THE SANDS OF TIME WILL BLOW A MYSTERY

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Teresa Cannata'

One of my first summer memories deals with the beach towels we used when I was a child. Some of them were old – striped, bright colours a bit faded – while a couple of them was brand new. I still have one – white, with a beautiful white horse running in the woods. I’ve used many beach towels after those, but the memory of long days spent on the beach and of coconut-scented sun lotion are still with me. I’ve recently turned to plain colours, but I can see people still like towels with kitsch-y patterns, from the timeless summer sunset to a multitude of Hello Kitty faces. I know it’s hard to hit the beach with style, because it is one of the most un-elegant places par excellence, but keeping things simple can be useful. Forget the sunset towel and opt for a plain piece instead; if you can, splurging on a Hermès towel would be a good idea. 

For the French brand, effortless chic is a key word: chic doesn’t mean boring or depressing, so beach towels in bright colours can be found in their catalogue. Elephant King, for example, has an adorable floral elephant print on a colour block background. 

The decorative structure of Mosaique is the same: in this case, there’s a couple of fish on an orange/hot pink background (this colour scheme reminds me of the spring 2008 campaign). The fish are tessellated, a homage to many ancient mosaics with the same subject – just think of the Kourion mosaics, in Cyprus, or the mosaics in the thermal baths of Porto Torres, in Sardinia.

Hippocampe is another Hermès animal-inspired beach towel. The colour pattern is always based on pink, in this case paired to yellow and baby blue/grey in the background. I love the way in which two sea horses are presented, one next to the other, the lighter and darker shades of pink alternating in their bodies.

I’m currently on holiday and I can assure you many fashion disasters can be spotted on the beach. I don’t get why people feel entitled to over-accessorize. No matter what your body type is, just follow Hermès effortless chic mantra: all you need is a good basic swimsuit (the simpler, the better), a nice sundress, black flip-flops and dramatic (I said dramatic, not ridiculous) sunglasses. Leave skimpy bikinis, sky-high wedges and make-up at home: you’re on a beach, not at the disco.

http://www.hermes.com/index_us.html