A brilliant source of summer skirts

The basis of my summer uniform is a brightly-patterned cotton skirt…

The basis of my summer uniform is a brightly-patterned cotton skirt, worn with a simple tee or a little cardigan and vest top. But finding a skirt in an eye-catching print that fits all my criteria – ie, is flatteringly cut, sits on the hips rather than the waist, and hovers just below the knee – is surprisingly difficult.

But this summer, on a last-minute hunt for a few cheerful items to take on holiday to Portugal, I found a label that excels at exactly my kind of skirt. The White Stuff, which was started by two ski fanatics in 1985, began life as a unisex range of clothing for the mountains and ski slopes, but has since evolved into a casual label that some might compare to Boden’s Johnnie B line – only hipper and rather less ubiquitous.

To my great delight, I discovered that the summer range is a brilliant source of simply-cut, cotton or linen A-line skirts in great colours and prints. And, oh joy, many of the styles are at the magic length of 61cm, which hits just below the knee. Featuring retro touches such as pleating or embroidery, these skirts are ideal for running around in the sun. I bought the Tabouleh skirt (third picture, £39.95) and the Dandelion skirt (fourth picture, £45). Next on the “to-buy” list are the May-Pole (first picture, £39) and the Rene reversible skirt (second picture, £45).