I’m spending my summer vacation on the Baltic Sea this year. Which isn’t going to stop me from packing at least one caftan. You might think that’s needlessly optimistic. But! The caftan is a piece of clothing that’s cause for optimism. The main reason being that nothing is easier to wear in the summer, whether you’re in Berlin, on a small Danish island or in a finca on Mallorca. Just pull it over your head – done.
It was during our family trip to Mallorca last year that I convinced Steffi to model my favourite caftan from Rodebjer so that I could take her picture for my book. Unfortunately there weren’t enough pages to show every photo. Thankfully, there’s always plenty of space on a blog, so I can tell you here what I would’ve written in the book. Which is – second cause for optimism – that the caftan is a liberation from the self-demoralizing female ritual of agonizing over a bikini body for summer. Not to be misunderstood: I think Steffi has an ace figure. But I know from myself that I never feel physically ready for bouncing around in a mini skirt once the first warm rays of sun hit. A caftan, by comparison, provides cover and still looks so glamorous that you’d expect a pool boy to walk through these pictures, a tray of fresh drinks in hand. Which is what I believe summer should look like.
Rodebjer re-issue this caftan in fresh prints under the lovely name Agave every summer. Here are five other favourites – from the luxurious silk version from Zeus + Dione to the design by Hatch, a brillant maternity wear label that brillantly doesn’t look like maternity wear. From left:
| Caftan Freya from LEMLEM |
| Caftan Nadia from LEMLEM |
| Caftan Riviera from HATCH (on Sale) |
| Caftan Jimba from SU |
| Caftan Tinos from ZEUS + DIONE (on Sale) |
