The Best Swim Cover-Ups & Kaftans

Let us be honest: the swimsuit is the easy part. It is the five metres between your sunlounger and the bar that undo most of us — that purgatorial shuffle in a damp towel, clutching a phone and a warm gin. A proper cover-up is the antidote, and it is the most underrated purchase in your entire holiday wardrobe. Done well, it does more styling work than any dress you packed. Done badly, it is a souvenir sarong from 2009 with a knot you cannot trust. Here is how to do it well.

The Linen Shirt You Will Live In

If you buy one cover-up, make it an oversized linen shirt — preferably white, preferably a size up. It is the most versatile thing you will own: thrown over a bikini at noon, knotted at the waist over linen trousers by eight. Look for a heavier weight that does not turn translucent the moment it meets sun cream, and a collar with enough structure to stand up when you pop it. The high street does this brilliantly and cheaply — Shop ASOS for a no-fuss white version that you genuinely will not mourn if it ends up smeared in sun oil.

The Kaftan, Done Properly

The kaftan is where holiday dressing tips from practical into theatrical, and no one understands that better than Melissa Odabash, whose printed silk kaftans have been the uniform of every chic woman on a Mykonos terrace for two decades. The trick is proportion: you want it to skim, not swamp. A defined shoulder and a hem that grazes mid-calf reads expensive; a tent reads beach towel with ambition. Shop Melissa Odabash for the gold standard, and treat it as the thing you wear to dinner, not just to the water.

Crochet, Broderie & the Romantic Dress

For something with more whimsy, the crochet or broderie anglaise cover-up dress is having its moment — and quite right too. Zimmermann does the most coveted version: broderie so fine it could pass for couture, with the kind of scalloped hem that makes a holiday photograph. Frankies Bikinis takes the crochet route with a younger, beachier sensibility that suits a Tulum sort of trip. A word of caution: crochet and a bare body are a committed pairing, so wear a slip or a matching set beneath unless you are very sure of your sunlounger neighbours. Shop Zimmermann.

The Sarong, Reclaimed

The sarong has an image problem, and it is entirely the fault of the knot. A good sarong is not a beach-shop afterthought — it is a flat metre of beautiful fabric you can wear ten ways. L*Space makes ones in proper textured cottons that drape rather than cling, which is the whole battle. Learn one reliable wrap — high on the waist, twisted at the front, not slung at the hip like a towel — and you will never reach for anything else. Shop L*Space and retire the souvenir version with dignity.

Beach-to-Bar Styling

The real test of a cover-up is whether it can change register without you changing clothes. The move is accessories: a flat tan sandal becomes a heeled one, the straw tote is swapped for something with a clasp, and suddenly the kaftan you swam beside is a dinner dress. Gold jewellery does an enormous amount of heavy lifting here — a stack of fine bangles and a cuff and you are dressed. We go into the full mechanics in our guide to beach-to-bar styling, and if you are after the grander end of things, our edit of luxury resort wear is the natural next read.

Fabric & Packing

A cover-up earns its place in the case by being light, crush-resistant and quick to dry — which is why linen, fine cotton and silk-blends beat anything synthetic and sweaty. Roll, do not fold, and stash the kaftan at the top where it can be shaken out and worn straight off the plane. One clever cover-up replaces three lesser garments, so buy fewer and better; your luggage allowance will thank you. For the full method, see our holiday packing list — because the chicest thing you can pack is the confidence that you did not over-pack.