Outfit Details:

One Clothing dress (similar here and here), Barbara Barbieri sandals (last seen in Boston), Vintage chains (like this one and these), Kramer & Hall earrings (custom, love this pair), Cigar Case purse (vintage, try this one), Vintage hat (similar option here and love the pom-poms on this one)

Dolce far niente! That’s an old Italian expression that means “sweet doing nothing.” I had an amazing time doing just that in the Italian garden at the Mount, Edith Wharton’s home in Lenox, Massachusetts. The house itself is remarkable (in case you missed it, you can see it here) but I had to go back to explore the gardens. They are absolutely beautiful and transporting. I wore this pretty summer maxi dress by One Clothing (I also love this Free People one for under $200) and Barbara Barbieri sandals, which I wear a lot in the warmer weather (case in point).

This cigar case and hat were happy finds at a vintage shop. It’s worth repeating that I LOVE to shop vintage. I have found some amazing things like this denim jacket with a pink convertible on it and this polka dot Todd Oldham.

Wandering through the porticos and alcoves of the Mount’s Italian garden definitely called to mind the serene countryside of Tuscany. Wharton believed gardens should be an elegant series of outdoor rooms with architectural composition like houses. She wrote in her book Italian Villas and Their Gardens, “…the subtle transition from the fixed and formal lines of art to the shifting and irregular lines of nature, and lastly in the essential convenience and livableness of the garden, lies the fundamental secret of the old garden-magic…”