Fashion: Think woolly, it's wild in the country: St Tropez? Forget it. Say hello Chilterns and take a long walk amid the falling leaves. Marion Hume piles on the layers and escapes into the mist
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Your support makes all the difference.I love autumn. Being rather unenamoured with summer (too few clothes), I look forward to misty days, when I can pull on a jumper or even a kagool, an odd admission for a fashion editor.
One great thing about autumn is all the layers you can put on; sweaters over shirts over silky polo-necks, matched with sweeping skirts or thorn-proof trousers. Of course, the resulting look is often too hefty, and far too warm, for urban living. The other great thing about autumn is that rural clothes - rather than the high urban style of the catwalk - start to look just right again.
These are clothes to escape in, but not in a helicopter-to-St-Tropez glam-dream way. These are real clothes, clothes for soul-charging long walks. Though they are not strictly hiking clothes - you would opt more for performance and less for appearance for a 20-mile hike - you could feel comfortable for a serious stroll in this garb, especially as we have opted for sensible footwear.
Another country kit delight is the gadgetry. Instead of a handbag and high heels, stroll clothes are accessorised with Calor-gas burners for late-night cook-ups (now that it's no longer eco-friendly to build big bonfires in the wilderness); serious walking boots replace high-heeled shoes; and instead of ear-rings or bangles, you have Swiss army knives with blades, corkscrews and hoof picks to play with. Much more fun.
The further you get from the metropolis, the better this kit looks. We didn't go very far (our hair and make-up team get twitchy outside the M25), but even in the foothills of the Chilterns, the tea brewed up on the shoot never tasted so good.
(Photographs omitted)
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