Country Life Fashion: Plaid, Tweed & Fur
Trend Features Menswear, Sporty Styles & Looks Fresh From the Hunt
Dec 2, 2008
Normally a tribe that thrives on the concrete cityscape, this season, fashion designers have gone mad for plaid and are indulging in their newfound need for tweed as part of the country life fashion trend that swept runways for the fall/winter 2008/2009 season.
Plaid, Tweed & Fur Take Fashions to the Country
The wide-open spaces of the countryside are moving in on the cramped closets of women everywhere. From luxurious furs, feathers, and leather, to sporty tweeds, checks and tartan plaids, this country life trend has something for just about everyone.
Fashion Designers Leading the Plaid & Tweed Trend
Who's left the town for the country? Dries Van Noten, Karen Walker, Alexander McQueen and Thakoon checked out plaids and checked fabrics, while Carolina Herrera, Richard Chai, and Michael Kors layered samplings of tweed, velvet, shearling, and fur for a feminine take on tailoring and moorland fashion.
Rustic-Chic Fashion Fusion
This rustic-chic trend features delightful fusions of town-and-country, like Carolina Herrera's use of slouchy, high-heel riding boots and tartan fedoras in the runway show for her fall 2008 collection.
Tweed & Plaid: Borrowed from Menswear & Sportswear
Tweed and plaids have traditionally been associated with menswear, and in the countryside, specifically with the hunt. And as with menswear, separates are an important part of the Country Life trend. Just picture the royals riding on their steeds decked out in tweed and twill trousers, vests, jackets and hats, crisp shirts, practical turtlenecks, a splash of the family tartan plaid, plenty fur trim, well-worn riding boots, and the regal flounce of pheasant plume.
How to Wear Tweed & Plaid in the Country Life Trend
It stands to reason that incorporating even just a few of these countryside items into your wardrobe this fall will have you looking smashingly rustic:
Mad for Plaid Clothing
A flash of plaid is a super easy, non-committal way to add a dash of country-chic to even the most blackest of black cosmopolitan wardrobes. Keep it conservative with a tartan scarf or purse, or get a little wild and slip into a pair of plaid patterned tights.
Take tartan to another level and outfit yourself in a powerful punch of plaid by wearing a plaid dress, skirt or pair of trousers.
The Need for Tweed Fashion
Tweed garments seem to last forever, and actually improve with age, so go ahead and splurge on a fabulous tweed jacket, skirt, trousers, vest, cap, or coat. It'll be money well-spent.
Oxford High Heels
Hop on the one of the hottest trend trends of the season and add a pair of oxford high heels to your shoe collection; derived from men's footwear styles, they complement the tweed and plaid trend perfectly. And they're fabulous.
Learn How to Layer Clothing
Remember, this trend is inspired by a lifestyle where people spend a good deal of time outdoors in (often) inclement weather, so layering is key to pulling off the country life look.
Need some help? Layer a tailored tweed vest over crisp shirt, and then throw on a jacket, and cinch it all with a thick leather belt. Then tie a boldly printed scarf around your neck, and top it all of with a hat borrowed from the boys. Put on some slim-fitting or wide-legged tweed trousers, or a plaid skirt and slip into pair of sexy, yet (almost) practical riding boots, and voila! You're ready for the hunt. And don't forget to pick up a few turtleneck sweaters to layer under the vests and jackets you'll be sporting this fall.
Finishing Details: Fur & Shearling
Whether you think fur is fantastic or a total faux pas, fur and shearling are strong elements of the rustic-chic look. As trim or as entire garments, faux or genuine, fur and shearling add the finishing details to the country life look.
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