One of the first posts I wrote for the blog was Fräulein of the Manor, about a „life of delicate boredom and refined provincialness”. I said there that Lady of the Manor is a different creature who might feature in a future post. And lo and behold, that day has come.

Lady of the Manor is distant and aloof; icy, say some people. Her taste is immaculate, her wit dry and her opinions strong. She loves her roses more than she loves most people. She wears her tweeds in the garden and her gowns and dangling earrings for lavish balls at the manor. She steals the coats of young men when her bare shoulders get chilly. Once in a while, she’ll put on a sequined dress and a fur coat and drive to the town. Nobody knows where she goes, but she always returns early the next morning, looking dishevelled, her red lipstick fading. Sometimes, she has lost her shoes.

She is not a good girl. She is not a bad girl either, she is not a girl at all and she is complex. One suspects her to be rather unhappy, trapped in her beautiful house: bored, too intelligent for everyone around her, understimulated and overdressed. Then again, there are people who have caught her smiling when she thinks no-one can see her in the maze. Like she has a secret.

The Erdem collection for H&M finally gave me the clothes to tell that story. In the about section of this blog, I outline my blogging philosophy and I also say that “when I start receiving billion-dollar sponsorship offers, I’ll let you know”. That has not happened, but the offer to shoot and own some pieces from the Erdem x H&M collection is as big a deal for me (for complete clarity: I’m not getting paid). I adore Erdem and would have bought several pieces from this collab anyway. My only regret is that I only had about four hours from my bare face to the last shot to make it all happen. I hope you don’t mind me doing this project either, as I believe this to be something you’d enjoy and be interested in.

The items will go on sale on 2 November and if you’d like to see all of them, here they are. You can also see things on Erdem and H&M Instagram and I’m sure by now there are quite a few blog posts and Youtube videos out there as well. I have seen most of the pieces and can only encourage you to check them out. Not all of them are as traditional and romantic as my picks and they can be styled completely differently.

I’d like to thank Ester Kannelmäe and H&M for making this happen, Getter Kuusmaa for the beautiful pictures and Marii Lotta for my hair and makeup. Everything pictured – with the exception of the wellies and the shoes and some jewellery – is by Erdem x H&M.

For pruning the roses, a little tweed skirt suit with frayed edges and a white well-collared blouse.

For the secrets, a sequin slip dress, a leopard coat and a boxy bag.

Thank you, if you’ve made it so far!