For us, fall in the country always evokes a
sporting aesthetic which has its roots in England but is not necessarily strictly limited to the
UK. Country pursuits pursued with panache as
hunting and shooting are in England easily translate to picturesque parts of the States, while retaining elements of the sporting tradition that transcends fads and fashions. As Bernhard Roetzel remarks in his brilliant book
Gentleman: A Timeless Fashion, "We have to thank these once feudal and even today only partly democratized pleasures of rural life for a style of dress that continues to demonstrate its timelessness," evocative as they are of "traditions that stretch back for generations and epitomize the English countryside."
As Roetzel notes, one does not need to be an enthusiastic hunter to take pleasure in certain pieces of clothing that were originally conceived for shooting; nor does one necessarily need to trek all over the countryside merely because one has purchased an
SUV. However it is well worth putting both the SUV and the clothing to its original purpose, if only as Roetzel notes to "show them in their original environment just once before they become mere quotations in our everyday wardrobe." We are not quite so despairing of the fate of sporting authenticity, but even if your pleasure in such items is purely vicarious we feel no one of style can not be inspired by classic designs such as the
Mercedes-Benz G-Class, Barbour's British country clothing and even a fine Italian shotgun.
As followers of
The Classicist will recall, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class debuted back in 1979, and has been an automotive design icon known as much for rugged good looks as versatility ever since; what other vehicle after all can lay claim both to having won the famous
Paris-Dakar Rally and being deemed a worthy means of
transport for the Pope? The model featured here is the top of the line G55 AMG (you can read all about it
here). Famed British clothing company J.
Barbour & Sons, known for their iconic waxed jackets which are as practical as they are stylish, was founded in 1894 and holds
Royal Warrants from
HM Queen Elizabeth II,
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, and
HRH The Prince of Wales. The jackets shown here are from their great new
fall collection.
As for some of the other elements featured herein, these include the amazing
Apex from
Caesar Guerini, makers of fine Italian shotguns; a chronoscope by Swiss watchmaker
JeanRichard; classic handcrafted rubber hunting boots from
Le Chameau, founded in France in 1927; the
Classic Malts Selection, the prestigious portfolio of
single malts from Scotland's six distilling regions; the Leica
D-LUX 4 Safari edition digital camera; the latest model sunglasses from
Burberry and Dolce & Gabbana, both available at
Ilori, and
Cinzia Designs; and items from
Ralph Lauren,
Loro Piana, Beretta and others. As for the setting, the picturesque Northern Catskill Mountains provided the backdrop. See the gallery for full details.
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