Utilitarian chic for an army of women
+15 Utilitarian chic for an army of women
Beat swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks,” goes the adage. And the Women’s Land Army did just that. In the 1940s, English women, from the country and the city, from all social classes, joined up to work the land and nourish the nation.
The Land Army believed in cultivating its troops. Many got their first taste of learning in its ranks. And their education was not simply to train them for work; they were encouraged to engage in creative pursuits. The Land Girl magazine published their literary offerings, and in 1944, no less than Vita Sackville-West was commissioned to write a book telling the Land Army story, with a whole section dedicated to its poetry.
Sackville-West brings a touch of dark-edged sardonic eccentricity to the Max Mara mood board. Images of her garden at Sissinghurst inspire chintzy prints with blooms realized in sophisticated black on beige. Contemporary photographs and newsreels show the land girls as rosy-cheeked goddesses in the idyllic landscape.
Their jodhpurs, siren suits and other workwear classics are the inspiration for Max Mara’s utility glamour, featuring pockets and pouches big enough for a potting trowel, tough reinforced stitching and sturdy suspenders. They are realized in characterful drills dyed in an astonishing profusion of pretty colors, like the flowers in a midsummer cottage garden.
Of course, there are sandy neutrals too, bringing understated luxury to perfectly designed trench coats, generous military style jackets and rompers. Backless sundresses inspired by gardeners’ aprons and triple layered chiffon gowns with gaberdine straps take the tough chic message from day to evening.
The theme may be pastoral but this is a collection dedicated to the big city girl; her bag is more likely to contain a laptop and lunch box than fresh blooms, and those high-heeled strappy sandals were made for strutting the sidewalk, not turning the earth. But today’s woman signs up for the new wave when she steps out in Max Mara’s land girl look.
Max Mara is at Greenbelt 3, Makati; tel. 0917-7087728.
