Nothing says 'summertime' like breaking out a few choice chambray pieces and this season, Surface To Air has some of the best ones available.

Slightly laissez-faire but with proper, tailored touches, the looks from their SS2012 collection are just the sort of thing to wear during these increasingly hot spells.

My favourite has to be the Vienna; I'm not a short-and-tight kind of woman when it comes to wearing dresses, but I'm sure this lightly draped piece will be perfect under a thin blazer on any summer night out.

Ditto for that jacket and shorts combo...

NB Images Courtesy Surface To Air

Even though I've lived on a tropical island & have frequented the beach for most of my life, a proper towel is something I always forget to pack when heading to the shores. 

In fact, the only such towel I owned for the longest time was a ripped and faded Scooby Doo towel from childhood. Not very stylish, I assure you...

Thus, I was quite excited to find these colourblocked, plush beach towels from the essential-style label, Chance. The size suggests it's the kind of thing one can dry off with or lounge on; such double-duty pieces are good for cutting down on tote bag clutter at the beach.

The basic ones are nice enough, but I'm really loving the 'Cali' set, top image.

Outside of my native West Indian beaches, California's coast - especially at Malibu - encapsulates all that's relaxed and chic about chilling out by the sea, and the slightly muted colours of those huge towels should do the job nicely at the beach...

NB Images Courtesy Chance

Au Courant Daily is now on Bloglovin - Follow the blog here!

I've been following this coolhanded Scandinavian blog for sometime now, and just had to share with you. I can't tell you much about the blog's author; the 'about me' bit isn't written in English...

However, the well-curated images and personal snapshots will quickly divert your eye from any Swedish by-lines, and over to the enthralling photography; my favourites are the clean shots with unexpected details like the metal pipe-cum-candle stand, above, or the simple food imagery as styled by Lotte Agaton.

Why not browse for yourself and see how 20Kvadrat.se proves that you don't always need to understand something, in order to appreciate its beauty?

NB Images Courtesy 20Kvadrat.se

Who doesn't want a Hermes bag? For the legendary designs, waiting lists can keep you twiddling your thumbs for months to years before your handmade Kelly is completed. And that's assuming you can actually get yourself onto that list, of course...

Making things a touch more democratic, Christies launched an 'online only' auction of four limited edition Passe-Guide bags from the maison to end all maisons. Starting yesterday and running until the month's end, the custom Hermes designs are meant to be a tribute of sorts to England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales; my favourite design, shown above, features the Welsh Dragon as a golden emobssed emblem and charm. 

Past Hermes lot sales with the auction house easily surpassed £26,000.00, so who knows what these custom, commemorative pieces will demand? So If you're game for a round of rousing online auctions, I recommend you get in early on the action.

And do pray the closing bid doesn't bankrupt you completely...

NB Images Courtesy Christies.com