Something Old, Something New: Ahoy Sailor!

Ahoy there Domestic Slutettes. It's time to set sail on another Something Old, Something New. This fortnight I'm looking at one of my all-time favourite retro looks: nautical fashion. Inspired by the slight bit of sunshine we've had, I'm dreaming of skipping off to the seaside.

Nautical fashions are a firm favourite with repro brands, where you be a saucy sailor, in the likes of the Captain Dress from Bettie Page Clothing, or show off your sea legs in Vivien of Holloway's 40s-style slacks. Here's five more shipshape styles.

NEW: Pop Boutique Sailor Dress, £28; OLD: WearAreTheyNow, 1960s Sailor Dress, £29.60

Anchors away with a very traditional sailor look to begin with: blue with a white trim, and an anchor motif to hammer that theme home. These two virtually match each other on price as well as looks, though you'll need to pay a bit more to get the 1960s dress from the States. The Pop Boutique dress also comes in red, for a attention-grabbing twist on the look.

NEW: Louche Lauren Stripe Dress, Joy, £39; OLD: Absolute Vintage Striped Cotton Dress, £22

Another sailor styling staple: stripes. Chanel famously made the Breton top chic, and we've been following her lead ever since. These dresses both look like they'd be perfectly at home lounging round a yacht (despite being priced at more Channel ferry prices). Obviously you'd have to accessorise with a string of pearls...

NEW: Lowie cotton sailboat dress, £145; OLD: BetaBoutique 70s Nautical Dress, £28.26

Sara's already shown you one boat dress this week. I can't resist a good novelty print so had to show you a couple more. Lowie have a couple of gorgeous nautical dresses in stock at the moment, though sadly all on the pricey side (take a look at their tea dress for an additional swoon). I bet you'd love them to pieces if you did decide to splash out though. Meanwhile the 1970s number on the right is my favourite dress of the week: with stripes, boats and a huge bow, I think it might be sailing its way to me shortly.

NEW: Anthropologie Sailaway Circle Skirt, £119; OLD: Berty and Gerty 1970s Boat Print Skirt, £10

And some more fantastic prints. You could push the boat out literally and go for the Anthropologie circle skirt on the left. Or, if you are a size 10, you might want to take advantage that the vintage skirt on the right is less than a tenth of that price.

OLD: Rokit 1950s sailor collar dress, £112.50; NEW: Revival Retro Natalie Dress, £189

My last two finds are more expensive but I wanted to show that sailor style could work for more formal looks too. Another bit of nautical fashion that's filtered its way into the mainstream is the sailor collar, as demonstrated by the 1950s dress on the left. With a fitted waist, it'll look stunning if you're blessed with an hourglass figure. On the right is the Natalie dress, a repro look with a similar style, though this one was inspired by the 1940s. It hasn't got the collar, but still retains the very cute bow and the all-important navy and white colour scheme. Both dresses look ready for whatever event you throw at them, whether that's high seas or high teas. Accessorise with an anchor ring, and one of Dollydagger's fabulous sailor tattoo necklaces. You'll be sure to make waves.