If you are one of the clever, forward-planning and fortunate folk to have cheated winter and booked your getaway, the only thing left to consider is what to pack. Unlike with summer holidays when, with any luck, we’re already parading around the city in shorts and T-shirts, shifting our sartorial mind set in the depths of winter can be more of a challenge – albeit one we think we can just about rise to, if really pushed. Luckily then, Dundas London’s Leonara Sichel, the 2019 Good Web Guide Award-winning website dedicated to stylish menswear, is here to instruct us what to take and how to wear it when we get there.
We wish you, through slightly gritted (read: chattering) January teeth, restful and sun-soaked holidays.
The Bag
If you’re making an exit from the winter gloom, you’d best have the right getaway holdall. The Weekender Bag from Stubble & Co is ideal: stylish, strong but very light and easy to stow away in the overhead locker, and indeed, under your bed the rest of the year.
Life’s A Beach
If you’re headed to golden sands, whether to lounge or surf, do ensure that you strike the right breezily stylish note (for your style cue, think the eternal, enduring perfection of the insouciant Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr Ripley).
Dundas London’s White Linen Shirt exudes classic casual elegance, and looks best with sleeves rolled up. Do team it to chic effect with Bunk’s loose-fitting Seaweed Trunks.
Lastly, don’t neglect to protect your eyes from UV rays (nor indeed to hit peak cool). Finlay London is our go-to brand for eyewear; don any of its beauties and send a subtle signal that you are in ‘do not disturb’ mode.
A word to the wise: do avoid tailored shorts unless you are an unerring disciple of Leg Day workouts.
The Scenic Route
The beach is, of course, the dream, especially when that dream is taking place at your desk on a dreary January afternoon. But the reality is that most of us need a break from our break, a blast of local exploration as an appetising side dish to your sunbathing entrée. As such, we recommend that you pack a suitable capsule holiday wardrobe for the man about town.
Our Dundas London Coral Linen Shirt offsets a tan beautifully, especially when paired with some sandy Vintage Shorts from GAP. The coral will ensure your newly acquired bronzed skin glows; either that or, whisper it, it will blend in with your skin if you’ve made the rookie error of using the wrong sun cream factor. No one will dare ask the question.
Do remember the practicalities too. Pockets are important (our Safari Tuscan Shirt is ideal for all the holiday essentials). And comfort is everything, to which end we love the ever-distinctive patterned sneakers from the genius Pan-Africa. Light, sublimely comfy and joyously colourful, they are just the thing for pounding the cobbled streets, ice cream in-hand.
Do note, you can always roll up sleeves and we suggest you do. Short sleeved shirts are a no-no, unless, that is, you can pull off the Christian Slater look from True Romance.
Slide into evening
Sure, we may have been known to wear trunks to the dinner table, sand still firmly encrusted in our hair, but if your dining situation calls for a modicum of smart-casual presentation, you can achieve this without having to be formal, by any stretch.For elegant understatement, Dundas London’s Navy Linen Shirt strikes the right note, especially allied with chinos from Spoke, whose slight stretch may be useful after that post siesta ice-cream.
We’re hoping, for your sake, it’ll be too warm for cashmere, but as Brits we are always prepared. Do throw a linen gilet from Guillotine England into your suitcase, just to be on the safe side.
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