Just when you think you have mastered the heat wave fashion – wardrobe + sun = beautiful clothes – with the arrival of the fashion crowd to make things complicated. You have heard of midi-length and maxi, but have you seen what the store and editors call “midaxi”?
You may not need me to explain it to you, but I have gone anyway. Midaxi is located between the calf and the midi and the floor scan dress, just around the ankle. For this reason, I would like to suggest “manxi” as a better name, because midaxi sounds like a cold Greek liqueur.
If the stupid new words have not disappointed you, then manxi is a very convenient style that can be added to your wardrobe. Given that warm weather may seem to last, and India’s summer may appear on cards, climate change and unpredictable temperature fluctuations can cause wardrobe deformation.
Don’t just take it away from me – at the Haute Couture show in Paris last month, there were some manxis in the front row. Tank magazine publisher and photographer Dear Caroline Issa also swears to them, as does the Italian street style star Giovanna Battaglia. These two women are an elegant school poster girl, but casual modern fashion, so if they are in men, you should be too.
On the Dior show, actress and model Kate Bosworth wore an embroidered tulle manxi skirt with lace-up sandals – a very modern ballerina – while London’s cool girls wore Rixo’s prints on this new length. The Katie style of the purple tulip print (£275, rixo.co.uk) is one of my favorites.
On the high street, the mango is full of hem. I like its polka dot shirt dress (£29.99, mango net), which is not too sloppy for the office, and has a button-type front placket with a stepped hem (£49.99). Zara’s blue floral print with a wrinkled neckline is perfect for any wedding you might have (£39.99, zara.com).
Arket’s Navy Floral Ducharne Shirt Dress (£115, arket.com) is a hardworking manxi that you can wear at work or on weekends, in shops or bars, and now have sandals, fall sneakers, boots and polo necks to return to normal Service, winter is coming. Urban Outfitters’ red ebony package (£59, urbanoutfitters.com) has the same wide range.
I like the floral print georgette dress from Me + Em, with faster stripes on each side (£299, meandex.com); the stepped hem on the front makes it easier to wear. The brand’s founder, Clare Hornby, recommends wearing low-profile pillows above the feet because they have weak leg extensions – a good advice for any men’s look.
If you are tall and have long been said that the length of the skirt is dancing around your shoelaces, then the rise of manxi is good news. If you’re short and tired of the midi length that’s a little over your calf, it’s even better: buy and wear the longer side.
Personally, I always feel a little stupid; I find that they are too gorgeous for real life and too much trouble for holidays. I am too cynical about anything embarrassing. In the training weather, midi everything is fine, but I can’t be the only one who needs a leg wax every other week. (As my overworked waxer can prove, leg hair does grow faster in hot environments.)
There are some rules before you go. Manxi is just a flat-bottom style, which is why it is ideal for summer – I always think that high heels with long skirts will produce a regrettable Christmas tree effect – so wearing your sneakers or sandals is worth showing off.
If you wear the latter, you also need to have a foot worth showing; this length attracts your pedicure. But given that you have booked wax every two weeks in the heat wave, you may also control your toes.