you suspect you’d actually wear the top or the bottom more, then just buy that, otherwise you are spending over the odds just for the novelty factor of it being a matching set.
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There is a two-piece for you, even if you are not a summer dress person. Two of my favourites are from M&S: the delicious Per Una waistcoat and shorts (blue and white, quilted, £39.50 and £35) and the M&S animal graphic print one-shoulder top and shorts (£19.50 each). I’m also very into this, as a wedding guest outfit – a lemon yellow linen waistcoat (£67) and coordinating trousers (£85) from & Other Stories.
By the way – we are saying coordinating these days, not matching. Matching sounds a bit formal and prissy, and these two-pieces are anything but. They have all the uncomplicated joy of a summer dress, but with a little more bite.
Turns out you can have your cake and eat it after all.
Styling assistant: Sam Deaman. Hair and make up: Sophie Higginson using Bed Head and Victoria Beckham beauty. Floral top and skirt: Nobody’s Child. Sunglasses: Cutler and Gross
