Style: Breton Tops
Nothing says “staple item” more to me than the Breton top. You can dress it up or down and every wardrobe should have at least one. I have been known to wear my favourite one from H&M when it had two quite noticeable holes in it and it was only the shame my family bestowed on me each time I wore it that relegated it to the charity bag. I don’t think there’s any other item that can say city chic and nautical wonder at the same time. What else can you wear with skinny jeans and flip-flops one day and a sequinned skirt and a bee hive the next?!
The key with a Breton stripe is to hoard as many as you can. I favour a slouchier style that can look equally great with jeans as it does tucked into a pencil skirt, but am also a fan of a Bardot style with a huge back combed pony tail for a bit of 50’s glamour. And why stop at tops?! I have a £4 cotton knee length skirt (again from H&M) that I bust out whenever anyone utters the basically criminal dress code “smart-casual” (smasual to those in the know) and almost held a memorial service when I had to part ways with a pair of espadrilles from New Look last year that I’d bought especially to watch the boat race from the comfort of my own home. It’s comforting to see that despite fashions that change in the blink of any eye, you can go into any high street chain and find at least one type of Breton top on sale come winter or summer. Style always beats fashion and thankfully my wardrobe hero will always be around.