I was invited to a media launch on a superyacht last week and had quite the challenge getting dressed for it. Sydney, as per usual, had rain while still being hot and sticky, 200 degrees of humidity, and long stretches of brilliant, searing sunshine. This is the weather for people who wear bikini tops, cut-offs, and sleeveless tank dresses, and that’s not me.
Among my plans to move to Scotland, I put together an outfit that I thought was superyacht appropriate. A pair of navy tailored pants ( with stretch, in case I had to help them moor the boat or something), a T-shirt and a navy blazer with gold buttons. And white sneakers. Allbirds, because they’re comfy. Very nautical. A bit Thurston Howell III.
I got to the wharf early, as I do. I started to look around nervously, wondering where the chic people were, thinking I had the date wrong. And then I saw them. A scrum of young women, both influencers and journalists, came over the horizon, walking across the park. It was a sea of cream and beige, tight ponytails and shiny, perfect skin. “I see we all got the cream memo,” said one of them cheerfully. I suddenly realised I looked about as dated as Gilligan’s Island. So this week’s column is called “What young people wear on boats”.
To be honest I think it’s what they pretty much wear everywhere. There seem to be two camps. The long-dress club wears strappy, breezy sundresses in floral prints or earthy linens with delicate, flat sandals. Maybe a slide. Quite a lot of hair, centre parts, tonged into flat waves.
And then there’s the floppy trench coat, a white tank or a man-style vest and wide-tailored pants woman. Her hair is pulled into a tight bun to show off dewy, expensively moisturised skin and very little makeup. She is wearing a design of Birkenstock or a chunky fisherman sandal, maybe even a rubber Chanel slide. This is my preferred look of the two. It says, “I mean business, but I don’t care that much”.
Because the look is all white or cream or beige, it also says, “Excessive dry cleaning does not bother me”. I’m figuring that if it ever actually gets cold in Sydney, she’ll put a cashmere turtleneck underneath it, in cream, obviously.
So while they floated about in neutrals, comparing Rationale skin products, I was perspiring away in my navy blazer and plotting a new winter shopping list.
My current trench coats, while very practical, one being a classic khaki Burberry, are not floppy, so that has to change. I need wide, high-waisted pants, but given that I’m quite wide around the waist, that could go either way, so let’s see.
Clearly, I need some tank tops, but I have no intention of showing my arms so that floppy trench better be the right fabric. Otherwise my skin will be very dewy, just like theirs. But not in a good way.
The post <i>Kirstie Clements</i>: It seems my nautical style is all at sea appeared first on The New Daily.
