Country wear, shooting kit, shoes, boots and ladies sporting kit … all with The Field’s seal of approval. Matters sartorial should never come between a sportsman and his quarry or, indeed, his enjoyment of the great outdoors. Ideally, clothes should make life easier without your having to give them a moment’s thought – in an understated way of course. Once there was a set “uniform” for the country gentleman and, in truth, everyone else in any situation, but the times have been changing and a cursory inspection of game fair or county show attendees will reveal that there is a serious danger of contracting “green blindness” while choosing a coat these days.
Forays for dryness and warmth have been made into the realms of “technical” fabrics – from which travellers never look back – yet we still cling to our forebears’ disruptive-pattern weather protection of choice, tweed. All this innovation and an explosion in the number of brands as well as the size of their “collections” – yes they call them that – can be a bit overwhelming but competition in the market-place should be good for us consumers.
Kit developed with polar expeditions and space travel in mind may have influenced what you wear to shoot the hedgerows or walk the dog. The problem with all these new lines is that the perfect something that you had your eye on last season may no longer be in production though the big names are realising they need to keep the successful styles going.
Here we present a guide to help you focus your search for the perfect country kit before you’re driven out of your [real]tree by the baffling choice. No matter how high powered the making of our kit may be, when it comes to wearing it we still want it to be simple and effective.