Destination: Summer in The City

This post was created in collaboration with ASOS and rewardStyle 

My Instagram feed might be filling up with gorgeous trips to Barcelona, the Balearics, Mykonos and the Amalfi, but do you know something? I’m actually pretty fine right where I am, here in London. Trips to the continent in the summer are far too expensive anyway in high season anyway. You always end up spending 3 hours condensing your holiday wardrobe of dreams into a tiny carry-on wheelie case to avoid paying an extra £75 for check-in luggage on your overpriced flight to Malaga, only to be told you can only take on a total of ONE bag on the flight, and that you must stuff your Gucci Marmont into your tiny case, or the case will go in to the hold anyway. You arrive to find your toiletries selection has leaked from the specially-bought 100ml-or-less bottles and petri-dishes that you specially decanted them into, and alas, your holiday wardrobe is ruined. Why bother? Why even leave the country when you can have all the fun with none of the fuss here?

Or maybe I’m just saying all of this to convince myself I’m not jealous of everyone who’s away in those aforementioned places? Maybe…

But summer in the city is the best – think beer gardens, pop ups, Ship Sundays (basically, if you’re not from London, it’s a boozy Sunday session at a place called The Ship which is rumoured to have the most beautiful men in London – you can thank me later..) the parks are beautiful – and there is so much to explore. Everyone is in a good mood. My social life is better because the success rate of getting a YES response to your group chat suggestion of “anyone fancy a drink?” increases by 95% in the summer – and that is an actual fact. And rooftop bars! Who can resist a gorgeous view of the city and giving your new SPF a little tester alongside some frosé on a rooftop? (Bar Elba, Golden Bee, Boundary, Prince of Wales – to name a few, are some favourites of mine for a chilled and less pretentious vibe. Madison and Aqua are what you need for the slightly more pretentious days!)

And the great thing is you can wear all of your summer clothes that you would wear on your holiday, if you had one planned – right here back in the UK. I don’t know about you, but I actually don’t fare too well in the heat. I get too hot, angry, sweaty, and dizzy. Your makeup melts off and my curls drop out, and that glamorous holiday wardrobe always gets more wear when I’m back in London because I can actually wear the clothes without completely melting. You can’t photoshop out sweat patches IRL people!

 

 

If you are going on holiday, which okay, let’s face it, I might end up doing at some point too, because everyones Euro #travelinspo pics are killing me, ASOS is amazing for last-minute orders. Every single holiday I ever go on, I’ll mentally have around 2-3 outfits planned to pack – the rest I leave until 2 nights before and I panic-buy 50 plus things on ASOS with next day delivery (blessed be ASOS Premier – the best £9.95 you will ever spend). My favourite trends this summer have been gorgeous gingham pieces (especially coloured!), co-ords, and basically anything white. In fact, I’m obsessed with white against tan (yep, tan shoes, tan bags, tan skin…) and ASOS, obviously, has all of these aplenty.

There’s definitely a little bit of thought that goes behind dressing for a summer spent in the city: think loose-fitting fabrics that’ll catch the breeze (that’ll most likely be coming from the tube as it pulls into your stop…) and chic sandals with block heels that’ll work for the office, drinks after hours, and for BBQ’s at the weekend when you’re trying to impress your new Tinder Bae’s friends. And then, of course, a lightweight but v cute raincoat the inevitable onset of sudden rain that’ll happen. You just have to be prepared sometimes!

Summer Dresses

 

Shoes

 

Accessories

 

Everything Else!