Society girls’ passion project shows how country style became cool
Where would you expect to find Britain’s brightest young things in the early hours of a Saturday morning? Not so long ago, the answer might have involved tumbling into a cab outside an exclusive nightclub in Mayfair. But for Lady Melissa Percy, the answer couldn’t be more different.
“I’ve just had five of my best girl friends up to Scotland for a weekend of adventure,” she remembers of her latest wild antics. “We camped, woke up at 5.30am and then spent the day grouse-shooting, canoeing down the river and quad-biking.”
This wholesome desire to spend downtime in the countryside chimes with the health-conscious mindset of a millennial generation that has shunned drinking and taking drugs in favour of the natural highs offered by fresh air and endorphin-generating country pursuits. But this renewed enthusiasm for spending weekends in the great outdoors does throw up one tricky dilemma: what to wear?
Lately, a series of new labels and poster girls for a very modern breed of countryside style have answered the question, with their blend of the most elegant traditional tropes with a more contemporary and, yes, cool aesthetic.
Thirty-year-old Lady Melissa, known as Missy to her friends, is on a mission to reimagine the country look for now with her new label Mistamina, which launches this weekend. “Ever since I was tiny there was never stuff out there for girls which was trendy and cool, especially if you had your own individual sense of style,” reflects Missy. “So my mum, my sister and I would either buy boys clothes in small sizes, or we had things made, which is incredibly expensive.”
Mistamina (the name is a purposefully mischievous play on her nickname coined by her old tennis coach) is the passion project that Percy, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, has thrown herself into since her divorce last year from Thomas van Straubenzee, one of Prince William’s closest friends and godfather to Princess Charlotte. Their decadent Rosie van Cutsem, wedding at Alnick Castle, her family seat, in 2013 was attended by a who’s who list of society names including Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Pippa Middleton and Chelsy Davy, as bridesmaid. In fact, Davy and Percy are such close friends that the former featured in the photos which were released earlier this year announcing the collection.
Rather than completely reinventing the heritage look that is synonymous with British country life and still carries serious style kudos — Stella McCartney’s latest collection includes quilted khaki coats and belted field jackets reminiscent of those you might find hanging in the boot room of most country manors — Mistamina updates the classics with sleeker, more flattering cuts which still leave room for moving around easily in the fields. And in fabulously posh style, each piece is named after a beloved family dog.
“Rupert was my dad’s first dog, and he had the softest ears you have ever felt in your life, so we’ve named a lovely soft shirt which comes in three colours after him,” she explains. “When you’re outside, it’s good to have layers, because you’re either too cold or too hot, so it’s quite handy if you can just take off one.”
She advises wearing them tucked into plus-fours or high-waisted jeans, depending how much or how little you care to amp up the look. She has also been careful to keep prices accessible, with shirts and jumpers coming in between £70 and £90.
Percy is not alone in her mission to give the country look a modern twist. Sisters Lucia Ruck Keene and Rosie van Cutsem launched their label, Troy London, last year after a trial collection in 2015 went down a storm with their country set. Their ‘hero’ pieces are parka jackets that combine supreme practicality — think waterproofed seams and hoods that cannot be shifted, even in the most blustering of gales — with a refined, elegant look that has made them catnip for the Duchess of Cambridge, who has worn hers for two public engagements to date as well as the cool crowd at Soho Farmhouse, where the coats are sold at Alex Eagle’s exclusive boutique, The Store.
“It was an area where there wasn’t much choice out there,” says van Cutsem. “We’d look around at our friends at the weekends and they’d often be wearing their dad’s old coat with a pair of skinny jeans, so we thought that there must be something more that we can do. There’s a lot of demand for things that are more feminine and interesting.”
Lady Alice Manners, a model and the Telegraph’s country style columnist, says country style is “quite a personal thing — some of my friends and sisters see dressing for the countryside as a time to really show their fashion kudos. And, of course, we are all secretly taking notes on how we’ve all worn certain items.”
She recommends mixing fashion labels such as Chloe and Isabel Marant with modern country clothing brands (Holland and Holland and Troy are her favourites) with a select few family favourites- her Mother, the Duchess of Rutland’s old brown ankle boots and suede trousers are current obsessions. Because it wouldn’t be true country style without an heirloom or two in the mix.
We’d look around at our friends at the weekends and they’d often be wearing their dad’s old coat with a pair of skinny jeans, so we thought that there must be something more that we can do.”