Are you going to Scarborough Fair?


Flowers.

Summer trends always have them in abundance: oversized garlands are a must for any festival chick; your maxi dress with its sprinkle of buttercups and daisies will definitely be going in the holiday suitcase; and that clutch depicting a hundred multicoloured blooms has become your staple accessory for some extra attention. However this year, instead of peonies, pansies and poppies, I have taken an interest in some more muted tones...


Sprawled out on the grass and sipping a Pimms cocktail I can't help but notice the beauty in the green blades between my toes or the leaves of mint floating around in my glass. Paired with the light, breezy touch of my white summer dress these tones seem so alive and warm. There is something so effortlessly pleasing about this combination. A handful of herbs against a whitewashed wooden door is so simple yet, for me, so Summer. It reminds me of the smell of the two huge rosemary bushes in my garden, of my mother handing me a pair of scissors and sending me out to cut some parsley for a salad she's making, of the bumpy texture of our garage walls who's white glow can be seen from the living room when it's finally warm enough to leave the stable door open, and of the white clover garlands my grandmother used to weave into mine and my sister's wispy white blonde hair...

                  



Summer for me also means wood. I love the feel of its uneven surface and the comfort of the strange noises it makes when it expands from the warmth of the sun. Summer is in our pine panelled 'foliage sanctuary' kitchen, going in and out through the garden door with hands full of ice cream or Kopparberg. Summer is in each natural oak floorboard - my parents' chosen surface for most of the house - Winter draughts notoriously slip their way past the many nooks and crannies but Summer rays dance barefoot on them to the symphony of the setting sun. Growing up in a house with enough beams to make a forest, wood is something I have learnt to appreciate and its soothing sight is as warm to me as Summer itself. Like wood, the uncomplicated hues of white and green also carry with them a wholesome and homey feel. Picking a bundle of herbs over a bunch of pink roses seems a bit odd, yet somehow it appeals to me through being more modest, more humble, more unpretentious. Big bold flowers are fussy and next to these soft shades they even seem a tad brash, and there is something wonderfully unassuming about a white linen shirt tucked into a pair of grass stained shorts.

              
 

So parsley, sage, rosemary or thyme, why not opt for a more down-to-earth palette and experiment with this rustic 'country home' touch to your Summer wardrobe this season.