I'm Ready To Dress Like A Haute Farmer

Don't give up on me yet - countrycore is a great winter lewk. I know you'll agree once you've had a cheeky gander...

It’s almost mid year (whisper it, don’t scream it, for fork’s sake!) and anyone with a coaching biz on Instagram will tell you that this means it is time for a reset! I am not paid by the coaching bros, I am just telling you what I know to be true. Around mid-year you must check in on what you told yourself in January and “realign your goals.” So, this is what I did this week.

Although I had already told all of you too with this post about 24 Things To Know After 24 Days Of January. You can read it here. It didn’t have much to do with Actual Goals, but it has aged well. And it did serve to remind me that I had planned an entire love-fest around Claudia Winkelman’s chunky knits for winter in the southern hemisphere. It was item number 14. Because, back in January, I was obsessed with them, but I also knew that no one reading this when the outside local temp is averaging 30 degrees would have given two flying forks for a chunky knit. Now, however, we might feel a little different.

So Claudia Winkelman – and you don’t need to know who she is, suffice it to say that she’s a British television presenter of shows like Strictly Come Dancing and The Traitors – more on this later – who describes her rather iconic look as “eyeliner, shiny hair and the promise of filth.”  I mean, seriously, what is not to love about the woman? She’s not feeling moribund that she is 52. Also: you can only get away with this kind of an answer when you are this age. Any younger and The People seem to get rather disgruntled.

Can one be gruntled do you suppose? A question for another day.

Claudia Winkelman is a total hero, obvs you agree after reading this quote. And seeing these fingerless scarlet gloves! She’s looked the same for decades – not in the Demi Moore sense of the phrase ‘looking the same’ 😏 but in the ‘I haven’t changed my quintessential lewk’ since my 20s. In fact, so set is she in her bronzer, black liner and heavy fringe that she told Stylist this: “Rather than a sign of a lack of imagination or effort, I reckon finding your ‘look’ is the smartest move you can make. It’s quicker to do, easier to stick with and then you’ve got more time to eat macaroni and cheese and read books. So even when I’m old and my coordination goes and I end up with eyeliner all over my face, I’ll still be sticking with it until the end.”

Bless her, bless her. I too would rather be eating mac and cheese and reading a book than navel-gazing over whether coloured graphic liner is something I should be trialling. We’re so often told we need a make-up update and not to get stuck in a rut, but there’s a lot to be said for knowing your moves and just going with what you know makes you feel good. All the bloody time.

But back to the knits. In the Great British Winter, Claudia hosted a devastatingly viral show called The Traitors. It’s set in a castle in the Scottish Highlands, so sign me up already. The players all arrive as Faithful contestants but on Day One, Claudia picks a group who become Traitors and the Traitors’ goal is to eliminate the Faithfuls and claim the prize. They do this by deciding who of the Faithfuls will be “murdered” slash leave the game that night, a bit like Survivor snuffing our your torch. It is all very cloak and dagger and wildly backstabby and marvellous… Major tension in every episode and always ending on a cliffhanger. Addictive, yes. And again, it’s in Scotland, in winter. And thus is also mysterious and gloomy, but also fabled and tweedy.

Claudia brought the lewks. So many, in fact, that reams of magazine and online editorials were dedicated to her fash savvy and her stylist was inundated with “where’d you buy that then?” requests. Some labelled it haute country, others Brit countrycore. Either way, I like both and I am fully committed to the bit this winter. Being Brit countrycore means embracing your inner wellie-wearing, Barbour-toting walker. It is sensible and cosy in the extreme, but super-stylish to boot. So, how’d they do it?

Stylist Sinead McKeefry says: “We had our inspirations and knew what our look wanted to be... Ronnie Corbett meets Princess Anne meets Madonna (in the Guy Ritchie days!)” There you have it! Sensible brands in sturdy fabrics, lots of layers, a good blazer and a proper dose of rock ‘n roll. As Grazia UK tell us: “In essence, British countrycore is all about layering up the knits, donning some tweed, pulling on some wellies and throwing a big coat over it all – think dressed up farmer, but with an added dash of luxury branding and high quality fabrics.”

My Dressed-Up Farmer aesthetic has me reaching for the humble legging and pairing it with all manner of knits and rather sturdy boot. I have never met a cowboy boot I didn’t love and insist on owning, but Mz Winkelman also makes the case for proper knee-high Wellingtons and many a pull-on Doc Martin and Chelsea boot too. The trick to this super-comfy-please-don’t remind-me-of-my-lockdown aesthetic is balancing your silhouette… So, slim-fit leggings on the bottom, given a bit of heft with a chunky boot and then an oversized something on top, whether that’s a major statement knit or a blazer, all wrapped up in a big coat. This ensures you look less like you’re heading off to your pony, Marigold, and more like you’re going to cause some beef in a castle with the cool girls!

Talking about beef in the castle with the cool girls - are you watching too much Bridgerton? Who isn’t?! - Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton are the friends-to-lovers story arc we’ve been waiting for for three seasons! This haute country lewk is defs more the Bridgerton men than The Ladies, but frankly, it is the dudes who always seem to be having more fun in this show anyway. And I’d stake my life on the fact that you too would have more fun in these deliciously tweedy, sturdy clothes than being all trussed up in something fanciful a la the lasses of said show. Plus, as Claudia demonstrated by the season finale of The Traitors, if you realllly do want to be able to quote the meme: “Am I the drama? I don’t think I am the drama,” while still donning your wellies, you can always wear this…

Good luck and God speed, Traitors! Enjoy your winter knits, leggings and boots to the max. An entire season of comfort and warmth awaits you! And me, and me!