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Old Money Summer Outfits
What is old money summer style?
The warm-weather version of old money dressing comes down to three things: fabrics that breathe, a sun bleached palette of whites and creams, and tailoring cut loose enough to stay elegant in the heat. It swaps wool for linen and cotton, and changes almost nothing else.
The difficulty, and the whole point, sits at the fabric level, which is why where you are and what you pack matter more than any trend. This is the look of the Mediterranean coast in July, and the summer chapter of the wider old money style guide.
€ 149,00
Where old money actually spends the summer
Six stretches of coastline, more or less, and they have been the same six for decades.
- Saint-Tropez. The original, and where Baindoux is made. Read what to wear in Saint-Tropez.
- The South of France. Cannes to the Italian border, an entire Riviera dressed in pale cotton. Read what to wear in the South of France.
- The Amalfi Coast. Lemon groves, terraces cut into cliffs, nothing louder than the view. Read what to wear on the Amalfi Coast.
- Lake Como. Somehow tailored even at the water’s edge, and the quietest of the lot. Read what to wear in Lake Como.
- Capri. The island that made a white trouser famous and never gave it back. Read what to wear in Capri.
- Monaco. Polished, expensive, and careful never to mention it. Read what to wear in Monaco.
What these places share is not a dress code. It is a climate and a set of manners: hot afternoons, long lunches, and a general agreement that nobody is here to be impressed.
€ 689,00
| Color: Red / Dark Blue |
€ 689,00
| Color: White / Red |
What that means for what you pack<
The wardrobe follows from the setting. Everything below folds small, survives a suitcase, and works from the beach to a restaurant with no more than a change of shoes.
- A shirt in linen or lightweight Giza cotton, white or pale blue, worn open.
- Tailored shorts and one pair of light chinos, both in stone or cream.
- A knit polo for the hour the sun drops and the terrace gets cool.
- A simple dress in a neutral tone, cut clean, nothing at the neck.
- Espadrilles or suede loafers, and a straw hat you will lose and replace.
Five things. Enough for a week anywhere on that list, and all of it in the men’s and women’s collections.
€ 749,00
€ 429,00
| Color: White / Club Blue |
The same wardrobe, six coastlines
The list does not change from place to place. The way you wear it shifts a little, because each of these coastlines keeps its own tempo.
Saint-Tropez is the most relaxed of the six and the least interested in effort. A white shirt worn open, stone shorts, espadrilles, and nothing on your wrist. The town more or less invented the idea that money should look like it just came off a boat, so anything that tries too hard works against you.
The Amalfi Coast and Capri run warmer and a touch more dressed. This is where the white trouser earns its place, worn with a pale knit polo for dinner on a terrace. The cliffs and the light do the work, so the clothes stay quiet and let them.
Lake Como is the tailored one. Even by the water people lean a little more formal here, so a linen shirt tucked into light chinos beats shorts after midday, and a fine knit over the shoulders covers the cooler evening off the lake.
Monaco is the most polished, and the one place an unstructured blazer belongs in July, worn pale over a shirt and light trousers. Let the setting carry the formality so you do not have to.
The South of France between them is the everyday version, Cannes to Menton, where the pale shirt and chino go anywhere from a morning market to a restaurant at night.
Cloth at thirty degrees
This is where the summer roundups stop being useful. In heat, fabric is not a detail, it is the entire outcome, and it is the one thing a photograph cannot show you.
Linen and lightweight Giza cotton let air pass through the weave and let sweat evaporate off the skin, so the cloth stays dry against you and keeps its shape through the afternoon. Synthetics do the opposite. They hold heat against the body, cling where they touch, and take on a hard shine in direct sun that no amount of styling recovers. It is why an expensive polyester dress looks cheap at two in the afternoon and a plain cotton one does not. More on the fibre in our guide to Giza cotton, and on the making in how our garments are made.
Two related traps. Loud prints and heavy accessories. A busy print reads as holiday rather than summer, but the bigger problem is often physical: a pattern printed onto the surface of a fabric, the rubbery kind that sits on top rather than being woven into the cloth, seals the weave shut and stops it breathing, so the shirt that looked light traps heat like plastic. A pattern woven or dyed into the cloth keeps the air moving; one stuck on top does not. Heavy accessories are simpler, just uncomfortable when it is thirty degrees. Neither survives the heat any better than polyester does.
€ 149,00
The bleached palette
Summer colour is the rest of the year with the saturation turned down. Everything reads paler in July, so the palette leans into it: white, cream, stone, pale blue, and a soft navy, with tan or olive when something needs grounding.
White with navy is the crispest thing you can wear on water. Cream with tan is the warm one, easy from breakfast to dinner. Stone with pale blue handles the hottest part of the day without looking washed out. And white from head to toe, done in good cloth, is the most expensive looking outfit on any terrace, which is exactly why it has survived a century of competition.
€ 689,00
| Color: Red / Dark Blue |
€ 689,00
| Color: White / Red |
Lunch, boat, dinner
Three moments cover almost any day on that coastline.
Lunch is a white linen shirt, stone shorts, and espadrilles, with the sleeves already pushed back. The boat is a pale shirt worn open over swim shorts, a hat, and loafers carried rather than worn, because nobody has ever looked relaxed walking a deck in leather soles. Dinner is the knit polo or the dress, light trousers, and the shoes you brought for exactly this. Nothing changes but the layer and the footwear, which is the point of packing this way.
If you would rather not think about it at all, build a capsule wardrobe and let the pieces sort themselves out.
Men and women in the heat
The palette and the fabrics are shared, but summer is one of the few times the styling genuinely splits.
For men, the whole season rests on two things: shorts that are tailored rather than sporty, cut to sit just above the knee, and the knit polo that takes a daytime outfit into the evening without a change of clothes. Get those right and a shirt, a pair of chinos, and loafers cover everything else. The men’s guide goes further on fit and colour.
For women, the dress does the heavy lifting, because one good linen dress replaces an outfit’s worth of decisions and reads as effortless precisely because it is. A fluid shirt with light trousers is the alternative on a day that calls for it. Flat sandals, a straw bag, and one piece of gold finish either. The women’s guide covers dresses and proportion in full.
From the water to the table
The trick that separates a considered summer wardrobe from a beach bag is that the same few pieces carry you from swimming to dinner, so you are never the person who had to go back and change.
Swim shorts in a plain navy or stone pass as ordinary shorts the moment you add a shirt over them. A one piece in a solid neutral does the same under an open shirt or a linen dress. The straw hat that kept the sun off at noon belongs at lunch. A linen shirt thrown over wet skin dries in minutes and looks better slightly crumpled. Nothing in a good summer wardrobe announces that it was designed for the beach, which is exactly why it works everywhere else.
Frequently asked questions
How do you dress old money in summer?
Light natural fabrics, a pale neutral palette, and relaxed tailoring. Linen or lightweight cotton, espadrilles or loafers, a straw hat, and nothing branded or brightly printed.
What colours are old money for summer?
White, cream, stone, pale blue, and soft navy, with tan or olive for grounding. White with navy, cream with tan, and white worn head to toe are the reliable combinations.
What fabrics work best in the heat?
Linen and lightweight Giza cotton. Both let air through the weave and let sweat evaporate, so they stay dry and hold their shape. Synthetics trap heat, cling, and shine in direct sun.
Where can I buy old money summer clothes?
Baindoux makes summer essentials in 100% Giza cotton for men and women, made in Saint-Tropez. Browse the Baindoux shop.
Pack five things that agree with each other, keep them pale, and let the light do the rest. Start with the men’s or women’s collection, or see how the same wardrobe handles the cold in our winter outfits guide.
