Summertime, and the livin’ is easy – especially with our guide to effortless dressing.

MR PORTER’s headquarters is in the United Kingdom, a place where people love to drink tea, eat potato-based meals and complain about the weather. So, with the onset of summer, after a debilitating few months of grimacing through the wind and rain and cold, everyone here is starting to say things like “It’s nice that it’s hot, but does it have to be so hot?” (for the record, it’s 23°C most days, with scattered showers). Ridiculous as this may seem, it does also touch upon a truth about warm weather: though it makes you want to run around outside, it also makes you want to lie down on some sort of reclining piece of furniture, preferably with an ice cream, book or newspaper in your sweaty mitts. Knowing that, for all of you we see climbing mountains and running marathons on Instagram, there will also be plenty riding out the heat with a tub of Häagen-Dazs and a pitcher of lemonade. So we’ve put together the following edit of the pieces you will need while you, for want of a more elegant term, veg out in the heat this summer.

One of the best things about summer: you’re allowed to sleep during the daytime. People won’t think you’re awful and lazy, they’ll think you’re sophisticated and Mediterranean. (Or, at least, that’s what you can assure them when you wake up.) Anyway, one thing that won’t do is being underdressed for your siesta – no one wants to wander into the living room and find you, on the sofa, in your boxers. Instead, why not try out this summer-appropriate shorts and short-sleeved shirt pyjama combo from Desmond & Dempsey. Though very comfortable to sleep in, the shirt has the added benefit of being not entirely dissimilar from the kind of camp-collared shirt so favoured in the daywear department at the moment. Sling on a pair of jeans and you’re ready to step out and get a frozen treat before your next doze.

Everyone has a favourite watering hole. And usually the thing they like about it is that it’s 25 metres from their house, so they can drink as much as they like then stumble back home without getting run over by a lorry. For such trips, there’s no point stuffing yourself into a shirt and a pair of chinos, but if you do want to add a façade of respectability to the pursuit known as summer daytime drinking, you might want to throw on something like an unstructured jersey blazer from Oliver Spencer Loungewear. Combined with a pair of elegant drawstring trousers from Officine Generale, this makes for something you could call “the pub suit”. If you can manage the syllables after a few hours of shandies and sunshine, that is.

Possibly the most wonderful time of the week, and a regular high point of the summer months, those few hours on a Sunday morning to sit in the garden eating croissants and reading newspaper supplements are an important reminder that, when not answering emails, bawling in boardrooms and queueing for flights, you are indeed a cultivated and sophisticated human being. So why not dress like one? Mr P.’s linen shirt offers supreme coolness and utmost comfort, and will make the whole thing feel like a bit of an occasion, but is casual enough to work with a pair of sweat shorts (the only thing to wear when propping one’s feet up on the nearest stool/chair/bucket).

This is the kind of thing you wear when you take a blanket and football to the park, then absolutely ignore the latter, and combine the former with a nice cold bottle of Sauvignon blanc (or, if you’re less fancy, a cooler of beers). Yes, you could very well have a kickabout in this retro T-shirts and shorts combo from Todd Snyder, but, if you don’t, you’ll find these slub- and loopback-cotton-based examples a perfect foil for propping yourself up on one elbow and eating a few sausage rolls. If someone does eventually make you get up to fetch a frisbee or similar, we advise feigning injury.

Controversial this one. “What are you doing watching Friends again when it’s such a beautiful day outside?” is the sort of thing your mother might say about summertime binge-watching. “Why would I go outside when it’s so hot and I have this powerful desk fan?” Is the kind of thing you might say in reply. Seriously though, even the most bronzed of summer loungers are advised to take regular breaks from the sun. Remember: 15 minutes of carcinogenic UV exposure at a time, folks. So you shouldn’t feel entirely ashamed if, at some point, you want to pop inside and catch a few episodes of Arrested Development season five in the next few months. Especially with such refined loungewear as this lightweight cotton robe from British brand Derek Rose. Pair it with some Reigning Champ sweats and a Schiesser Henley – and don’t listen to the naysayers.

Visit the Summer Shop here