Luella Bartley’s delightful fall collection was inspired by one of the most beloved English archetypes—the bohemian aristo who wears a cashmere sweater with Wellies, drives a Range Rover filled with muddy dogs, and can tell equally risqué personal anecdotes about the Rolling Stones and Henry VIII.
Bartley’s fall basics for this character (and all who would emulate her) include drainpipe jeans, cut tight right down to the ankle and worn with frilly voile blouses or a short, sporty navy car coat; little tweedy blazers that end at the top of the hip; and motorcycle jackets in black or pale lavender goatskin. That’s for mucking about in the stables (or roaming Portobello Road); for tea time, she goes a bit more feminine with indigo blue or acid-green sheer mini-caftans over tights or trousers. Popping up to town for a day calls for the jersey and suede cardigan over a neat little pencil skirt, worn with chunky high heels tied on with wide satin ribbons. She trucks this all around in one of Bartley’s ever-popular leather “Gisele” satchels, decorated with all sorts of whimsical stencils and leather charms. After all, noblesse oblige means never being seen carrying any old grotty handbag.
