SARTORIAL ADVICE FOR THE AVID GARDENER

Because not only your garden should look fabulous.

To be honest, I´m not a fan of Brit Chic. It´s an oxymoron. The Royals never accommodated  a Style Icon in Buckingham Palace, save for Queen Mum, who is a law unto herself. Lady Di dressed kind of frumpy, Catherine so boring you could fall asleep just watching her pictures. Jane Birkin got adopted by the French. So, not chic.

Save for their gardening style. Gardens and eccentricity seem to be a match made in heaven. Valerie Finnis, the Grande Dame of British gardens, even did a book on gardening people. It´s a Must-Have, darlings. Just look at Lady Birley, hat askew, cardigan hanging just-so. Fabulous!

There should always be a certain nonchalance when dressing for gardening. Wear a nightgown when watering your flowers, your old ballgown for feeding your chickens, drape yourself in scarves, revel in cashmere and color. It´s about allure, but with a practical side. 

Markus And His Flowers

Wear your great-aunt´s vintage Burberry coat with all the jewelry your lovers gave you decades ago, stop covering the grey in your hair, invest in splendidly chic wellingtons, and visit famous gardens with your mother. Garden tours are the height of chic. 

Grow wisterias all over your house, sip port wine from excessively delicate glasses, and adopt Margaret Rutherford as your Style Icon du jour. Let Lucian Freud paint cyclamen on the bathroom walls of your cottage. 

Take advice from Cecil Beaton. Wear a fifties flower frock over your pants, and a madly chic straw hat with your ratty old sweatshirt. Your wheelbarrow should be exquisite, of course. Reserve a good amount of space in your garden for a Gin-Tonic terrace, designed specifically for that purpose. Surrounded by lilacs and roses. Sigh..