There comes a time in every woman's life when she wants to be—or at least wishes she looked like—Talitha Getty or Liz Taylor.

The fact that we know very little about the former and a great deal of worrying stuff about the latter has little bearing, because what we do know is that they both looked damn good in a caftan. OK, so you'll never be able to mooch around on a Moroccan rooftop with photographer Lord Lichfield dancing about in front of you with his big lens and your millionaire husband moodily looking on moodily in the background (in his very own caftan). Conversely, there can never be another Liz. So, people, the best we can do is "caftan up" in their honor.

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Condé Nast Archive/Corbis

J. Paul Getty Jr. and his wife Talitha in Moroccan caftans on the terrace of their holiday home in Marrakech

You may be wondering why I haven't included Mrs. Robinson in the caftan hall of fame. That's because, in my opinion, she nearly did in the aformentioned item with all of her exhausting "come hither" nonsense, consigning it for a time to what could be called "the cougar ghetto."

But the caftan is bigger than all of that. Did a Bond girl ever look more alluring than Diana Rigg in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"? Of course not.

There's a time and a place for the wearing of a caftan. You'd look pretty silly in one in Zermatt in February (though I'm sure it's been done) and I'm not convinced about the merits of that sort of outfit on a school run, but the heady days of summer provide the perfect showcase for something big, floaty and sometimes hooded. The trick to wearing a caftan, then, is to firstly be in the right place— dresses for a summer wedding dresses for a summer weddingpreferably on holiday and beside a large expanse of water or somewhere really city sultry (Miami and Hanoi come to mind).

The second issue is cut and color. Getty and Taylor exemplified the perfect choices. In Lichfield's 1969 photograph, the former appears to be wearing a simple white caftan (you may no longer want the tights or the shoes) with a luxuriantly colored silk kimono duster coat over the top, while La Liz is wearing a fabulously bold print. We can't tell whether Getty's caftan fits her correctly, but you can bet it does; if you aren't sure how it should fit, take a look at Taylor. Not too big and not too small, a caftan should suggest—not overtly show— prom cocktail dresses ;a woman's figure. It has the added advantage of covering a multitude of sins and, these days, offering sun protection too.

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Pierluigi Praturlon / Rex Features

Elizabeth Taylor in 1969

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You will notice that I have turned to the web for this shopping experience. The reasons are manifold, but they include the fact that a cover-up is one of the few things that doesn't require perfect sizing (an inch here or there is no big deal). And if you are like me, then you'll realize at the last minute that you need something like this for your holiday and will have neither the heart nor the heroic energy required to fight through the sales to find it.

My favorite caftans this season come from Melissa Odabash ("Arelia" embroidered cotton maxi caftan, £350), Etro (pleated crepe maxi caftan, £625), and the current queen of the caftan, Diane von Furstenberg ("Anushka" embellished silk-chiffon maxi caftan, summer party dress £325), all available on zoodress.com. I suspect that what makes Furstenberg so good at understanding the hows and whys of slinky swim and caftan-wearing is that she is a serious practitioner of both on the yacht she owns with her husband short summer wedding dresses short summer wedding dresses, business tycoon Barry Diller.

If you can't do a caftan, there are plenty of pretty maxi dresses maxi dresses out there that do the same job minus the hood. zoodress.com is a great site with plenty of options from which to choose. I like dresses from Seafolly ("Beachside Summertime" maxi dress, £ discount costume jewelry online 74), Figleaves' own ("Phoebe" crinkle maxi, £50) and French Connection ("Pheonix" maxi, £62).

I should perhaps mention that typing the phrase "great summer cover-ups" into a search engine will yield interesting, but predominantly unhelpful, guidance where your holiday wardrobe is concerned. Apparently, the greatest summer cover-up of all time was the Nixon Watergate debacle, which, when you take a moment to consider, makes perfect sense. And I'm quite sure in any case that Pat would have been a caftan devotee. The search also yields a charming vintage clothing site—Coutureallure.com, which has some terrific shots of vintage beach cover-ups and hats from the '50s, looking terribly modern.

If, as in these '50s pictures, it's short and sexy you are looking for, then why go any further than Liz Hurley, who surely has the monopoly on looking "beach ready" most of the time? Visit Hurely world at zoodress.com for a myriad of cover-up manifold choices. More tastefully laid-back options for short, sexy beachwear come from Toast (www.toast.co.uk)— prom dresses online from Belk are elegant fashions for any dressy event.evening gown dresses Find gorgeous cocktail dresses in a variety of trendsetting designer styles in this collection.try the "Binnie" beach dress , £99—and the White Company (www.thewhitecompany.com)—linen kaftan, £75. My favorite short option is from Juicy Couture: a hooded cotton-blend terry tunic, £160. Very modern-day TalithaGetty.

If none of this overt beach dressing appeals to you, then an oversized men's shirt is a respectable alternative. Don't go thinking you can wear a threadbare, stained cast-off from your partner. You'll be sorry when you appear poolside and everyone else is in spanking new Odabash; bright sunlight shows up every imperfection, so the least you can do is to be prepared. Women who wear cast-offs to the beach, whether they be old T-shirts, faded sundresses or, in my case, your son's ripped surfing shorts, tend to look, how can I put this…more than a little jaded.

For white shirts, try Margaret Howell (www.margarethowell.co.uk) and think oversized but not huge, well-pressed and freshly laundered, like the men's slim work shirt in poplin, £110. Gap has a cheaper selection and I particularly like the mini-stripe shirt, £29.95. The beauty of these two shirt options is that they will look equally good rumpled, which makes for easier packing. My personal oversized shirt favorite, though, is Thomas Pink's Pownall stripe shirt, £89. This city slicker will require you to press the housekeeping button or pack a travel iron, but the good news is that your other half could then wear it out to dinner the same evening , provided you don't drip suntan oil onto the cuffs or spill a mojito into your lap.

Is the pareo, or sarong, now deeply unfashionable? It's not a question that carries the same magnitude as whether the global food supply can sustain the world's radically burgeoning population, but nonetheless, I think we deserve to be told. The only way to really answer this question is to look about you on the beach. Are the chicest women still artfully tying wraps about them and if so, dresses for summer 2011 dresses for summer 2011 do they still look good?

Recently, while vacationing on Harbour Island in the Bahamas, I visited my friend "chic Al," who was very definitely and very successfully working her pareo. But this wasn't just any pareo, you understand, this was from I Pezzi Dipinti (www.ipezzidipinti.com), casual bride gown casual bride gown the exclusive New York-based company selling hand-loomed shawls and textiles from South Asia and Italy, with the goal of supporting the artisanal traditions. The answer to the question then appears to be that yes, one can still wear a pareo, but it needs to be special, bridal gowns sashes rather than High Street.

Later that evening , Al was still wearing her pareo, but this time as a wrap over a strappy silk top. In the autumn, she says she will wear it again. This time as a scarf. Versatile, chic and practical. It seems to me that this is the very definition of successful holiday wear.

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