The Natural Style Personality

I have often shared my guidelines for deciding what to wear. First: Dress for the weather. Second: Dress for the event. Third: Dress for your personality. This week, the blog posts will share information about and examples of style personalities. You may have one dominant personality trait with one or more secondary characteristics.

On Saturday evening, we enjoyed a unique dinner event with my sister and her husband. We traveled to Mars Hill, North Carolina, for an excellent farm-to-table dining experience at The Farmer’s Hands Homestead. We would be exploring the farm and gardens before dinner, so we were encouraged to wear comfortable walking shoes and dress casually. The Natural Style Personality would be very comfortable at this event.

The women who share the natural style personality wear very little makeup (think lip balm instead of lipstick). Their nails are short and natural. They enjoy a wash and wear hairstyle in their natural color and low comfortable shoes. Their color choices are neutral, and if they ever wear prints, they are small and faded out. The clothing is loose-fitting and often includes natural fabrics. If the natural woman wears any jewelry, it will likely be a small ring with sentimental value, such as a wedding ring or birthstone ring and possibly a watch.

Natural is not my primary personality trait, so I included a bold necklace and dark sunglasses to make this look my own. The lightweight textured cotton shirt/jacket is by Focus via ShopMyFairLady.com here. The tank top and ankle jeans are my basics from Chico’s. The loafers are by Born Shoes from a couple of years ago.

Now on to the photos from our delightful evening on the farm.

The evening provided Mr. Mickey with his first experience of sipping wine from a mason jar while sitting on the front porch listening to mountain music.

Sebastiaan and Ariel Zijp are the owners of this magical piece of carefully planned and cultivated land surrounding a one hundred and fifty-year-old farmhouse. They provided us with an experience that tugged at my sister’s heartstrings and mine because we spent the first few years of life on a similar small farm not very far away from this one. Every part of the house, the gardens, and the farm brought back precious memories of our early childhood.

We look forward to returning to The Farmer’s Hands Homestead often to enjoy the excellent farm-to-table dining experience as well as the company of gracious hosts. They have created a delightful paradise on a mountain top.

39 Comments
  1. What an interesting experience. Some of the best meals I’ve ever had in my life have been when we used to have a country house and grew our own vegetables and I even baked bread in those days!
    Great idea for the post this week – I remember the only time I tried the boho look back in the 1970’s and decided then that it was not a look for me LOL.

  2. Lovely pictures and I am glad you had such a great experience. We are very proud of our son Sebastiaan and his wife Ariel!

    1. Thank you for visiting my blog, Miriam. The event on Saturday was one of the most pleasant experiences I have had in a very long time. Sebastiaan and Ariel give me high hopes for the future.

  3. Natural nails….check
    Original color hair….check
    loose fitting solid color tops….check
    Lip balm only…..check
    Jeans….check
    Little jewelry…..check
    Low heels….check

    Seriously Susan, did you sneak into my home and scrutinize my closet when I was away? Every thing on your list describes me perfectly. You always have such interesting weekend excursions. We don’t have many places like that in central Illinois….not too interesting visiting corn fields after all. Thanks for your posts. BTW that is the most casual I’ve seen Mr. Mickey dress. 🙂

    1. Kathy, come just a little south in Illinois to Union County. We have wineries (see Shawnee Hiils Wine Trail), orchards, and lovely B&B’s like Susan visits or a little more casual. This will work for a day trip or weekend. You and your natural style will fit in perfectly!

  4. Love this post and looking forward to the rest of the series, especially where I fall. What a wonderful evening and beautiful place. Thank you for sharing.

  5. You described my personal style exactly. I’d never seen it expressed in those words before: Short nails, natural fabrics, a hairstyle that took years to find the right stylist, and a wedding band and watch.

    My belief is that drinking from canning jars is faux country invented by people who never, ever used them for food preservation. On the farm, we reserved Mason Jars for canning because they were purchased by the case and no cheaper than good glassware. We might drink from peanut butter glasses or pressed glass that came in a detergent box, but never a jar with a screw-top rim which is uncomfortable to the teeth and lips at best.

    1. I don’t ever recall drinking from canning jars, but some people do find the concept charming. I have even seen glass candle holders affixed to the bottom of fruit jars and then the objects are sold as “Redneck wine glasses.”

  6. I adore this post! We have a small average in Colorado with chickens and goats and this lovely farmstead gave me some great aspirational ideas!
    You look lovely and Mr Mickey looks content and handsome!

  7. Very interesting. I especially enjoyed the photo of the grape arbor which reminded me of my grandmother’s on her small farm. (The very best grapes!) Great post.

  8. What a great experience! I love the concept of farm to table. Looks like this place captured your heart too. As always thanks for sharing. Have a great week!

  9. Just want to add to the comments about drinking from canning jars: when my sweet mother was growing up as the youngest child on a farm in England in the 1920s they used jam jars as that was all they had after her father passed away. They ” made do” and she would find it odd to see the current popularity of jars for drinks. It embarrassed them at the time.

    Susan, I am fairly new to your blog and enjoy it immensely and thank you for it and for sharing your adventures. Your life story is inspiring.

  10. When I was learning fashion, we called this woman the earth mother (or hippie mama) , and she had a penchant for long skirts, tiedye, and the compulsory flowers in her hair.

  11. Hi Susan,
    What a lovely event. I wish I could find something like that a little closer to me. Farm to table is my favorite way to eat. It rarely disappoints.
    And I absolutely love mountain music. There was a movie made in 2000 with Janet McTeer called Songcatcher. It was about a woman trying to capture and record this music. I enjoyed both the music and the movie. You look perfect for the event. Also you have nicely demonstrated that French Kande jewelry can suit any accasion. I always enjoy your content.
    Regards,
    Carol

  12. Oh Susan, I cannot imagine you drinking from a Mason jar – it is definitely dual purposing. From your description of the natural style personality, it fit me about 85% — I regularly get5 a manicure and a pedicure, I wear make-up only when I absolutely have it, I wish I didn’t have to fuss with my hair but my hair is straight, fine, and no body so I have to do something with it every day, but it is my natural color. As long as my clothes are loose and comfortable, I don’t particular care what the material is made from. Other than those few tweeks, it was spot on. Looking forward to your description of the other personalities.

  13. Where are the pictures of your sister and husband?
    You and Mr Mickey find the most interesting places to go, thanks for sharing!

  14. Hello Susan,
    I found you on Instagram I believe and now I’m reading your emails. I’m from California and I’m 61 years old. I’m trying to change my mindset as I age. Reading your emails and seeing your pictures helps me and gives me ideas.

    So, I think it will give me the ability to change some of my style from the past. What worked for me when I was young may no longer be right for me now.

    So Thank you for your tips and I’m going to continue to read blogs and emails.

    Sincerely
    Simona Walter

  15. Enjoyed the outing to the country & all the photos; especially the chicken pic…she’s very pretty! Liked your outfit & it is something I would definitely wear some days; my lifestyle being very casual. You always put together a good look & look good wearing it! Thank you Susan.

  16. I would LOVE visiting a place like this! Serving wine and cheese and other hors d’oeuvres using rustic, repurposed and mis-matched accessories is so much fun for me! I grew up with china, crystal and silver…not my thing as an adult. Give me mis-matched hand thrown pottery plates from a local potter, stainless flatware and Mason jar place settings and serve food items in pottery and mis-matched cloth napkins. If sides are baked in a modern casserole dish I put it in a basket, which works as the trivet as well. A silver water pitcher or wine bucket us acceptable to hold flowers, but must be heavily tarnished. For me, this takes thought and creativity and is so much more fun. That said, I appreciate a more refined table….at someone else’s house. Looks like fun! I hope Mr. Mickey found his wine was just in good in a Mason jar.

  17. You and Mr. Mickey go to some stunning places!
    I really miss traveling and going places but it’s not the same on your own.
    Love the photos and thanks for sharing.

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I share tips and inspiration for using what you already have in contemporary ways. Defining words include effortless, classic, refined, discreet, and elegant. My style is chic, minimal, and timeless with a bit of edge.