We made it. To August. And I hope, for many of you, a break in the working year. As HTSI produces only two issues this month, we are mostly coming to you direct from our holidays.

Apart from the big dream of possessing an EU passport, I’m packing light this year. The only thing for which I will make room in my suitcase is summer’s essential staple: the perfect white T-shirt. The idea to do an expert round-up was suggested by Sofia Coppola (HTSI reader and unofficial contributor) over crêpes and coffee in Biarritz earlier this year. Naturally we have obliged, by asking the most stylish people what they wear. Her own favourite is Re/Done x Hanes, a slightly cropped version that works well with Chanel. It’s a popular option, though personally I love the most basic men’s Hanes T-shirt, which is sold in Walmart and comes in packs of three.

<img width='1' height='1' style='display:none;border-style:none;' alt=' src='https://images.passendo.com/t/2/8448/npnj5xo85s@niepodam.pl/2493985801286486/0/0'><img width='1' height='1' style='display:none;border-style:none;' alt=' src='https://images.passendo.com/extt/2/8448/npnj5xo85s@niepodam.pl/2493985801286486?pid=1'><img width='1' height='1' style='display:none;border-style:none;' alt=' src='https://images.passendo.com/extt/2/8448/npnj5xo85s@niepodam.pl/2493985801286486?pid=2'><img width='1' height='1' style='display:none;border-style:none;' alt=' src='https://images.passendo.com/extt/2/8448/npnj5xo85s@niepodam.pl/2493985801286486?pid=3'><img width='1' height='1' style='display:none;border-style:none;' alt=' src='https://images.passendo.com/extt/2/8448/npnj5xo85s@niepodam.pl/2493985801286486?pid=4'>

For those looking to update their summer evenings with something chicer, I direct you to Ben Canares’s shoot. This season it’s all about the slip dress – with a lean leather jacket, a bolero (yes, really) or (my preferred option) an all-concealing scarf-y blouson.

Let me take you to Mount Penteli, near Athens, the pine-clad massif from which Pentelic marble has been quarried for more than 2,500 years. Used in the 5th century BC to build the Parthenon, the stone was also chosen by Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi for his sculptures and by Swiss architect Franz Füeg to create the modernist Pius Church in Lucerne. More recently, one quarry has found fame as an events space for fashion houses and brands who stage dinners within its cool and luminescent walls. Hester Underhill went to visit the family owners, who hope to re-establish Pentelic marble’s reputation alongside the better-known Carrara, and found a cathedral of the most tantalising stone.

Lastly, our cover star Alia Shawkat has developed what seems to be one of the most interesting careers in Hollywood by taking long breaks away from Los Angeles to explore stage roles and sustaining a more private passion as a painter of works she is only showing now. This month she stars in The Wrong Girls with Kristen Stewart, a sci-fi stoner comedy about two friends that plays with the normal buddy-movie tropes. As someone who has been acting professionally since childhood, Shawkat has an unvarnished take on the industry. But, as Anna Nicolaou discovers, it’s given her the confidence to pursue things in a unique, surprising and yet still quintessentially LA way.

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THREE MORE STORIES TO READ THIS WEEK

A first taste of Florence Knight’s new restaurant, Lunette The chef behind Polpetto and Sessions Arts Club has a restaurant of her own – will it shine? Jeweller Alex Monroe’s guide to Suffolk Where to find the finest