From the Princess of Wales to "Rich Autumn Dad", and from houndstooth and Fair Isle to tweed caps and waxed jackets, "country-coded" clothing has been hard to miss this year.

It looks set to continue its reign into 2026 – but why the fascination with country-set style?

Can you smell it?

There's the whiff of manure in the air, because 2025 has seen the styles of the British countryside permeate everyday life in even the most urban locations.

At farmers' markets in British towns and cities – as well as on the backs of Sienna Miller and many other celebrities – Barbour jackets have been two a penny.

And you can't move on UK city streets for Argyle and Fair Isle knits, houndstooth tailoring, tweed caps and kilts.

British rural wear isn't just a mood in its country of origin, though.

In the States, stars including Katie Holmes have also been spotted in Barbour, and celebrities like Hailey Bieber and brands including New York-based Proenza Schouler have been having fun with Fair Isle patterns.

Plus, in international fashion circles, kilts have become an It-item of late, not least thanks to the London-based brand Chopova Lowena's subverted take on the Scottish classic, with US actor Julia Fox among its fans.

British TV presenter Claudia Winkleman gallivanting around the Scottish highlands wearing a cable-knit jumoer and a kilt in the UK version of reality TV hit The Traitors has done much to galvanise the trend in the UK.

However, this penchant for British countryside-styled fashion has been present on catwalks for a while.

Fendi's autumn/winter 2024-25 menswear collection, for instance, was inspired by the no-nonsense fashion approach of Princess Anne.

Named Town and Country, it included oversized Barbour-style parkas, leather wellies, and an embarrassment of tartan.

The look is of course a long-term favourite of the British Royal Family.

The Princess of Wales is often seen in the countryside or equestrian staples from tweed to riding boots – and has a particular love of houndstooth, a fabric with rustic shepherd roots.

The classic pattern was most recently sported by Catherine in the form of an Emilia Wickstead tailored midi dress in blue-and-black houndstooth check, worn for a charity event last week.

Her love of the fabric echoes Princess Diana's own houndstooth-heavy wardrobe.

Also this year, Erdem collaborated with Barbour on a capsule of waxed jackets – the two British brands had first teamed up for Erdem's spring/summer 2024 collection.

And brands from British Burberry to decidedly French Louis Vuitton looked to the rolling hills of England for inspiration for their autumn-winter 2025 collections, with Daniel Lee, creative director of the former, saying he'd been inspired by the "great Friday night exodus from London" – a UK phenomenon among the upper-classes of going to the countryside for the weekend that has its US equivalent in the en masse journey of affluent NYC residents to the Hamptons on a Friday night in summer.

He went on to reference the kinds of activities that might take place on these rural weekends: "Long rainy walks in the great outdoors to disconnect and day trips to grand stately homes."

In the collection, fabrics built to keep out the cold and damp were melded with the kind of luxurious chintz you might find in a stately home.

Other brands decided to land in the UK countryside to show off their wares.

In June, Dior went north of the border for the brand's first Scottish show in almost seven decades.

Stars including Jennifer Lawrence, Rosamund Pike and Anya Taylor-Joy descended on the grounds of Drummond Castle to see then-creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri's work with Scottish fabric makers including Harris Tweed and Johnstons of Elgin.

'Beyond trends'

So why have these countryside styles been finding their way not just into concrete jungles in the UK, but also further afield?

For a start, we can look to screens big and small. Emerald Fennell's 2023 black comedy Saltburn, starring the aforementioned "English rose" Rosamund Pike, was a wild satire of both the eccentric and buttoned-up ways of the British upper classes and included some great country-estate sartorial style, from tulle party dresses to tweed jackets.

On Netflix, thanks to a documentary series about Victoria Beckham, viewers have had a front-row seat to David Beckham, who was recently unveiled as a guest editor of Country Life magazine – wearing a style that has become known as "Rich Autumn Dad", all tweed caps and flannel shirts.

There's a lot to be said for the practicality and hard-wearing nature of these countryside threads.

For wearers, according to fashion psychologist Dr Dion Terrelonge, country style "implies that the person wearing it appreciates things that are built to last and traditions".

The look, she says, signals an appreciation of "fashion styles that persist beyond trends", contrasting with the prevalence of so-called "micro trends" online – shortlived, niche movements such as balletcore that have a moment of fame on TikTok before disappearing.

"The pace [of micro-trends coming and going] is really ramping up, so I wonder if wearing something [signalling] the UK countryside is almost in reaction to that. [It signals the message] 'I'm not somebody who buys into these kinds of thoughtless trends. I'm someone who values tradition and quality'."

"We're living in uncertain times – I think psychologically, we want to wear clothes that make us feel more comfortable and cosy," – Sasha Wilkins.

Terrelonge also notes that the kind of fabrics found in these countryside styles, the waxed cottons, leathers and tweeds, are aspirational, in an understated rather than showy way.

Plus, for the wearer, there's a quiet confidence lent to them by the assurance that these textiles are going to stay warm and dry, even in the changeable British weather.

Psychologically, she says, these kinds of tactile fabrics "that signal nature… create a calming and secure feeling" as well as "feelings of 'I'm going to go out [with] purpose in the world', making people feel more competent and capable in a time when we have a lot of, well, a lack of control."

This ties into the deeper reasons why people might be reaching for barn jackets and their ilk.

"We're living in a world where we're made to feel anything but safe and comfortable. Through social media, through the news, through the political climate, through the economic climate, everything is very unstable and feels very unsafe… these types of fashion are the opposite of that," believes Terrelonge.

"They hark back to a simpler time."

Sasha Wilkins – a Cotswolds-based antiques dealer and style journalist who has charted her move from London to the countryside, cottage life and the trials and tribulations that come with it – agrees.

She tells the BBC: "We're living in really uncertain times. And I think psychologically, we want to wear clothes that hark back to our shelter, that make us feel more comfortable and cosy."

The country-style contradiction

There can also be a contradiction to this look. Country style is ultimately associated with privilege, elitism and the British upper classes who go on hunts and drive old Land Rovers.

So that idea of safety and comfort is very loaded, because what these clothes communicate – aside from the safety and comfort of clothes built for unpredictable weather – is the safety and comfort that comes from privilege.

Fashion, points out Terrelonge, has always leaned towards what is aspirational – but what is aspirational shifts.

"It's always aiming up at a higher class," says Wilkins.

"Always aiming up at more money… at any value that might suggest more popularity or more beauty or youth. But in this case, it's not aiming up at youth or beauty per se. It's more about the lifestyle that is afforded to people who dress like this."

As worn by people who don't have a country pile, there could be a different interpretation of these country styles.

On the one hand, says Terrelonge, "some people may be a little bit cosplaying… a little bit of a 'fake it to make it' and a little bit of using clothing as a way to experience a little piece of that lifestyle".

Borrowing the tweeds from the countryside elite's wardrobes could be seen as a way to play the role of someone who owns a maze, even if you just have a balcony.

Also, Terrelonge wonders if some people "are taking these items and co-opting them; subverting them". She takes the example of a Barbour jacket.

"You take it from the countryside estate with a shotgun over your shoulder and you put it in the streets of Hackney [in East London], it's different, isn't it?"

But, she says, ultimately "you're still able to have that feeling of wearing a jacket that's made well, having that feeling of comfort."

One thing's for sure: with cultural offerings set in the UK countryside likely to continue – from the upcoming Downton Abbey parody Fackham Hall to a reality series charting the lives of the Ladies of the Cotswolds – this rural look is unlikely to gallop away anywhere fast.