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.