As you get older, your tastes become more grown up. Or at least, that’s how it’s supposed to go. You learn to like olives, you develop a skincare regime, you become evangelical about the benefits of a memory foam mattress.
With the quiet confidence of age, your style sensibility will also probably mature. Probably, but not definitely. Not if you are me.
Here’s what I didn’t expect during the last season of Love Island: to actually care about the clothes, much less to want to mimic a contestant’s look (a phrase that would have been an oxymoron on any other year). I’m at an age (late thirties, AKA OAP according to Love Island’s dog years metric of ageing) where my friends are thinking about school catchment areas, and here I am contemplating the allure of bedazzled, knickerless outfits. But that’s another thing you learn with age – life is full of surprises.
I have worked in fashion for 15 years, and last year my summer style muse was not some aloof It-girl, not an esoteric artist, she’s not even French! Rather, it was Love Island contestant Tasha Ghouri.
In one high-fashion moment, Ghouri was styled in a vintage, va-va-voom satin two-piece by Versace Jeans Couture. Bright yellow and barely-there it was a masterclass in dopamine dressing.
Ghouri had form as a fashion girl from the start. Who could forget the snazzy little emerald green mini dress coupled with matching platforms and slicked back, very editorial hair? And what about her psychedelic sheer cover-up (the very item that sparked searches for 'three-piece bikini sets'. Yes, that became a thing)? Then there was the ombre knee-high boots. And what did you think about that men’s bomber jacket worn oversized, nonchalantly slipping off the shoulders, with a corset top? The latter look inspired Jacques to declare her the best dressed girl in the villa. Normally that would be a meagre compliment without weight – but last year was an unusually well-dressed one (special shout out to Indiyah in Poster Girl), not least because for the first time ever the brand was championing pre-loved fashion in partnership with eBay. When the show wrapped, Ghouri was quickly announced as eBay's first pre-loved ambassador - a match made in heaven.
With Winter Love Island just around the corner, will another contestant be able to steal her crown? We'll have to wait and see. What Tasha did so brilliantly was that, in a happy (if unexpected) moment of fashion kismet, her look chimed with the wider style zeitgeist of the moment. The mood was sexy, glamorous and fun, a natural kickback after two years of lost summers. It was feelgood. In her good times clothes – a bit wit-woo naughty, a bit fashion girl unpredictable – Ghouri summed up the vibe. Whether or not I can parlay it into ‘real’ life still remains to be seen, but I contemplated going out sans underwear just the other day. I might be old enough to know better, but nobody ever had too much fun in something sensibly chic, did they?
