{"id":6404,"date":"2026-06-17T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/henry-conways-london-summer-dress-code-and-etiquette-guide\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T12:00:00","slug":"henry-conways-london-summer-dress-code-and-etiquette-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/henry-conways-london-summer-dress-code-and-etiquette-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Henry Conway\u2019s London Summer dress code and etiquette guide"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Rivals<\/a> has been a wonderful microcosmic example of social traps and oubliettes. Trust Dame Jilly to gift the us the perfect vehicle for delving into the great British pastime of passive-aggressive snobbery. That middle-class sniggering at \u201cpeople who get it wrong\u201d being just as ghastly as the perma-tanned Loadsamoney couple they laugh at. Curtain twitchers permeate every summer social situation, so your choice is to enter either as a fever dream of social nervousness, or with the bombast of immovably knowing that you belong. Take a big scoop of 1980s bravado when dressing for events this year \u2014 though the Standard has asked me to give you a little guidance, dear reader, on some things to swerve.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Men’s Summer wedding guest dress code<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Wedding suiting is a beartrap of a subject for so many. West London girls get to have an oh-so-lovely time with hems and lace galore<\/a> (cue Princess of Wales, both present and past), so boys, take a leaf and please stay classic. Lapels not too narrow (you\u2019re not at Aintree), and let\u2019s go for a muted, breezy linen (not that green suit again). If you must show your personality, do it with a bold coloured knitted tie \u2014 I fainted once on sight of a cravat tied like a tie \u2014 and remember that the novelty shirt died with Noel Edmond\u2019s career.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Princess of Wales wore this season\u2019s polka dot trend to the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on May 8, 2026<\/p>\n

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Oh, and those tan brogues, that cat-vomit colour of a shoe, is a major signal to security that you\u2019ll be trouble after a few. Bin them. If unsure, keep it simple, you\u2019re not Harry Styles. Polish your shoes, don\u2019t forget the collar stiffeners, and try to keep your jacket on as long as possible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Casual style mistakes to avoide<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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When it comes to off-duty clothes \u2014 gentleman, swimming trunks are not city shorts. Though do make your shorts actually short like Paul Mescal<\/a> (girls and gays will thank you). I adore a tan line, but if at home or at a lake or pond, nude bathing is far preferable to budgie smugglers, and much like heavy petting, to be discouraged in public pools.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Paul Mescal knows how to do shorts right<\/p>\n

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Footwear \u2014 where do we start on this summer shodding, sorry state-of-affairs. Flip-flops on the Tube? Slides with socks? High treason. Birkenstocks I have begrudgingly made my peace with, but Crocs are for gardening and children under eight. The Kennedy favourite of a simple sockless pump looks good on everyone, as long as you keep clean feet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Summer party food and on-trend drinks<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Summer event food is an assault course. Accidents happen when trying to balance a banger with Bollinger, so one-bite canap\u00e9s are far kinder to all. Let\u2019s just ban bowl food \u2014 small is beautiful, and considerate for those guests on GLP-1s. Hosting at home? Work on your one-fork wonders. Coronation chicken and a good, cold pesto farfalle are fail-safe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Hard liquor is back \u2014 be a bit more Queen Mother and slug some extra gin into your Pimm\u2019s, don\u2019t forget the mint, and try it with ginger ale instead of lemonade. Jugged cocktails are very Bright Young Things, so order in abundance and support your local bar or pub, they need it. Ice in your wine is universally accepted now, mainly due to our chronic lack of AC. Champagne coupes are far smarter than flutes, and will slow down guests\u2019 drinking \u2014 guzzlers never need encouragement. Spritzes have become universal, so remember it\u2019s Aperol in a pub, Campari in a bar and Hugo at a wedding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Lighter and brighter: the Hugo Spritz <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Shut down conversation too controversial \u2014 no religion, no politics, or the family table becomes Question Time. Stick to safe subjects, such as how flying budget to provincial French airports is the done thing. Uncle Gerry\u2019s villa is no longer tax efficient to rent out or sell, so you might as well abuse it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Summer social success is as much about nonchalance as it is about being put together. Trying too hard is vulgar \u2014 it\u2019s exhausting to watch. As any homosexual will tell you, an iced coffee and a strong stride will signify that you don\u2019t just mean it, you are the business. Be bold, never apologise and remember confidence will get you through most social pitfalls. Blast through, head high, and embrace the social battlefield with imperial bombast. Just always remember to wear better shoes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rivals has been a wonderful microcosmic example of social traps and oubliettes. Trust Dame Jilly to gift the us the perfect vehicle for delving into the great British pastime of passive-aggressive snobbery. That middle-class sniggering at \u201cpeople who get it wrong\u201d being just as ghastly as the perma-tanned Loadsamoney couple they laugh at. Curtain twitchers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static.standard.co.uk\/2026\/05\/13\/8\/25\/SEI296007339.jpeg?width=1200&auto=webp&quality=75","fifu_image_alt":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[5878,9693,1558,9694,65,6115,51,534],"class_list":["post-6404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-code","tag-conways","tag-dress","tag-etiquette","tag-guide","tag-henry","tag-london","tag-summer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}