I don’t know about you, but I’ve found the last week of scorching sunshine particularly difficult to dress for. After spending all of winter complaining about the darkness, cold, and intermittent rain, now I finally have the weather I’ve been longing for, and it turned out to be far hotter than I could have prepared for.
My wardrobe is currently full of trench coats, jeans and blazers while the weather calls for white dresses and sandals exclusively, so as I find myself either feverishly sweating in the closest outfit to hand or laying in front of the fan, I just want to nail chic simplicity above all. Don’t get me wrong, when I say simplicity I don’t mean minimalism per se. Nothing makes me happier than my holiday wardrobe, and summer in the city deserves the same celebration of colour, print and texture, but I also want to invest in the kind of clothes that are easy to style and only take 10 minutes to put together. Sound impossible? I’m up to the challenge.
In the interests of building a capsule wardrobe that would see me through the next few months of high temperatures, I set about finding the best summer dresses, easy separates and statement-making pieces on the market, and after some seriously good reviews and exciting new collaborations, I began the search at Mango, rationalising that a Spanish brand would know how to nail warm-weather dressing, and I wasn’t wrong.
The party pieces, chic dresses, and standout accessories you’ve seen all over Instagram lately? It’s likely they’ve been from Mango, and heading into the store right now it’s clear that there’s something for everyone. Colour-pop brights, staple basics, holiday wear and swim, and office-appropriate tailoring; even scrolling through the site over the last few months has thrown out some seriously good pieces that gave me enough reason to want to try out a Mango wardrobe for a week.
So, despite going up against soaring temperatures and a couple of stock shortages (some of the shoes and bags I wanted are sold out in my size in-store, so I’ve substituted with a couple of my own), this is my week in Mango outfits. Keep scrolling to see the pieces a shopping editor would happily invest in.
Full disclosure, I knew before I even set foot in the Mango store that I was looking for this dress. I’d seen it weeks ago on Who What Wear contributor Monikh and loved it, and I was genuinely surprised to find this still in stock online and in store. Everything about this dress looks expensive: the colour, the linen, the beading, and if you’d told me this cost £100, I’d still be happy to buy it. On a day that I was too hot to function let alone put together an entire outfit, this dress did all of the work for me (and got a few compliments in the process). I’m assuming this was one of Mango’s best kept secrets (until now, that is), because this dress deserves all of your attention and more. A strong contender for the perfect holiday dress? I’m inclined to think so.
I picked up these sandals in Mango a couple of months ago and they’re now difficult to find in store and very low in stock online, but it’s always worth signing up to notifications in case sizes come back in stock.
Until then, here’s an almost identical pair, albeit with a lower heel. If I hadn’t already snapped up the platform version, these would be next on my list. I just can’t think of an outfit that a leather flip flop doesn’t go with…
I don’t mean to be a cliché by wearing pinstripes to the office, but I think this look ticks the “business casual” box that would work for just about every workplace dress code. Beauty editor Eleanor Vousden tells me “I’m really enjoying your collection of waistcoats right now”, and I hadn’t even realised that up until that point that my office uniform had consisted of a beige Zara waistcoat, a pink Frankie shop waistcoat and a pale blue ASOS waistcoat, usually paired with wide-leg trousers. But hey, there’s worse problems to have. Fellow blazer devotees will understand just how polished casual tailoring like this feels, and when it’s hot outside you’ll understand the vest’s sleeveless appeal.
The fit of the trousers is excellent, but if you prefer skirts, fear not! There’s also a co-ordinating midi skirt, so you can mix and match everything from adding a blazer to swapping the bottoms.
What do Kate Middleton, Natalie Portman, and Taylor Swift all have in common? The answer: they all have a gingham blazer in their wardrobes. Until now the thought of a gingham blazer sounded a little bit too preppy for me, but when faced with the prospect of wearing an oversized black blazer in this heat, this jacket suddenly makes perfect sense. I love the boxy fit and strong shoulders to toughen up such a cute print, and the colour works like a neutral that you can wear with just about everything.
The texture of this skirt feels like linen, but it turns out, it’s actually a cotton blend. It’s no problem though, there’s no danger of overheating in this light, well ventilated maxi, and when worn with a crop top or the gingham blazer, there’s something Jacquemus-y about this affordable piece.
As it turns out, on any given summer’s day in the Who What Wear office, at least three of us will be wearing linen, and today is no exception. I wear shirts on (almost) every day of the week so the transition from cotton to linen is easy, and this shirt is light enough that I don’t spend the afternoon checking for sweat patches. Top marks.
There’s something about the long denim skirt trend that I’m struggling to get on board with. Don’t get me wrong, I love the way they look on other people, but I imagine the feeling of a heavy, maxi skirt swishing around my ankles feeling claustrophobic in a heatwave. Instead I went for this easy pencil skirt with a generous slit to get the same look without having to drag around excess weight, and the fit more than works for me. As someone who struggles to find the right fit from jeans, this is the solution to denim that fits my hips and my waist.
It wouldn’t be right to do a Mango review without including something from the Simon Miller collaboration, and the first piece that instantly caught my eye was this statement knit dress. With all the pleasing weight of a designer buy, this might not be to everyone’s taste but I cannot deny the joy I get putting this on and heading out. Something about this dress screams “weekend!” and I’d love wearing this at beach bar as much as I did in Soho, but if you hate the colour and love the dress, rest assured it also comes in black.
This is easily one of my favourite pieces in Mango right now, and although it looked expensive on the hanger, it looks even better on. An A-line midi dress is flattering on every body, and the adjustable belt makes it easy to create a nipped in waist too, giving the whole silhouette a classic, 50s feel perfect for dinner on date night. Although I opted for a slingback heel for a really vintage look, this dress would so cool with chunky flat sandals, kitten heel strappy sandals, leather sliders, gladiator sandals..
Back in Simon Miller for a sunny weekend, and these trousers are the epitome of dopamine dressing. I can’t think of anything better for a lazy sunday in the park than these sunshine flares, even though Editor-in-Chief Hannah and Branded Content Editor both wanted these trousers and couldn’t get them online, I urge you to head into store. There was still plenty of the collection in stock (including all of the fun accessories), so you can still get these (and a pair of the enamel earrings) and dress this look up with a heeled sandal. I’ll be wearing these on repeat for the rest of the summer.
Consider the white tank a wardrobe staple. This simple top is the foundation for a many good summer outfits, and at this price its worth picking up in a couple of different colours.
