I’m sure that with all your upcoming beach weekends you’ve already began swimsuit shopping. However, I’m not so sure that you’ve started shopping for the other v important beach essential, a great cover-up. And like, cover-ups are just as important, if not more. Hear me out.
It’s not just about what you’re wearing to and from the beach. Cover-ups also serve as your “outfit” when going to the bar for happy hour post-beach. Cause, tbh, once you start drinking at happy hour, the likelihood you’ll want to go home, shower, and change just to go back out is slim. And luckily, since it’s summer, you’re not expected to be at the bar each night in your best club attire. You really don’t need to go home and change if you reallllly don’t want to. (Which like, feels.) But you also can’t get away with wearing a blatant beach cover-up still once it’s 7pm. All that being said, here are some cover-ups that can pass for a casual beach outfit so you don’t have to interrupt your day drinking buzz.
1. MINKPINK Mahi Oversized Shirt & Cuffed Short
This button-up and shorts set is the perfect cover-up outfit combo for both on and off the beach. It’s lightweight, with a neutral stripe print that makes it totally suitable for the beach. Yet, it’s also nice enough to wear as an actual outfit to the bar. Not to mention, both pieces individually will make excellent versatile additions to your beach weekend wardrobe. They can easily be worn separately or together, and still be super cute both ways.
2. Solid & Striped Shift Cover-Up Mini Dress
This striped cover-up dress could easily just pass for a cute summer mini dress. It’s ideal for that post-work week Friday afternoon when you know you’ll want to hit the beach for an hour before heading to happy hour right after. This dress is pretty much your new ride-or-die drinking buddy. Wear it over a strapless swimsuit and no one will have any clue you actually just went straight from the beach to a night-long personal bar tour. Well, unless you take a little too much advantage of those early happy hour deals, then your stumbling might just give you away.
3. Beach Riot Ruby Top & Jasper Skirt
Sure, you might look a bit extra wearing this onto the beach. But being extra is “in” (at least I think it is, according to memes on Instagram). You’ll look totally flawless hitting the bar in this set after a full beach day lounging in the sun. Realistically, you could even just wear the skirt with your bikini top onto the beach, and then just pack the top to slip on before you head to the bar after. It’s basically the perfect set to accommodate your vacation agenda of beach, then booze.
4. L*Space Riri Jumpsuit
This striped linen jumpsuit from one of my fav swim brands, L*Space, is the epitome of a beach-to-bar outfit. Again, you can easily wear it over a strapless swimsuit and no one will have any clue you still have your bikini on underneath. As long as you don’t have one of those obnoxious backpack beach chairs on your shoulder as your accessory, everyone will totally believe you changed into this cute jumpsuit specifically to go out for the night!
5. House of Harlow 1960 x REVOLVE Capistrano Dress
This loose-fitting dress is stylish and chic, and just like the aforementioned sets, works just as well on the beach as it does off the beach. It’s casual and lightweight enough to be worn as a cover-up, yet polished and stylish enough that no one would think twice about you wearing it post-swim. You could even toss some heeled sandals in your beach bag to switch into before the night’s festivities, and voilà!
I get that these cover-up options aren’t exactly cheap, especially if you usually get yours from Marshalls for $14.99. However, these are more than just cover-ups; they all work as actual outfits. So even if you aren’t necessarily wearing it from the beach to the bar as suggested, you could easily wear it as a casual summer outfit just as well. Plus, I’m going to go ahead and assume that these ones are all a hell of a lot cuter than the one you got from Marshalls (no shade, just stating the facts). But again, that’s just a hunch, like, what do I know???
Images: Seth Doyle / Unsplash; Revolve (2); Nordstrom; Shopb0p (2)
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