It only takes a tiny ray of sunshine to break through and boom, I move in my summer outfit to the nearest terrace. Even at 15 degrees, yes. From shivering on the bike (a short skirt gets quite surprised looks during such a ride, by the way) to shivering in front of the café. Sun is sun and I want to enjoy those few days a year to the fullest. Period.

As a seasoned terrace-goer, I have experienced a thing or two in recent years regarding do's and don'ts. Believe me, these tips will save you a lot of embarrassment.

How often does it happen that we delicately plaster our face, take one last satisfied look in the mirror (‘nailed it today, I must say’) but then realize in daylight that we look like an orange-colored Gremlin? You don't want that during office hours, but especially not on a sunny terrace. You never know who you might unexpectedly run into. My advice: skip the foundation and go for a light bronzer. It might feel a bit strange for the first few hours, but then you can just hide behind huge Connie Breukhoven shades. Once you've caught a few rays of sunshine, you'll look presentable again.

I am an advocate for skirts, even short skirts. You can probably sense the ‘but’ coming, right? If you go for such an extremely feminine piece of fabric, make sure it comes at least just above your knee. Less exciting, but even worse if you walk away from the terrace with those huge chair imprints on your legs. It resembles CELLULITE. No further explanation needed, I thought.

So you're wearing a nice skirt just above the knee and you stand up to, for example, go to the toilet. A breeze comes by and woosh; all the terrace guests witness your sexy neon-colored Victoria's Secret thong, which is also extraordinarily small. You don't want that. Therefore, I recommend going for a safe hipster (not the people, but the underwear). It can be lace, but it keeps everything just a bit better in place than a thong, which is nice during an abrupt breeze.

Vicarious embarrassment comes over me when another woman stumbles and shivers by in her heels. All grace gone in an instant. I always advise friends who can't walk in heels to invest in a pair of stable wedges. As much as I am an advanced heel-walker, on a terrace afternoon, I also prefer a pair of platform soles. It prevents you from getting stuck in a crack with a stiletto heel, accidentally pushing yourself onto the neighbor's table with your near-fall, and then ending up wide-legged on the ground with that table. You understand, this happened to me, but it won't happen to you.