The languorous days of summer call for easy, comfortable dressing.
Fashion and celebrity magazines are replete with examples of casual looks that
fit the bill. For especially glamorous versions of easy summertime dressing,
look to two vintage styles that are experiencing a resurgence of interest,
caftans and palazzo pants, and elevate the look with jewelry.

Illustration: Caftan
looks from the June/July 2011 issue of Town & Country.

The June/July 2011 issue of Town & Country declares the caftan a summer 2011
must-have: “The caftan, ceremonial robe
of Ottoman sultans and emblem of counterculture chic, rises again.” In an age
of body-conscious dressing, writes Stellene Volandes, “the caftan’s
versatility—as appropriate with gold Prada wedges at a black tie event as it is
with flip-flops on the beach—might best explain its perennial allure.”

Illustration: More
caftan looks from the June/July 2011 issue of Town & Country. Mica Ertegun
adorned her Oscar de la Renta ensemble with an exotic gold statement necklace
and earrings in 2005, while C.Z. Guest chose pearls in 1967 to accessorize her
shimmering caftan.

Volandes relates: “’All you need to make a caftan glamorous
are big sunglasses and major jewelry,’ said Liz Taylor, who would know—she wore
one with a sapphire necklace to her 40^th birthday party, the same
night Richard Burton gave her the Taj Mahal diamond.”

In the August 2011 issue of Town & Country, Volandes reviews the history of palazzo pants:
“The ‘palazzo pajama’ that Russian princess Irene Galitzine popularized in the
1960s—named for Florence’s Palazzo Pitti, where her shows were staged—was not
just the wide-legged trouser the term refers to today. Galitzine’s palazzos were
both slim and flowing, and their graphic prints and ornate embroidery made them
appropriate for both day and evening—not to mention beloved by Jackie Kennedy,
Babe Paley, and Elizabeth Taylor.” Volandes notes that, while it is unclear
whether the current trend for printed pants owes a debt to the princess, “her advice on what to pair with her ‘pajamas’ still rings true.
‘All you need to wear with them,’ Princess Galitzine said, ‘is a pretty little
jewel.’”

Town & Country does
not elaborate upon just what that pretty little jewel might be – perhaps something
to dream about while lazing on a glorious summer day.

JCK