After agricultural shows, Marks & Spencer is the place to go shopping, and then Paris. Nothing in between seems to be much good.
It’s pretty good going to be named a style icon when one’s – when you’re talking about the Duchess of Devonshire, “one” is practically mandatory – shopping habits are as limited as those above. But the Duchess isn’t any old farmer taking her cattle to market. As one of the Mitford sisters and the Dowager Duchess who ran the farm shop at Chatsworth and made hen-keeping cool, she is fashion royalty.
The six Mitford sisters – Nancy, Pam, Diana, Unity, Jessica and Debo herself – have influenced fashion designers from the top table, from Miuccia Prada to Christopher Bailey, for over 10 years. Bailey is still under their spell. “The Mitford sisters, glam rock, military, wellies. Just a patchwork of things that I love,” he said of his inspiration backstage after his show at London fashion week last month.
Debo is particularly in focus right now because, following her death aged 94 at the end of 2014, an auction of her possessions is taking place today. With over 450 lots, it’s a mishmash of the kind of furniture you might expect in a country house (a collection of walking sticks in an old chimney pot, anyone?), Elvis memorabilia (the Duchess was a big Presley fan) and many, many hen-related items. Fashion gets short shrift – jewellery, mostly brooches of everything from lobsters to bees, is the only wearable element of the collection.
This is, of course, totally on brand. Fashion loves Debo but, unlike her Dior-wearing sister Nancy, she wasn’t that bothered. “I don’t mind if that is the fashion or not, it’s what suits me,” she once said. And don’t forget the formula of agricultural shows, M&S and Paris, AKA couture houses. In practice, as she got older, this meant a sort of tweedy look with wellies, always with pearls and a proper hairdo, as befits a grandee – and, indeed, the grandmother of model Stella Tennant.
Photograph: ANL/Rex/Shutterstock
The takeaways to do Debo dressing in said shops? Some navy blue wellies, probably Hunter. A sensible coat. If you can’t get to agricultural shows, the internet is an unlikely source of Debo-like looks (we doubt she was familiar with the likes of PayPal). See Countrywide and The House of Bruar – both new to me. The latter has a tweed biker jacket that might just make the cut. Marks & Spencer is your reliable resource for blouses – quite on-trend this season. A pussybow or frilled design is what you’re looking for.
And then there’s Paris. There’s a bit of Debo in Céline’s arty, outdoorsy girl, and Miu Miu’s long skirts and blouses, which are quite drawing room, if you discount the Bowie-esque shoes, obvs. Add some pearls and a couple of hens and a Mitfordian look worthy of a tribute to the last of the Mitford sisters will be yours.
