All photos by Muffy Aldrich

There are so many summer towns that dot the New England coast. Summer towns, or villages, or neighborhoods. Or enclaves1. Or islands.

In some cases, these communities’ summer populations are twice or more their winter population. In other cases, that ratio is a bit less, tamped down by a gentrification of sorts, as more people move in year-round.

What is Critical to a Summer Town?

So what makes for a perfect summer town?

Sometimes there is just a feel and it is hard to pinpoint exactly what gives one that feel. We’ll call it charm.

But this is the result of a combination of factors. And even as so much about them changes and evolves over the generations, as most things do, at varying rates, some factors mostly stay the same.

And sometimes knowing the specifics can help a community to protect and preserve mightily certain touch points, while gently improving and growing others.

My Town

I was organizing these photos that I took not too long ago in town, the same town in which I have lived for nearly all of my life. It is a lovely summer town on the Connecticut shore. My town is large enough (just under 20,000) to not be too small, it is upscale and incredibly well managed, clean and safe. And I have watched shift to ever more appearing to be a legitimate year-round town. But in its DNA, it is still a summer town.

For me, these photos summarizes a lot of what makes a summer town a summer town.

The Beaches are the Heart

The sine qua non that most defines a New England summer town is that the beaches are the thrumming heart of the community.

Yes, there are town greens with white congregational churches. There are downtowns with stores (even if too few hardware stores and too many liquor stores), and school campuses (private and the others). In most cases this list would include golf courses, but in my town, the golf course is barely a stone’s throw from the water.

But the real action is, especially in the summer, where the lands meets the sea.

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Photos by/of Muffy Aldrich

I will never forget when I first saw the L.L. Bean Boat and Tote Zip Pouch on their website a handful of years back. I was sitting in on one of my husband’s conference calls, and in its deadly dullness, I was scrolling the L.L. Bean website.

Click here: L.L. Bean Boat and Tote Zip Pouch

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I find some items of clothing perfect. These include pure cotton khakis. Baggy oxford shirts in a handful of certain colors. Boat shoes, Scottish Fair Isles, British made trench coats and tweeds, D-ring motif belts, and Maine made bluchers and boat shoes, English toggle coats, tartan cashmere scarves made in Scotland and Aran sweaters hand knitted in Ireland.

Perhaps it is because these clothes blend into the New England coast. They are ideal for getting in and out of boats, for prep school students to throw on as they run across the quad - hair wet - on the way to class. Or for casual business meetings that turn into hikes across Cambridge to find some obscure used bookstore.

The bright pinks and greens match the beach roses along the New England coast, the deep blues feel like the Atlantic Ocean, and the Donegal sweater I am wearing right now has the rugged complexion of the rocky Maine coast.

These clothes also fit my highest compliment, which is ‘class-feral’. They are the Herreshoff yachts or Sarouk carpets of clothes; they are good looking and they last. Rather than drawing attention to the wearer, these clothes blend in and improve the scene.

They overlap with ‘preppy’ clothes, but only somewhat. Less twee, of course. More subtle. Less “look at me!” Less working the room. Not exuding over-confidence but readiness.

To describe this aesthetic to myself and others, I had to come up with a new term, “The Thing Before Preppy.”

The Thing Before Preppy

For me, the origin of “The Thing Before Preppy” style started back in the 50s and 60s, maybe earlier, around the shoreline of Connecticut. A specific culture was codifying, influenced by the wealth and access of New York; strong schools of New England; and the culture of so many early settled New England towns with their deep British roots.

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Despite the fact that I woke up to snow yesterday morning, and the concomitant below zero temperatures, the light and angle of the sun says spring. And so I find myself reaching for items that reflect the light (no pun intended) yet accommodate the air. Brighter colors, lighter materials. Wool (such as above) is somewhat miraculous in this regard as it can weigh next to nothing yet provide surprising warmth.

This extremely handsome Lotuff canvas and leather tote arrived a bit ago and has proven to be seasonless. And very well used. This reminds me of my mother’s now long-gone but beloved Ghurka bags from the late 1970s (but better quality), even though the color is more reminiscent of my father’s old Orvis Battenkill bags from the same time period. But again, much better quality. The extraordinary quality of all Lotuff bags has spoiled me for everything else. Made in New England.

• <https://lotuffleather.com/collections/totes/products/canvas-working-tote>

London’s Cordings of Piccadilly does a twice a year refresh of shirts, ushering in a new season of patterns and fabrics. For the men (above), in linen, seersucker, or cotton, in solids checks and stripes. (I often snag some of these for myself and, as a female wearing men’s shirts, have them shortened, as Cordings is famous for their generous fit and long tails, a rarity these days.)

• Men’s Blue Blakeney Linen Gingham <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/lilac-blue-blakeney-gingham-shirt.html>

• Men’s Pink Preston Prince of Wales Poplin <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/pink-preston-prince-of-wales-poplin-shirt.html>

• Men’s Sky Blue Cley Seersucker Shirt <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/sky-blue-cley-seersucker-shirt.html>

• Men’s Blue Green Blakeney Linen Gingham <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/blue-green-blakeney-gingham-shirt.html>

• Men’s Candy Vintage Oxford <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/candy-vintage-oxford-shirt.html>

• Men’s Sky Blue Holkam Stripe Shirt <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/sky-blue-holkham-stripe-shirt.html>

And they always offer a wide range of beautiful Liberty prints (below) for ladies, in either all cotton or silk. I particularly like the cut of these shirts, super comfortable to wear.

No fiber dilution here.

• Mitsi Valeria Liberty Tana Lawn <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/mitsi-valeria-liberty-shirt-made-with-tana-lawntm-cotton.html>

• Emma Victoria Liberty Tana Lawn <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/emma-victoria-liberty-shirt-made-with-tana-lawntm-cotton.html>

• Blue Lodden Liberty Tana Lawn <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/blue-lodden-liberty-shirt-made-with-tana-lawntm-cotton.html>

• Pink Floral Eye Liberty Tana Lawn <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/pink-floral-eve-liberty-shirt-made-with-tana-lawntm-cotton.html>

• Irene Rose Silk Liberty <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/irene-rose-silk-shirt-made-with-liberty-fabric.html>

Also sent were samples of the new green in their whale tail (above) and shackle bracelets from Mystic Knotwork, famous for their wide variety of cotton sailor bracelets. All made in Mystic, Connecticut, I wear them all summer long.

• Whale Tail Bracelets <https://mysticknotwork.com/collections/whale-bracelets>

• Original Sailor Bracelet, 18 Color Custom Nautical Bracelet <https://mysticknotwork.com/products/original-sailor-bracelet-18-color-custom-nautical-bracelets>

These 4K Blu-rays we bought ourselves, adding to our Criterion Collection collection. While we do have a few streaming service subscriptions (Britbox is a must, and MHz Choice becoming more so) we, like so many people these days, are finding that returning to something you can actually hold in your hands is more and more compelling. (I’m looking at you, books.)

• Mulholland Dr. (The Criterion Collection) <https://amzn.to/4bZ87Ir>

• Seven Samurai (The Criterion Collection) <https://amzn.to/4dCyVj4>

• Blow Out (The Criterion Collection) <https://amzn.to/4meXynW>

• Raging Bull (The Criterion Collection) <https://amzn.to/4cekcZg>

• Dazed and Confused (The Criterion Collection) <https://amzn.to/3OpC77j>

The crème de la crème of American Made shirts, Mercer & Sons. Individually hand cut, I also may have snagged one of these for myself. All right two. Buy my husband got the snappy stripes. (I have Mercer shorten them by a couple of inches and swap out the button down collar for their modified spread collar, which stands up like nobody’s business.)

Big and Baggy and beefy all cotton. It’s like it’s the 1980s again.

• Classic Blue Bengal Stripe Broadcloth <https://mercerandsons.com/collections/stripes/products/classic-blue-bengal-stripe-broadcloth>

• British Country Brushed Cotton Flannel Tattersall <https://mercerandsons.com/collections/larger-checks-plaids/products/kent-plum-brushed-cotton-flannel-tattersall>

• Kind Of Green Two-Ply Classic 100% Pima Cotton Oxford <https://mercerandsons.com/collections/oxfords/products/kind-of-green-two-ply-classic-100-pima-cotton-oxford>

A color for everyone from Steele Canvas. Their perfect version of a mini tote, in my opinion, as it is not too mini. I just can’t fit what I need (want) to fit in the other mini totes. These are more akin to the L.L. Bean small size. Heavy cotton, excellent construction, and Made in Massachusetts.

• Steele Mini Tote <https://www.steelecanvas.com/products/mini-tote>

Patsy’s pearls have become a must wear, fighting for lobe time with her other earrings, the Monkey Fist(s). Straight from the glorious North Shore of Boston, Marblehead.

• Yankee Pearl Earrings Sterling Silver <https://patsykane.com/products/yankee-pearl-earrings>

• The Ketcham Oyster Shell Earrings 14kt Gold Dipped <https://patsykane.com/products/the-ketcham-oyster-shell-earrings-gold-dipped>

• Patsy Kane Earrings <https://patsykane.com/collections/earrings>

And finally, these. My friends in New York from Noah sent them along. A preppy Converse?

• Converse x Noah Chuck Taylor Lo 70’s <https://noahny.com/products/converse-chuck-taylor-lo-70s>

• The Port & Starboard Traditional Guernsey <https://letricoteur.co/en-us/collections/le-tricoteur-archive-collection/products/port-starboard-traditional-guernsey-jumper>

Growing up on the Connecticut shore, Block Island was just sort of always there. I never gave it much thought, even though we went out fairly regularly.

That’s probably because when I was a child, there wasn’t all that much to do on Block Island. The ferry rides were fun, though my mother usually got seasick. In fact, I included a photo of her on the ferry only because I so love her patch madras wrap-around skirt and white oxford shirt. I always love seeing her outfits, or get ups, as my father would always call them. I did however crop out her face as, well, she was seasick.

I must admit it came as a bit of a shock when I learned that Block Island was actually in Rhode Island, not in Connecticut. Not my proudest moment, but I was young. Like most places in New England, it is old (by US standards), first settled by the English in 1661. Original purchasers and first settlers include a handful of our own ancestors like John Clarke, John Alcock, Nathaniel Winslow. (Although it was sometimes Winsley back then.) In fact, to say not much happened there then may even be an understatement, not unlike the Vineyard and Nantucket back in those days, which were also purchased by some of our other ancestors, a bit earlier in the 1650s. And look what has happened there.

However, if Block Island was boring then, it sure isn’t now. (Or rather, just “Block”, as those who are exquisitely in the know will remind you. More than once.)

Once a place gets a reputation as a party island, it’s a bit hard to go back. Beach drinking and live music. It all started with the advent of Block Island Race Week, New England’s answer to Cowes Week, which Storm Trysail Club started in 1965, just about the time these black and white photos were taken.

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Back in the day it went without saying that women’s khakis were 100% cotton and made in the USA. The only real challenge was to find the right cut. I have had a great many pairs over the years in a variety of styles – pleats, plain front, tapered leg, wide leg. To think back to the details about which I moaned now seems like folly. I would kill to have those minor “problems” today. (I am looking at you, pleats.)

I spend (waste) hours in search of women’s khakis these days, each new season bringing a false hope of manufacturers/vendors getting their act together and offering a decent product. Virtually everything is sweat-shopped out now. And even more recently, fibers are diluted. Stretch, performance, whatever they call it, have infiltrated virtually all garments at a breathtaking speed.

So I ran an experiment to test a hypothesis: “I can buy decent-enough khakis from a popular, mid-market clothing vendor at a reasonable price and work effort.” (Mathematicians and scientists may recognize my approach as Proof by Contradiction. Our H₁.)

Here’s how it went:

Background:

A classic summer uniform is khakis, oxfords, boat shoes, and canvas totes. (I am calling khakis what many people now call chinos.) Currently, khakis are the most difficult of this quadrumvirate to source, especially for women.

What goes into a great pair of khakis is fairly straightforward:

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From the Connecticut shore, along the Rhode Island coast, up to Massachusetts (and The Islands), with the final destination of the Maine coast, this is the time when we feel most at home. The season is opening up.

Thus, here are the top nine reasons why this is the best time of year at New England boatyards.

9. Animals milling about

“That’s the one thing you have to remember about WASPs: they love animals and hate people.”

- Gordon Gekko, Wall Street.

There are always dogs around a good boatyard. The launch driver probably has a Golden named Spinnaker or Fender.

But they seem more plentiful, more free, even happier this time around. They smell everything. The explore. Their joie de vivre is infectious. They are the good will ambassadors, the greeters, and the food cleaner uppers.

8. Fewer Competitives

Obviously, this thing — whatever you want to call it, such as “preppy” or “WASPy”— abuts a culture of voracious narcissism. (Or worse, aspirational voracious narcissism.) Nowhere is this more on display than along the New England coast in summer - boatyards, yacht clubs, anywhere near the salt water.

Leaning into the snark, if I may, their presence is pervasive. While most of us may prefer to be in a world where all boats are the same size or size doesn’t matter, others want the biggest boat. While some value sportsmanship and comradery, others value winning above everything else. While some crave the sea, other crave photographs of themselves at sea.

And this has always been the case. Making progress with strange bedfellows is table stakes. (Hunters and environmentalists against developers, et al.) It is only together can much of this world be preserved.

But one can be forgiven for appreciating that this time of year around the water has a mix of people more skewing towards the former in the list and not the competitives. We do enjoy that, while it lasts.

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There is no shortage of picturesque towns and fishing villages scattered throughout Mid-coast Maine. Nor craggy peninsulas (peninsulae, to keep my Latin teacher happy), where the roads are long, narrow, winding, and hilly. And with sharp drop-offs at the edges. Ditches if you will. Everyone drives fast. And at night, Maine is dark. There are very few street lights.

This is why, back then on these trips, I never really knew where we were going, or where we had been.

The driver was a family friend. My parents were relegated to the back, and I was always in the front passenger seat. (Plus ça change.)

This friend, Chester, had bought the property next to where his parent’s summer house had been, which they had bought when he was a freshman at nearby Bowdoin College. And his own summer house had the most breathtaking view. Literally you gasped, every time. Up on a hill looking out over the bay, the islands and out to the Gulf of Maine. Lobster boats at sunrise, sailboats at sunset.

He would host us there many times each year. (We both lived on the Connecticut shore, and during the hottest summer days he would call us and say, “I am in Maine and you are not.”)

Part of staying with him included his taking us all around Mid-coast. Either in his shiny new Volvo wagons – silver or grey (he bought a new one every year) – or a bit later, his magnificent Mercedes wagon, diesel. The Mercedes, I remember, was heavy and stately. Always playing was classical music, and on Sunday mornings, it was Robert J. Lurtsema. Pro Musica on WGBH out of Boston.

Shopping was one raison d’être for excursions, mostly for antiques. (Antiques hadn’t yet been verbed.) The Maine coast was, and still is, filled with old Captain’s houses and barns out of which antiques are sold. Sometimes by appointment only, or if you were lucky enough to see an open sign. Maine is an independent sort of place.

Partridge Antiques — a highlight — was in an unassuming but vast old barn, filled with brilliant English antiques (mostly Georgian, hence the brilliant) which they regularly brought back from their native England. They kept exotic Egyptian dogs, greyhound-like in appearance. At that point Mr. Partridge and his wife were quite old, and they were elegant and friendly and I enjoyed their lovely British accents.

But the majority of drives centered around eating. Or later in the day, drinking.

Breakfast could be at the Bristol Diner, probably 17 owners ago, the earlier the better to hear those rich Maine accents of the older generation of lobstermen. Or at the Pine Grove restaurant, somewhere in Damariscotta (I never really knew how we got there). Once we went in search of the alewives fundraising outdoor breakfast being held on a Saturday morning, which I now know was in Damariscotta Mills. We slowed down, saw a cluster of men cooking under the tent as the rain poured down, slickers on. We decided to keep going. I always felt a bit guilty about that.

Sometimes it was a longer ride down one of the peninsulas — although it was always a long ride to get anywhere — to Christmas Cove and the Mitchell’s popular waterfront inn/restaurant. Decades later, an early childhood friend would marry into that family.

Going to Camden and then to the Sail Loft restaurant in Rockport (with their petite blueberry muffins) were regular treks. And somehow always twisting ourselves into fits of uncontrollable laughter, especially at the Sail Loft, which Chester could always do with my mother.

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I am often asked, what is the foundation of a preppy shirt wardrobe?

This quickly spirals. So a more focused and practical way to think about it is, “What if there was some unfortunate accident on a large scale and I lost it all. What would be the first seven shirts I replaced?”

And because it is preppy, then…

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“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade” (Charles Dickens, Great Expectations.)

For each pairing, which are you more likely to wear in early spring?

Give yourself one point in your preppy column for every A choice, and one point in your Sloane column for every B choice. (You cannot choose both.) Where you have neither, take no point.

All photos by/of Muffy Aldrich.

1. Light Outerwear: Stand Out vs. Blend In?

2. Boat Shoes vs. Wellies?

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“When prioritizing what ecosystems to protect, start with those that have the longest continuous history, because they contain the most irreplaceable evolutionary information and structural complexity.”

You can see the value of this idea, in sorts, when you buy clothes. When I’ve said, “buy things made where they are supposed to be made,” this is why.

There is that synergy between geographies and companies that result in clothing and accessories (and cars and…) that have their own structural complexity, which is unmatched by the global megafactories that are so cost-effective today. And between company and a geography for assurance of authenticity, I would prioritize geography. (Italy not withstanding.)

Barbour is a perfect example.

Barbours

There has seldom been a more sublime sartorial item than the Barbour waxed cotton jacket. I am talking about the genuine item — the Made-in-South-Shields, England, Barbour. (Not the Made-in-Bulgaria or wherever else they may be outsourced these days.) In South Shields, the institutional memory, the muscle memory, the generational memory — whatever you call it — imbues that jacket with something akin to soul.

The Bedales (shorter, for riding) and Beauforts (medium length, for shooting) are products that haven’t changed much for decades, where they still follow the same recipe and perhaps are still made by the same people.

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There was a time when I was a spectacularly good brick and mortar shopper. I knew what I wanted, I was fast, and there were no shortages of temptation. I rarely made a mistake and my purchases gave me years of preppy pleasure.

Those days are gone. Most shopping these days is done online and I rarely go in stores.

But as we are coming to the end of a most challenging winter (weather wise), and a bit desperate to go somewhere — anywhere — I armed myself with some cash and made the trek to the Maine L.L. Bean flagship store and the surrounding outlets. Knowing most of what was available was “imported” I wondered if there was some combination of color, cut, and overall taste that would suffice and give a much needed boost of fun.

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All photos by/of Muffy Aldrich

Even the snow lovers are growing a bit weary of it all by this time of year. We miss our yards, our light jackets, our shadows.

And while old New Englanders know intellectually that spring is just around the corner, we tend to look for little glimmers of hope and, well, beauty. (I will soon look just as assiduously for snow drops as I will, later in July, for the orange edges of the leaves.)

Luckily nature — ever the doubled edge sword — gives with the other hand this time of year. (Post-Westminster, pre-putting in the moorings.)

For me, along the New England coast, this means three wonderful things.

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All Photos of/by Muffy Aldrich

There is hardly a more glorious category of clothing than Island Knitwear. Call it what you will – Fisherman’s Sweaters, Sailor Sweaters, or more broadly, Nautical Clothing, where the colors Navy and Aran rule.

But I call it Island Knitwear, as it is a special kind of sweater, island knitted for island wear. And all have their origins in the past, made specifically for the fishermen braving the waters of the North Sea and the Irish Sea. All are made from 100% wool, and each has its own identity.

Some sources:

• Bosie Blue Mogganer collection

• Arthur Beale Oiled Wool Pullovers

• Le Tricoteur Authentic Guernseys

• Le Tricoteur Archive Collection

• Le Tricoteur Striped Guernsey Jumpers

• Le Tricoteur Plain Guernsey Jumpers

• Cordings Men’s Classic Knitwear

• Cordings Navy Douglas Rollneck

• Bosie Luskentyre Chunky Fair Isle Glenugie Nep Women’s Sweater - Mull Natural

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What is the preppiest car? The Volvo Wagon.

It can actually be somewhat difficult to lay out the specifics of what makes that Volvo wagon so “that way”.

What makes Volvos Preppy?

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For as long as I can remember, I have embraced the 80/20 approach to my food. 80% organic/local/whole ingredients/lots of fruits and vegetables. 20% McDonald’s French fries and fish filet (no bun, no cheese) and Coke, New Haven pizza and Foxon Park soda, full fat ice cream. Maybe 90/10.

(This may be my correlation to Oscar Wilde’s famous dictum, “Everything in moderation… including moderation.” And not quite Abraham Joshua Heschel’s equally witty, “O God, help me to be a good person. Help me to begin, beginning tomorrow.”)

To a large degree, I have done the same when it comes to clothing and accessories. 80% natural fibers/non-sweatshop made/local manufacturers, and the like. 20% based on convenience, looks, and just because.

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Finding great socks to wear around should be easy, but in practice they are somewhat elusive. And — as with so many things WASPy — they are more defined by what they are not.

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In New England, it used to be that seemingly everyone went skating on ponds. And some years, all winter long.

My great grandparent’s house had salt water on the south side and fresh water on the north. While more of summer was spent on the ocean side, every winter, once the ice was completely frozen, the skating on the pond would begin.

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When I read the word “cool”, I take a stutter step. Because to me “cool” often means temporary. There is a time stamp on it – what is cool today may not be cool tomorrow. And just as we don’t want our favorite restaurant to get too popular, do we also fear our favorite providers of cable knits will, if they get discovered, get diluted?

Is popularity a good thing? (And clearly, a bit of mea culpa. I have been beating this drum for years now.)

Of course, less churlishly, I desperately want the Made in Britain clothing companies to grow. Exponentially. Selfishly, despite risks, it increases my odds that I will have continued easy access to these incredible items. (I don’t want to live in a world without my Chrysalis for Cordings tweed coats.) And selflessly, I believe these companies are part of a stunningly positive cycle where everyone wins - from the farmers to the spinners to the manufacturers to the customers. I prefer driving by and seeing sheep more than I like driving by and seeing stacked canisters from China. (So, I guess that point is a wee bit selfish as well.)

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And with about a foot of snow on the ground and with an arctic air blast chaser, things are particularly still outside. While I am no longer a massive fan of snow, it does give a respite from the tiniest of creatures that plagues one throughout the warmer weather, and now even the slightly larger creatures have all gone to ground.

It is a wonderful time for wood fires. Our house is so well insulated that we heat both floors with just one woodstove, and we indulge ourselves, using kiln dried wood, the luxury line of split and cut firewood. Once you try it, there is no going back. No more worrying about how seasoned your wood really is. And if we are lucky, we get a bit of Hickory which gives that added benefit of smelling like bacon. Some of the pleasure with none of the guilt.

Two Vendor Deliveries

Two deliveries arrive from vendors just a day or two before Christmas. One vendor’s item I cannot share as it is brand new and not yet on their website, but it is completely fabulous, Made in New England, and I am quite excited about it. Stay tuned.

And then there was this glorious box from London’s Cordings of Piccadilly, filled with Made in Britain items, with the purest of pure fiber content. Some incredible British knitwear and silk.

I don’t know if anyone “does” silk scarves quite like Cordings. While they do offer a massive amount of silk handkerchiefs, I am particularly focused on their larger scarves, the style one wears with outerwear, and which are also effortlessly unisex.

• Buff Medieval Hunting Silk Scarf <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/buff-medieval-hunting-silk-scarf.html>

• Rust and Gold Madder Silk Scarf <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/rust-and-gold-madder-silk-scarf.html>

• Green Medieval Hunting Silk Scarf <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/green-medieval-hunting-silk-scarf.html>

• Navy Conrad Keepers Tweed Car Coat <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/navy-conrad-keepers-tweed-car-coat.html>

These two hefty silk scarves, “Screen-printed in England using age-old techniques” are nothing short of extraordinary. And for this level of quality, which is rare, they are priced surprisingly well.

You will literally pay over twice as much at Turnbull & Asser for such a scarf, one of which is most likely made at the same English silk mill. But the Turnbull & Asser scarf is half cashmere, which you only find out if you read the finer print. (A lovely item in and of itself, Cordings also offers that combination, but they label it as such up front.) (And I may be biased, as one Turnbull & Asser scarf, bought in the New York store a decade ago, and probably not made in that same mill, promptly lost all its fringe.)

I wear these scarves with all types of outerwear - dressier wool coats, tweed shooting coats, and with my Barbours. They are nothing short of brilliant.

Painting Antique Furniture

Also this time of year with the snow, I focus energies inward.

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