Country dreams - Oscar de la Renta

It's funny. You might think haute couture isn't relevant to the poor kid in a run-down town or the country girl - who often doesn't bother with make-up as the beings she sees on her thrice-weekly run is more likely to have four legs than two - that is, until someone like Oscar de la Renta passes away.

Shockwaves reverberate wherever and for whomever when a legendary fashion designer is no more.

The first American designer to create haute couture for a Paris fashion house, de la Renta began creating his synonymous collection of breathtakingly beautiful clothes in 1965 having had previously studied under Cristóbal Balenciaga, and worked for Lanvin, Dior and Elizabeth Arden in Paris.

For me, de la Renta fulfilled the dreams of the women he dressed (celebrities dream too, you know) and allowed women the world over to continue to dream. Who could forget the rose pink dress made by de la Renta for Carrie Bradshaw's "Date with the Russian"? The Slavic artist may have given me the heeby jeebies from day one but that dress... sigh.

More recently, Amal's wedding dress?

The stuff that dream are made of. Sentimental? Yes. Unashamedly so.

Of course, the American couturier didn't just do gowns. Pant suits, shift dresses, shirts... everything had de la Renta's signature opulence and grace. The kind of clothes women want to wear to feel, well, womanly.

"Fashion is only fashion once a woman puts it on". True, Oscar but can't beautiful clothing be so much more than 'fashion': a feeling, a dream, an escape, an art....

Whether worn or only seen, Oscar de La Renta's work is sure to be truly appreciated by every urban and rural princess for ever more.

v

Chatsworth

A girl - very happily - in mud

So much emphasis in this country is put on its cities. Nay, London. 

I L-O-V-E love London. Best city in the world hands down.

But I don't live in the capital. I live in the countryside. Northamptonshire to be precise; home county of the British Grand Prix, Silverstone; the British shoe industry and Princess Diana's family estate and resting place, Althorp. 

I live in a medium-sized village in a petite cottage with my fiancé and three-month kitten, Roger.

Having spent a limited amount of time gaining work experience in the fashion media industry in Sweden last year and hankering for life in the capital to start my career in fashion journalism I decided to take a different approach and investigate for myself the relevance of high-end fashion outside of London.

Does fashion exist out here in the sticks?

Do country folk care about how much Christopher Bailey earns now as Chief Creative and Chief Executive Officer at Burberry? Or who sat FROW at Elie Saab's latest couture show?(damn them all, jealousy doesn't begin to cover it)

Along the way I'll also be looking at country pursuits, attitudes, art and style starting with a look at how important the traditional English garden is to high fashion. I'll be discussing the beauty of the rose, the poppy and, heck, even the humble daisy; revelling in the great British summer with rural villages fêtes and fairs, and indulging in a little aristocratic dress and history.

Flowers, fields, fashion, houses, pubs, birds and reasonable rent. Say hello to a girl - very happily - in mud.

v