The minute the first proper warm week turns up, the kind where you're deciding between a cardigan and nothing at all by about eleven in the morning, the playsuit comes into its own. One piece, bare legs, done, and you've still time to stand and admire whatever's come into the shop that morning before you start work. It's the thing I reach for on the days I haven't the patience to think about separates matching.
A good playsuit will see you through a whole summer and come back for a second if you treat it decently. Cotton and linen blends soften and get better with washing, which I like, a dress that looks brand new forever always feels a bit suspicious to me. Anything with elastane in it will lose its spring eventually, so wash those on cool and skip the tumble dryer, hang them instead. The fit is where most women come unstuck, myself included, because a playsuit that's right in the body can be miles out in the leg, cutting across the thigh at the exact wrong point. In the shop, sit down. Properly sit, like you would at a table, and see what the leg does. If it rides up when you sit, it'll ride up on the bus, and you'll spend the whole journey tugging at it, I've done it, it's not relaxing.
For colour, I'd steer you towards something with a bit of life in it rather than straight black, which on a playsuit can look like a swimming costume that's had ideas above its station. A warm terracotta, a proper green, even a small scale print, something like the colour a bunch of ranunculus goes at the very end of its life, all rust and dusty pink, wears beautifully against most skin tones and doesn't show the wrinkle of linen the way pale colours do. If you've never owned one, start with a wrap style in a plain colour and a bit of structure at the waist, it's the most forgiving shape going and it means you can decide if the whole playsuit thing is for you before you go near a print. Tie waists are your friend here, they let you adjust for the day rather than committing to one fit forever.
Tomorrow I'd put mine with flat tan sandals, a straw bag, and nothing else fussing round the neckline, maybe a thin gold chain if I remember to put one on.