What they're wearing

How do you pull the new season's styles together? Zest goes to fashion-store sales consultants.

"I have a real thing at the moment for electric blue," she says. "It's just such a happy colour, and it's nice to be wearing something bright and springy."

Smith works at Max Fashions in City Mall, where brighter hues are popping up in new lines coming into the store.

An electric-blue, self-striped, scoop-necked, cotton jersey is the centrepiece of Smith's outfit, but she both maximises its style and reduces its potential to dominate with her choice of accessories and complementary pieces.

She likes the jersey not just for its colour. "The scoop neck is flattering and I can wear a shirt under it if I want to. It has a bit of a looser fit in the body, and the band at the bottom just sits really nicely and looks good with the belt over it."

Just a glimpse of a white camisole shows at the neck. Smith says she could easily go without the cami, but she prefers to have a little touch of white or black against the skin when she is wearing a bright colour.

Her pants are new and a somewhat unusual choice for her.

"I usually go for skinnies rather than wide-legged, but I tried these on and really liked them. They are called the Theodore and are in a canvas fabric in a browny-taupe colour. They have a higher waist, although not really high – just a good height to keep everything tucked in – and a nice wide waistband."

Smith's hip belt is in a style Max has been stocking for several seasons. The black leather picks up the colour of her pointy-toed Overland shoes, and her black glass beads also create a colour link.

Getting the right fit for your body is the key to choosing a belt, she says.

"You have to get one that sits properly on your hips, with no gap at the back. This is a cool belt and it's really good over dresses or tunics as well, to give a bit of shape.

"With this outfit, the belt breaks up the blue a little bit and it just looks a bit more dressy than it would without it."

Smith says dresses and tunics will be a big feature of the summer fashion landscape.

"There are so many ways to wear these dresses – over jeans, over tights, with shirts and merino tops layered underneath, with belts over the top, with boots or high heels. I've already got a few picked out."

And yes, one of them is electric blue.

–Mary Kirk-Anderson