Beach to city: a late-summer transition guide

Summer's most real wardrobe problem doesn't happen on runways, it happens in the beach bag: you get out of the water around four, and there's no time to go home before the evening plan. This guide's suggestion is to dress for that from the start — put the beach piece at the center of the outfit and build around it with pieces that also work in the city.

The piece at the center is an asymmetric bikini with side ties. Thanks to its one-shoulder cut, once a skirt or linen trousers go on top, it reads as an asymmetric bodysuit rather than swimwear — the whole trick of the transition is in that double identity. Flat buckled sandals handle beach sand and paving stones with the same ease; the mirror-embroidered tote, a practical beach bag for towels and sunscreen by day, turns into a decorative accessory in the evening light.

The headband matters more than it seems in this story: it gathers up salty, damp hair and turns the "just got out of the water" look into a "styled it this way" look. The only thing to slip into the bag is a lightweight midi skirt — with a three-minute change, the day rolls straight into evening without a break.

In this guide

• Oysho — Tie-side asymmetric trikini
• Bershka — Buckled flat slider sandals
• Pull&Bear — Mirror-embellished tote bag
• Oysho — Herringbone headband

• beach
• summer
• transition