A Cooling Fabric Summer Dress (Perfect For Over 40 & Over 50 Women) #iwillwearwhatilike

I’m pretty sure I’ve said this on the blog before… what’s brighter and happier than pink and yellow together?

This pink maxi dress is the same as the grey one that was so popular in my favourite summer outfits post from last week – I bought them both last year for the hot summer that we (unusually for the UK) experienced in 2018… I don’t think I featured the pink one on the blog in the end. But both dresses had plenty of outings last year, and they’re proving to have been a great investment because they’re getting plenty of wear now that we have warmer weather this year too.

The reason I love them so much is the special cooling fabric they’re made from: it means they’re perfect for perimenopausal and menopausal women. Any woman over 40 or 50 will know that the words “cooling fabric” are like catnip. Although I LOVE the summer and warm temperatures, I can’t say I’m a fan of being a hot sweaty mess (who is?!) so these magic Hotsquash dresses are a gift in the summer.

 

Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links which means if you click through and buy I may receive a small commission at no cost to you (click here for my full disclosure).

 

SHOP THE LOOK:

 

I wore my pink maxi this weekend with a yellow kimono/duster jackety thing… I have no idea what to call it, it was actually described as a dress(!) online. I bought it in the sales at the end of last summer and only wore it a couple of times – it makes such a good cover-up for when you don’t want to burn your shoulders while wearing something sleeveless, or to keep you a bit warmer once the sun’s gone down. (Scroll down for some pretty alternatives I found.)

If you look closely you can see that it has an empire line and there are small holes at the waist where a ribbon can be threaded through and tied (a bit like a dirndl or corset), but here I wanted it left open like a long duster. It’s my summer equivalent of the longline blazer I’m such a fan of in cooler weather.

 

Another reason I love this outfit is its colour combination: yellow and pink together is happiness personified, but the outfit needed lifting with some more colours (of course).

There’s white, courtesy of the white fedora, my latest hat collection addition, the M&S white hobo bag and white camisole. (The hat is actually from the menswear section – it’s a good place to get classic hats that’ll never date. Go for the smallest size and they should fit you fine… I have a small head and this one in Small was perfect.)

The brights of the yellow and pink needed toning down (I’m laughing in my head at the mere notion that I’ve done that in the slightest…) with something dark so I went for navy with platform sandals – my fave style this year – plus the stripe on the hat and the flowers in the kimono pattern.

Finally I added a splodge of red in the belt and what SHOULD have been red sunglasses, but instead I wore my much-seen brown Mango sunnies. I couldn’t find my red Oliver Bonas sunglasses before leaving the house, but luckily the brown ones gave a warm, reddish glow in the sunlight.

Finally: Milk Tooth London earrings. Navy, pink and gold and totally fabulous – and more than a little Art Deco.

Now to search the house for those red sunnies…

Have you tried the HotSquash cooling fabric dresses before – what did you think of them? And any other fans of throw-it-over kimono jackets and dusters out there? Comment below!

P.S. Do add your outfits to this week’s link up – and if you’ve added a link to here or my button to your post you may be featured in my bi-monthly Women Who Wear What They Like post!

 

Dress: HotSquash (more sizes here)
Kimono jacket: New Look (love this one)
Sandals: Hobbs (love these)
Hat: Debenhams
Bag: Marks & Spencer
Earrings: Milk Tooth
Sunglasses: Mango (similar)

 

OTHER HOTSQUASH DRESSES YOU MIGHT LIKE:

.

OTHER KIMONO COVER UPS YOU MIGHT LIKE:

 

✷  ✷  ✷  ✷  ✷

 

Thank you for joining the #iwillwearwhatilike link up! This started as a campaign on Instagram in August 2015 where women over 30 wore everything on a journalist’s list of “inappropriate” items for 30+ women (including leopard print, short dresses and oversized sunglasses. Yes, really). It was so popular that I decided to carry it on weekly where women of all ages link up their fabulous style, never mind what anyone tells them not to wear!

The link up goes live every Tuesday at around 3pm UK time and will stay open for a week. Whilst the original article was of course aimed at the 30+, you can be ANY age to link up. The only prerequisite is that you’re wearing whatever you damn well like!

Click here to receive an email reminder for the next #iwillwearwhatilike link up as soon as it’s live!

Linking up etiquette…

CLICK HERE to read the rules of linking up (and to grab the #iwillwearwhatilike button). Basically it’s just good manners to link back to here – to leave a comment is even nicer!
Click here to enter

PLEASE NOTE: This is for linking up WHAT YOU’VE BEEN WEARING ONLY. Non-outfit links will be removed! Also: by linking up you’re saying it’s okay for me to drop you an email to say the link up is open – you can unsubscribe at any time.