The nautical look is synonymous with spring-summer. While it lacks originality, it has a timeless quality that will always be relevant every year. While you won’t win originality points, what you gain is a timeless look that will always have your back every spring-summer season.
So what’s the secret to looking like you have just come from a Jean-Paul fragrance ad? The answer is a lot of stripes, navy and white and casual footwear. Here are my tips for curating the ultimate nautical spring summer look.
THE STRIPED TEE
The striped tee is a nautical staple and is the perfect starting piece when crafting your look. The blue and white stripes are the two colours you will be using throughout your look, so it helps to get your striped tee style figured out first. A nautical look always starts with a short sleeve striped tee. This blue and white comboÂ
Now that you have your stripes sorted, you want to decide if you’re going to feature more white in your look or navy.
NAVY CHINOS / SHORTS
If you want to have navy as your primary colour, you can choose to style your tee with either chinos or shorts, weather permitting that is.
WHITE JEANS
To brighten up your look, choose white as your primary colour by switching the navy chinos to white denim.
FOOTWEAR
The nautical look can be worn with three key footwear styles. Clean white sneakers, deck shoes and espadrilles. White sneakers create a delicate balance of colour when worn with navy chinos or shorts and help complement the colours in your striped tee.
If you decide to wear deck shoes, you can complement the colour scheme with a blue and white colourway, or contrast the look with a brown or tan option.
Espadrilles are like flip flops, they should only be worn on holiday. However, if you want to bring the holiday footwear staple into your nautical look, there is one rule to follow. Quality. The more you invest in your espadrilles, the longer they will last. Choose a style with structure and elevated details such as a stitched seam or decorative tassels.
TOTE BAG
The tote bag is the only bag that can handle warm weather. You don’t have to wear it on your back or across your body saving you embarrassing sweat patches. The tote bag the only bag I trust to accompany me in the summer, and it fits the nautical look perfectly.Â
THE STRAW HAT
The straw hat provides you with moderate protection from the sun during the summer days.
DENIM JACKET
The final addition to a nautical look is the denim jacket. Providing a welcomed texture contrast which balances out the dominate white and navy colours.Â
What are some of the key clothing ingredients you use to create a nautical look?