Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: the secret to summer layering? Sheer bravery

Adding layers doesn’t have to leave you a hot mess – think sheer scarves and crochet with flashes of colour to elevate your look

Perhaps I shouldn’t admit this, but I’m in two minds about summer dressing. Part of me believes summer is about joy, sunshine and good times, and clothes should embrace all of that. This woman loves Pucci and owns not one but two silver kaftans. The other part of me believes summer should be uncomplicated, laid-back and earthy. This woman never checks in luggage and has worn the same black beach cover-up for so many years it’s too threadbare to cover anything much.

The thing is, either approach looks absurd if taken to extremes. Candy swirls, cherry prints and strawberry bag charms are delightful, but pile them too high and you look like a walking knickerbocker glory. And while white linen shirts and simple black sandals are chic, you risk looking a bit like you’re on a meditation retreat where the dress code is “wealthy disciple”. Know what I mean?

Which is why I want to talk about layering, even though we are bang in the middle of summer. This tactic can be the key to landing your look in the sweet spot between the two extremes. A way to give your summer wardrobe some chat, without making it shout.

Summer layering isn’t about keeping warm. It’s about adding interest and hinting at skin without necessarily baring it. For a summer layering starter pack, all you need is a shirt that isn’t entirely opaque – sheer silk works, but so does fine linen – and then, crucially, something underneath that is visible on purpose. So instead of instinctively reaching for nude tones, choose a neon pink or black.

Whether this just-visible under layer is a lace bra or a sturdy vest top depends on how sheer the shirt is and how much sauciness you are comfortable with. But maybe try to be a little bit brave? An odd quirk of British dressing is that we don’t bat an eyelid at wearing a tight spaghetti strap vest, with its accompanying expanse of bare skin, but we consider it risque to wear, say, a billowing sheer shirt with a peekaboo hint of bra underneath. Yet sheer coverage is the more sophisticated option, as well as the sexier one.

Next: crochet. Left to its own devices, crochet has a tendency to look more beach or festival than real life. You know the look: floppy hat, enough anklets to start a percussion section. But treat crochet as a translucent top layer rather than the main event and it suddenly feels sharper. An open-knit jumper thrown over a tomato-red swimsuit gives you all the texture without the boho baggage. The flash of saturated colour makes the holes in the knit feel graphic rather than homespun, and the open weave does something clever with colour, softening a hot coral or an acid green bottom layer.

When one piece is visible under another, your outfit looks instantly less basic. Clothes that are in conversation with each other is what style is all about. A sheer skirt can look sensational over black knickers as a party look, or intriguing worn with ballet flats and over cycling shorts for daytime. I see a lot of gen Z women with sheer scarves round their waists over trousers – a DIY nod to the sheer skirt. It sounds counterintuitive to add a layer in the heat, but silk weighs almost nothing and has an old-school glamour that elevates everything.

Summer layering asks you to think less about buying new clothes and more about wearing the clothes you already own differently, which is always a good thing. It’s also a way of reconciling those two women I mentioned at the start. The Pucci-loving magpie gets her colour and sparkle, but it’s softened by a sheer shirt or an open knit. The linen minimalist gets her simplicity, but with a kick that stops the whole thing becoming monastic. Why choose between maximalism and minimalism when we can spend summer in the happy, sun-dappled space in between?

Styling: Roz Donoghue. Styling assistant: Charlotte Gornall. Model: Chizoba at Milk. Hair and makeup: Hair and makeup: Sophie Higginson using NARS and Hair by Sam McKnight. Shirt, £148, Reformation. Bralette, £35, Stripe & Stare. Shorts, £27.99, H&M. Shoes, £125, Whistles. Bag, £250, Alémais. Earrings, £115, By Alona. Necklace, £245, Laura Vann