Traditionally this is the time of year when collections are steered around the idea of sun, skipping town and heading for the yacht… okay well maybe just the beach then. But Marc Jacobs and Miu Miu have different destinations in mind for our summer. We're heading west, to the wild west in gingham and cowboy boots.

Picture the scene for a moment, we're transported from Peckham to the Texan plaines. We're riding through the hot dust in avant-garde plum velvet boots from Miu Miu along with a flippy black skirt. Marc Jacobs' gingham is almost iridescent in the sun. And gingham, the girly cousin of plaid, is a fabric for the season.

From farmhouse kitchen tables and matching curtains, to summer school dresses and musicals set in the 1950s, gingham holds many happy connotations. So of course playing up to these stereotypes the plaits come out and the ribbons too. Looking as if you're seven has never been so now. You'll be sauntering through bars in Soho with a new kind of swagger, just leave the cowboy hat at home.

Right now we can only dream about sitting by a pool in a Modernist house in the Hollywood hills wearing a Prada bodysuit and earrings. The reality is that we're wading in persistent rain and watching flash floods swallow the coast. However, imagine for a moment that we're anywhere but here, that we're sitting in something that looks like Tom Ford's 'A Single Man'. The LA sun is prickling the skin and the air smells like hot concrete and suncream. Days are spent pool side, reclining in the heat... It's a stretch we know.

In this fantasy LA-LA land we'd be accessorising Prada's '50s pin-up-worthy suit with Balenciaga's woven orange bag. The hit of colour is a welcome change to the natural beige coloured weave and after all summer should be bright. On the feet are Bally's pale blue slip-ons - the pool sandal for grown ups.

Inspired by David Hockney's paintings, we'll keep hitting the repeat button on this scene and usher summer in.

Gingham is the sugary alternative to the plaid shirt. It's the summer school dress, cartoon cow girls and the '50s housewife staring across her sink out over rows of white fences and neat children playing nicely. But at Jil Sander SS12 gingham shrugs off its past to become the fabric of choice, the coolest of the cool for a 2012 summer don't you know. Fashion's cyclical nature sees it wheeled back around by Raf Simons and steered straight into our hearts and here's hoping, our wardrobes.

The checks may rub against past connotations, but muted by a layer of organza the skirt is minty fresh, in every sense. But it's a tricky little fabric to get right. Too much of it paired with a collar and you look like you've been let out of the playground early. The pink Jason Wu knit adds a little Grandma-chic into the mix and worn braless it's a poppy, brave little jumper with attitude. With loosely tucked up hair and flat Superga sneakers instead of heels, the look is relaxed and young. It's a look that calls for wandering the city, looking for adventures in the concrete and swelling crowds.