At the Serpentine Summer Party, Sienna Miller arrived in a champagne satin slip and a Conner Ives jacket trimmed in white faux fur — during a London heatwave. It made complete sense.
There is something almost performative about dressing correctly for summer. Everyone in linen, everyone in pastels, everyone behaving. Sienna Miller is never really interested in that. On Tuesday evening at the Serpentine Summer Party in Kensington Gardens, with London sitting at 34 degrees and the rest of the guest list predictably sensible, she walked in wearing a thick faux fur-trimmed jacket over a champagne satin slip dress and gold heels. She looked absolutely right.
The jacket — from Conner Ives, the London-based designer whose irreverent, pop-culture-saturated approach to glamour has made him one of the more interesting names working right now — was a pale neon green with white faux fur lining. On paper, that combination sounds unhinged. Against the slip dress beneath it, which was clean and liquid and the colour of good champagne, it worked as contrast rather than chaos. The slip anchored everything. The jacket did what Sienna’s styling has always done best: made a slightly unexpected move feel completely inevitable.
The reference points write themselves. The slip dress and gold strappy heel combination is practically coded into the early-2000s fashion psyche. Carrie Bradshaw wore some version of it in every other episode. Kate Moss did it better than anyone in the late nineties. What Miller manages is to take the silhouette somewhere more current — the fit less fussy, the styling less precious, the overall feeling more like something you arrived in than something you prepared.
The gold heels are the detail worth noting. A slip dress without heels tips into off-duty territory fairly quickly. With them, especially in gold, it stays firmly in occasion-dressing. The Serpentine Summer Party has a consistent roster of people who dress very well — Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was there, Salma Hayek, Maya Jama, Isla Fisher — so landing in something this specific and this confident takes a certain amount of conviction. Sienna has always had that.
The Conner Ives piece is also part of a wider conversation. Fur-trimmed outerwear in midsummer is having a moment: maximalism creeping back in, the idea that dressing seriously no longer means dressing sensibly. Miller is not the first to try it but she may be the most convincing.
How to wear it
The slip dress and gold heel formula works on almost any body and translates across almost any summer occasion — from a party to a dinner to a gallery opening. The key is the quality of the slip itself. It needs to drape properly, which means leaning towards silk or a well-constructed satin. Bias-cut is almost always more flattering than straight-cut. And the fit should skim, not cling.
For the heel, gold strappy sandals are the most versatile choice — they read elevated without adding formality. A kitten heel works if you want something more understated. For the layer, you do not need a Conner Ives jacket. A loose blazer, an oversized linen shirt worn open, or a knit draped over the shoulders keeps the overall lightness while adding definition.
The champagne and gold palette works particularly well for summer because it reads warm rather than cold, making it easier to wear against tanned skin. If you want to lean further into the reference — the actual Carrie Bradshaw energy — add good hair, one piece of jewellery worn deliberately, and nothing else.
It is not a complicated look. That is, in many ways, the point.
Shop the Look
The actual dress
Olivia von Halle
Issa Oyster Slip Dress in Silk Satin
£450.00
Shop NowThe closest thing to what Sienna wore. Olivia von Halle’s Issa is cut from pure silk satin in a warm oyster tone — the bias cut and fluid drape are exactly right, and the finish is genuinely luxurious.
The dress, three ways
ISABEL MARANT
Nevana satin maxi dress
£790.00
Shop NowIsabel Marant brings her signature slightly undone confidence to a satin maxi. Fluid, modern and very wearable — this one has enough personality to carry itself without anything layered on top.
AJE.
Siren embellished satin maxi dress
£470.00
Shop NowFor those who want a little more drama in the silhouette. AJE.’s Siren takes the satin maxi into more dressed-up territory with subtle embellishment — the kind of dress that works for an event without needing much else.
Polo Ralph Lauren
Satin Slip Dress
£375
Shop NowThe most accessible entry point in the edit. Ralph Lauren’s satin midi is cut on the bias with adjustable spaghetti straps and a fluid drape that punches above its price point. Three colourways available, and a very clean option for everyday summer dressing.
