Keeping it country

Country clothes get an urban twist, writes DEIRDRE MCQUILLAN

Flat caps, padded jackets, sturdy boots and gilets all spell the outdoors and the crisp frosty weather we've been having lately makes that bracing Christmassy walk in the country all the more exhilarating. It's time for chunky scarves and tweedy headphones, for rugged boots, mufflers and gloves, for snoods, waxed jackets and an energetic frame of mind. Staying warm can be cool. The city is always subverting traditional military or equestrian garb and a website like Joules.comshows how a label known for predictable riding kit tapped into the townie's idea of rural romance by giving the clothes a quirky urban oomph like mismatched buttons on tweed jackets or dog motifs on knits.

You only have to see the way quilted jackets and riding boots became de rigueur on urban streets and how Fair Isle sweaters shed their folksy image at Zara to realise how familiar items can take on a newer, more free-range look.

Camouflage jackets and parkas, no longer just the preserve of army surplus, or bargain basement, shops, are worn more nonchalantly with sequinned tops and stilettos by young urbanites aping their original raison d’etre.

Rucksacks have shed their associations with hikers and hill walkers and are now everyday items regularly spotted on Luas and Dart commuters and cyclists.

The burgeoning trend for urban allotments, for growing your own, brings farmyard style bang into the city and with it the kind of gear like Wellington boots and body warmers more traditionally associated with mucking out sheds and yards.

Other thoroughbred items like hacking jackets – beautifully cut and tailored – look good on any kind of figure, whether in a rural or urban setting. Colours that surround us are deeper and darker at this time of year and clothes mimic the earthier reds and greens of the landscape while a fur trim, faux or otherwise, adds a touch of luxury and glamour.

Cutout images by PRoSHOTS.ie