Mr Blue Sky

Long weekends in the summer merit repose and leisure, ideally near water. The Thames, with its green paths, and distant fields acts as the model English riverside. I wasn’t trying to go nautical with my outfit and match the water, but I think I succeeded. I found the dress at a local charity shop and liked the royal blue, mid-length pleats and slight boatneck and sleeve.

It has a bit of a Wallis Simpson feel to it in its shape, but I feel she would have had something like this in black or tan, and worn it with some fabulous brooch. As a 1980s item the dress came with the most hideous matching jacket—not the one pictured below. The gigantic bodied jacket made me look like a cross between a Weight Watchers before picture and a morning chatshow presenter in 1985. Either way, the dress would be accompanied by other notice me 1985 items: the teased auburn perm, the magenta eyeshadow and plastic, yellow hoop earrings.

I preferred the late 1930s to early 1940s aristocratic look instead. I thought the lengthy necklace and earrings echoed the vertical pleats well.

The nautical buttons of the blazer and the Chanel 2.55 style chain give the look a bit of hardware.

These pictures were taken near Henley, home of the famed regatta. It's a great place to play the Spot the Toff game. By the Thames path I can also guarantee you sightings of runners, ramblers and English Springer Spaniels.

Henley is sufficiently posh to even provide a Rolls Royce as backdrop. I'm not actually touching the car. The widened eyes show my slight fear that an intense character might tell me off for being too close to his classic car. In fact, I met the owner in the pub and he was appropriately cocky, happy to brag. Quote of the day: "I buy and sell luxury cars for a living. Usually ones more unusual that that."

Dress, charity shop. Blazer, from South Korea, where girls wear the sharpest blazzers. Bag, marc b (from a charity shop too). Audrey Hepburn style ballet flats, Kurt Geiger.