Eccentricity is a British custom, whether it is collecting thimbles from all over the world, riding your beloved basket-front bicycle through a snowstorm or channeling your inner Professor Trelawney in Harry Potter played by award-winning actress, Emma Thompson.
Think clashing prints, circus-stripe wide leg trousers, layered frill neck tops and floral embroidery that all pack a punch with vibrancy and colour, even the eyelids which have a dusting of orange shade.
Nothing says British summertime more than a wet garden centre, so match your River Island geometric trouser suit to the pink carnations, your printed silk Madeleine skirt with a crimson dahlia and your citrus blouse with zingy chrysanthemums.
A lavender field is an added bonus and it would be rude not to go full bloom with your look. Invest in an exuberant lilac floor length dress with lace and ruffles, like this from Body Frock and add pair of colour lens aviators (because as we know, everything looks better through rose-tinted specs, even the English countryside) and then dance like no-one is watching.
Finish with a rainbow knit turban from Missoni and voila! English eccentricity at its more delightful.
Lace full-length dress, £275, Body Frock (020 7036 0101, bodyfrock.co.uk); ruffle blouse, £52, Sister Jane (020 7148 0791, sisterjane.com); sunglasses, £14, Urban Outfitters (urbanoutfitters.com); pendant necklace, £120, Pebble London (020 7262 1775, pebblelondon.com)
This page: Geo-print knot top, £28, Rokit (020 8801 8600, rokit.co.uk); ruffle-neck top, £52, Cubic at Own the Look (020 3861 2346, ownthelook.com); wide-leg trousers, £79, Hobbs (020 3095 3939, hobbs.co.uk); multi earrings with stones, £90; stone bangle, £45, both Pebble London (as before)
Sheer embroidered blouse, £32, River Island (0344 576 6444, riverisland.com); printed silk skirt, £149.95, Madeleine (0333 400 0400, madeleine.co.uk); suede slip-ons, £59.99, Mango (0800 026 0028, mango.com); half-moon earrings, £90, Wolf & Moon (wolf-and-moon.com)
Dress, £92, Cubic at Own the Look (020 3861 2346, ownthelook.com); sheer blouse, £25, Marks & Spencer (0333 014 8000, marksandspencer.com); feathered mules, £185, Rogue Matilda (roguematilda.com); turban headband, £100, Missoni (missoni.com)
Ruffle blouse, £35, Marks & Spencer; wide-leg trousers, £15, Rokit; tassel earrings, £84, Wolf & Moon (wolf-and-moon.com); stone ring, £75, Pebble London
Styling by Kate Barbour
Words by Sian O’Donnell
Photographs by Tiffany Mumford
Stylist’s assistant: Sian O’Donnell
Photographer’s assistant: Sylvia Dee
Hair and make-up: Caroline Piasecki using Nars Cosmetics and Paul Mitchell
Shot on location at Long Barn Lavender Growers in Hampshire (longbarn.co.uk)
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