The Season of Invitations

By October, the calendar starts to fill. A garden party on a Sunday afternoon, a wedding up in the hinterland, a long lunch nobody wants to end. Spring is the season of invitations, and every one of them comes with the same question: what do I wear?

The answer isn't a new wardrobe for each occasion. It's knowing what each one asks of you, and choosing pieces that keep working long after the day itself.

The garden party

Engagement parties, christenings, a milestone birthday on someone's lawn. Spring is full of daytime celebrations that call for something more polished than a sundress, and the brief is the same for all of them: dressed up without being overdone, and ready for an afternoon on your feet outdoors.

A printed midi is the classic for good reason. The Elise Flutter Sleeve Midi Dress by Leo Lin is cut from a silk-linen blend in the label's magnolia print, with coral and orange blooms on a blush-pink base, a high tied neckline, flutter sleeves and a matching bow belt at the waist. It even comes with its own slip, so there's nothing to hunt for on the morning.

A hat is half the fun at a daytime celebration, and a straw boater like the Mira Wide Boater keeps the sun off while looking right in every photo. One practical note: lawns and stilettos don't mix. A block heel like the Brinlee Heel will carry you through the afternoon without sinking into the grass.

The wedding

Wedding dressing has fewer rules than it used to, but the important ones still stand. Leave white and ivory to the bride, check the dress code on the invitation, and bring a layer, because spring weddings on the coast and in the hinterland often start in full sun and finish in the cool of the evening.

When the invitation says cocktail, it's your chance to wear colour. The Llewellyn Mini Dress by Acler is a sleeveless A-line mini with a square neckline, notched at the centre, and a painterly oversized bloom in cream, blush, red and deep plum. Finish it with the Jearry Earrings by Essentiel Antwerp and let the print do the rest.

The long lunch

The long lunch is the most relaxed invitation of the season, and for many of us the favourite. Four hours at an outdoor table, the light shifting across it, one last glass that somehow becomes dinner. Dress for the warmth, and for the moment someone suggests a walk down to the water afterwards.

The Nautical Shirt Dress by Nassaya is a loose, button-through shirt dress with a softly defined waist, in an exclusive print of blue and off-white nautical motifs finished with a contrast border. It has all the ease of a Mediterranean summer, and it takes you from the lunch table to sunset drinks without missing a beat.

Add flat sandals, a wide brim and a good pair of sunglasses, and you're set until the last guest leaves.

Buy for the second invitation

The best occasion pieces aren't the ones you wear once. Before you buy, picture the second time you'll wear it. A garden-party midi becomes Christmas lunch with flat sandals and no hat. A wedding-guest dress becomes your holiday dinner dress all summer. A shirt dress worn buttoned at lunch works open over swimwear at the beach. When a piece earns its second and third outing, you've done well.

Find your spring invitation pieces in-store at Peregian Beach or online at Bedouin Traders, with free shipping on orders over $250.