If Monty Don was a woman....

[WeirdArchitecture]

Where would he shop?

I really want some lovely cotton or linen stuff, in my mind I see a loose fitting linen jumpsuit with scrappy straps and a side zip. It wouldn't be 'fashion' or ridiculously wide or show a silly amount of side boob. Simple and not humongous.

I search everywhere and can never find what im after, I can't be fussed with trends, but want some more choice. I used to like toast but they fit me horribly and the colour palettes don't suit me.

Are there any shops I don't know about that can do me a Monty style wardrobe? Natural fabrics that could see me gardening or walking by the lake, etc...

@XingMing

I'm sort of in the middle here, in that I am very fortunate to live close to a very naice small market town that still has a very decent everyday high street, by which I mean there's a small Boots store and Superdrug, Crew Clothing, Fat Face and some regional chains. Plus 10 or so charity shops, and a very selective designer resale shop. The big supermarkets have small branches around the perimeter of town. So I shop in the smaller shops where the shop owner decides what to buy and buys with customers in mind. The three I think of visiting are very different: one buys for mainly professional women's lives, so it's quite subdued in colour and shape. Another buys for joyful accents and the gorgeous T shirt you want, and the third is in some ways the most interesting and eclectic, in that she sells clothes to older ladies -- for events, there's lace and colour, but also nicely cut elastic waistbands and colourful items to cheer up the black and navy trousers that you wear all the time. But there is no big time shopping; it's straightforward retail for the local market that is just a tiny bit more expensive than M&S or Debenhams. Except for the posh frock shop, which regularly gives newcomers price - sticker -shock. I love the mix, and still wear everything I have ever bought from her... over almost 25 years now.

Sounds similar to me, although I am in cumbria. I have some very decent basics (cotton, pj's etc) from fat face and crew.

However, what I consider my own personal style doesn't seem to exist anywhere at all not even online. It is an amalgamation of toast, carrier company, poetry and Margaret Howell.

I spend 70% of the year in hiking gear, such as Fjallraven, Arcteryx and Rap. But outside of that, im a bit lost...

Sadly, none of the stores I prefer (toast, Howell, etc) seem to work for me.
At all.
I am not particularly skinny or petite, but do have a slight build (a bit dainty English rose, however wanky that sounds), and these garments are so heavy and overwhelming on me and make me look weighed down. I seem to suit more light and fairy-like items, which pisses me off rather a bit.

Does anyone else have a similar issue?
Your tastes somewhat contradict your actual physique and colouring?

Rab not rap.

@WeirdArchitecture I sort of know what you mean. I'm the opposite of you in that, while relatively slim (annoyingly I'd say a size 11), i am not delicate, i have broad shoulders, large hands, head and feet and features that are more handsome than pretty. When i was a girl i had a thing about the Pre-Raphaelites and was attracted to a more romantic bohemian style but actually look best in jeans and a white shirt/jacket. I feel I look a bit like a cross dresser in anything too feminine (i do have long wavy /messy natural chestnut hair though as a concession to frivolity).
I have some Toast knitwear and jackets but not dresses as the waist is never right on me, especially with belted ones, i have a long back and am very straight up and down with an insignificant bosom so they don't suit me.

So many new websites to browse! Would also recommend nygardsanna.se

Ohhhhhhhh ...

I thought I'd already found perfection on this thread - but from your (broken but findable via google) link, chimneyswift, it seems fairly conclusive that the female Monty Don would wear Swedish clothes.

@Postdatedpandemic

roake.studio/shop/the-nicole-quilted-cotton-jacket This one Duds ?

Yes!!!!!! Ah thank you so much. ☺

I used to ship almost exclusively in physical shops plus eBay (plus bin-end Toast sales). But since, you know 2019 and all that, I'm much more open to internet shopping. I'm much more cautious, and tend to the simple and practical. I've had some good stuff from Rapanui annd Finisterre, the latter might even be Monty-appropriate.

*shop

@MayIDestroyYou. I have a nygardsanna habit since I found them last year (via a pair of trousers I bought from Plumo) It's been a bit ruinous financially...but the clothes are lovely and really well made.

I have just followed nygardsanna on instagram and now all my instagram is in swedish ... Great link - thanks.
Yes to @weirdarchitecture - I also like toast, carrier company, poetry and Margaret Howell - but find it all swamps me - even though I am not petite either. I need more fitted but then that doesn't fit that style ....
And yes to finisterre - really nicely made things. And to carrier company - I have some shorts from them that are great.

count me in as another one now following www.instagram.com/nygardsanna.se/?hl=en

To add to the above comment regarding nygardsanna - I don't see anything quite like this in the uk.
There's a much more dreamy, softer quality to these looks than say Toast or Marg Howell. By contrast, uk versions of these styles/fabrics have a much more 'masculine' approach.
Toast, etc are about much more jewel toned, earthy colours, boxy cuts, whereas nygardsanna use softer shades, much more suited to my own look and colouring.

Wish these were available over here!

Try here
movementboutique.co.uk/collections/nygardsanna
And here
www.no3lenham.co.uk/collections/nygardsanna

[quote thedevilinablackdress]Try here
movementboutique.co.uk/collections/nygardsanna
And here
www.no3lenham.co.uk/collections/nygardsanna[/quote]
Thank you!

really like Hannoh Wessel too
arabella.uk.com/collections/hannoh-wessel/products/hannoh-wessel-dress-8

@WeirdArchitectureI think If i wore that dress in your last link or and about in my scottish Village everyone would think i was wearing my nightie out and about.

I like it. In fact, with the boys it's almost exactly like an outfit I wore to death in the summer of 1990 and have long wished to recreate.

*boots

I actually quite like it too but if I wrote it now I'd still look like I was wearing my nightie. My otherwise nice Dad could be very cheeky about my teenage outfits, i used to go out in various combinations of old macs, long skirts and black boots, not a million miles away from some of the links shared in this thread and my dad used to say i looked like Old Mother Riley. If I wore tight jeans, boots and an over sized jacket it was Max Wall i was compared to! No wonder I'm under confidant about my dress sense!
Apologies to younger Mumsnet who don't know who I'm talking about.

I hear you Wbeezer. I got Max Wall a lot too, and "Is it Halloween hen?" almost daily from bus drivers.

Absolutely love this thread. 💐💐💐 to everyone for all the fantastic suggestions.

There’s a beautiful woman who teaches foraging called Brigit Anna McNeill www.instagram.com/p/CEu0e0ugw-M/?hl=en She always wears natural fabrics, lovely earthy tones. I would kill to know where she gets her clothes from.

Wbeezer I got exactly the same from my Dad. He was also lovely but the comments as I came downstairs ready to go out as a teenager. Max Wall, old Mother Riley. ‘Where did you get that - War On Want?’ was another favourite. He was close, lots of my stuff came from charity shops.

Charity shops used to be amazing though, especially those in posher areas. I used to be able to buy fifties and sixties cocktail dresses, gabardine macs, wool cardigans, tweeds, hats, the kind of things that now cost a fortune in vintage shops and i used to casually alter them and abuse them!
I probably smelled of mothballs half the time!
When it wasn't vintage stuff it was army surplus...

Darn it, just decided to take the plunge on a dress and it's out of stock in my size!