‘Meet the new laid-back skirt suit that changed my summer style for the better,’ says Good Housekeeping editor-in-chief Jane Bruton.

I’ve always thought a skirt suit was a tailored jacket with a pencil skirt, or a cardigan jacket and an A-line skirt, à la Chanel. But this year, I’ve found a surprisingly chic and laid-back way to rethink skirt suits.

It’s a style decision that, it turns out, has changed my summer wardrobe for the better, given me multiple outfit possibilities and earned me so many compliments, I felt duty bound to share.

And it’s this: a skirt suit might not involve a jacket at all – wearing one is as simple as wearing a matching top and skirt.

My laid-back skirt suit is by Toast, it’s 100% linen and in an uplifting forest green colour. The top is a relaxed pull-on blouse; the skirt a drop-waist midi, and I mostly wear both together with woven ballerina Mary Janes and a little silk scarf, tied cowboy style.

As an outfit, its more fun and easy to wear than a formal skirt suit, has the look and feel of a good dress, is still smart enough and put-together for work, and I can wear the items separately, too, making it excellent value for money.

According to Good Housekeeping’s style director, Melanie Rickey, I’ve caught on to a trend for laid-back summer skirt suits that match tops with skirts, and there are plenty of great versions around now, across the retail spectrum. Nobody’s Child has a black and white gingham set that costs £120 for both items; Next’s floral printed set comes in at an affordable £62, and Mango has taken a new-season approach with a matching long pencil skirt and shirt, in a fluid grey jersey, that costs £126 for both.

If I was going to buy another, I love Oliver Bonas’s version in cornflower blue with cherry embroidery, Me+Em’s red set with its wide midi skirt, and Albaray’s white cotton skirt suit. Whichever you choose, I promise you’re guaranteed to get so much wear from both pieces. And the bonus is, when you wear them together, you get an instant smart outfit that looks put-together without being too formal.

Shop our laid-back skirt suit edit