There will be many summer days when a high neck and bare arms are as appropriate a reaction to the weather as a cotton shirt
It’s hard to look sophisticated in summer. This seems ridiculous, in a country where summer isn’t even actually hot very often. Nonetheless, fact. Case in point: a T-shirt. It is tricky to make a T-shirt look more than basic. The woman in my mind’s eye, as I put on a T-shirt on a summer day, is Jane Birkin. Maybe she’s wearing the T-shirt with plimsolls and a little skirt. She’s got a newspaper in her straw basket as she takes a stroll for a cafe creme. But in reality, if I put on a T-shirt, I look as if I’ve been sent into the garden to play.
A polo neck might seem a drastic solution to this conundrum, and clearly isn’t going to be your first port of call in a heatwave. Being red-faced and sweaty, tugging at the neckline of your sweater like a frantic dog on a lead, is hardly going to help us reach that elusive state of sun-dappled grace. But there will be many summer days when a high neck and bare arms are as appropriate a reaction to the weather forecast as a cotton shirt.
Related: What I wore this week: socks as a fashion statement
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