Nautical but Nice

Marilyn Monroe

 I'm not sure what the weather's like where you are but here it's raining cats and dogs. It's been raining constantly for the last 24 hours. A few days ago I was walking down the street in just a dress...no coat! Sunglasses were on...bliss. The last few days I've been huddled next to a radiator with three layers of clothing on watching the rain pour down.

When I planned a nautical fashion post lat week it was due the the fact that spring appeared to have sprung and nautical stripes always remind of the start of the warmer weather, however as spring now appears to have been postponed and the rain is really quite biblical let's go all nautical anyway! I'll bring the stripes, you bring the boat! As we can see from a very young ( and cute) Marilyn Monroe above, stripes have been popular through the decades.

Bridget Bardot

Audrey Hepburn

Elizabeth Taylor

Coco Chanel

Fashion does have this habit of repeating itself but has the nautical look ever gone out of fashion? I know it's said that girls with a lot of errrm front should avoid stripes, but girls with boobs like stripes too, so I say make your own rules! A nautical look doesn't have to scream ''Hello Sailor'' if you don't feel stripes are for you, then how about swapping black for Navy? Nautical can be so classy and elegant. You can make it very vintage looking and go all 50s glamour puss with a pencil skirt, turn on the 30s style with wide leg trousers or may be you feel more 60's beatnik...... nautical is broad and the options and combinations are plentiful so with a few key pieces you can totally rock the boat.

Firstly, can you shop from your own wardrobe? Do you have some stripey t shirts/vest tops sitting in a drawer? How about skirts? Any black, navy or striped skirt action going on in the depths of your wardrobe? Can you mix and match what you already own? Accessories can be your friends here. Armfuls of stripy bangles or nautical reds, whites and blues, belts and shoes can really lift the look of that skirt you've worn at least once a week for the last year. If you decide to seek inspiration from the shops then there's lots of choice.

Wide Leg Trousers by South
Trousers & Shorts by Celaia

Left: Littlewoods £23    Centre: A/Wear £40    Right: La Redoute £39

Wide Leg Trousers by River Island
Trousers & Shorts by Topshop

Left: Topshop £40    Centre: ASOS £30    Right: Dorothy Perkins £20

Personally I want to save my pennies for these gorgeous trousers from vintage repro company Heyday. I'm visualising these with some cute Primark pumps, t-shirt and pearls (again from Primark) victory rolls and red lipstick........Red and navy blue work so beautifully together. Not the cheapest trousers at £55 but I have seen these on and they do look amazing. *must get saving*

Heyday £55

Skirts by Et Vous
Skirts by Full Circle

Left:  Matalan £20    Centre: Topshop £28   Right: House of Fraser £55

Longsleeve Tops at Bank
Longsleeve Tops by Oasis

Left: George £9   Centre: Bank £20  Right: Oasis £45

Supermarkets and shops like Primark will have lots of budget priced t-shirts. Asda in particular nearly always have great ranges of affordable clothes so they are well worth a look. Tesco often have some reasonably priced t-shirt style tops too. So if you simply want to buy a few cheap vest tops to add to what you already own,  then head to the clothing aisle during your grocery shopping. If you're a regular reader then you'll know I'm a big fan of dresses......

Day Dresses by Oasis
Dresses by Jaeger

Left:  House Of Fraser £160  Centre: Very £30    Right: Oasis £50

If you do feel like adding some ooh la la to your nautical look then as always What Katie Did have your back....and your front.......

What Katie Did Sailor corset £160