Four Days in Sussex, Two Days in London: What I Packed, Where I Stayed

Four Days in Sussex, Two Days in London:

What I Packed, Where I Stayed, What I Loved

My sisters and I wanted to do something really special for my mom's big birthday. One of the greatest gifts that she and my dad gave us was an abundance of travel to beautiful places when we were younger. Gardens have always been her favorite, her passion. She's an avid gardener at home, so I organized a trip for all of us in England to spend a few days exploring some of the most beautiful gardens in Sussex, ending at the Chelsea Flower Show in London.

Sussex

Where to Stay

We stayed at Gravetyle Manor, a house with a garden that has one of the most important stories in English gardening. Built in 1598, it came into the hands of William Robinson in 1885, one of the greatest gardeners of all time. Robinson pioneered what's known as the wild garden, a philosophy that celebrates nature rather than controls it. Truthfully, the garden at Gravetyle may have been my favorite, above even the ones that we visited. Not to mention the rooms are decorated in my exact favorite traditional English style with some of my favorite designer fabrics and details.

The food at Gravetyle Manor is unbelievable, and everything served comes from their incredible garden. They have a number of little sitting rooms where you can have tea at any point of the day. Or even better, you can take tea out in the garden when the weather allows.

Where to Eat

We mainly ate at the hotel because we were so exhausted after seeing a million gardens each day and the food is so exceptional there. But the tea rooms at any of the gardens are all wonderful, and we took advantage of those while we were out.

We also visited The Cat, a wonderful pub in the area where I got a chance to have my favorite steak and Guinness pie.

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What to Do

On our first day, we visited Great Dixter and Sissinghurst. Great Dixter was designed by Edwin Lutyens in 1910, but what makes it legendary is what came after. Christopher Lloyd transformed the planting into something exuberant and fearless, using color and density and a bold mix of annuals and tender exotics. It's one of the iconic 20th-century British gardens, and the Long Border alone is worth the trip. Sissinghurst is the opposite energy, controlled and room-like, with the famous white garden that's been copied endlessly for exactly the right reasons.

On our second day, we went to Leonard's Lea Lakes and Gardens. The azaleas were at peak bloom, and there's something about seeing thousands of them in full color that fundamentally changes how you think about a plant. The dollhouse exhibition there was extraordinary. I grew up obsessed with dollhouses, and walking through this collection as an adult, with the knowledge I have now about design and detail and proportion, was like stepping back into childhood but better. The dollhouses even had their own shops, including a shoe shop. Every single detail mattered to me in a way it wouldn't have then.

On that same afternoon, we visited Board Hill Garden. It's not a garden you see in magazines often, but it should be. It's incredibly peaceful and less busy than the bigger names.

London

WHERE TO STAY

We stayed at 11 Cadogan Gardens in Chelsea. 11 Cadogan Gardens has a real history. It used to be called The Chelsea Townhouse, and before that it was The Draycott, which we absolutely loved for its beautiful, traditional Colfax and Fowler and Bennison aesthetic. Now it's been redesigned to be more modern, which is still nice, but it's a different spirit.

What we love about staying in Chelsea is that it doesn't feel touristy. You see kids in uniforms going to and from school. You walk past real life happening, not just visitors on a mission.

Where to Eat

We ate breakfast at the hotel most mornings because it got us on the road.

We had lunch with cousins at Dalesford Organic.

Lilibet, which opened recently, is an Instagramer's heaven. The Colfax and Fowler tented ceiling at the reception alone is worth the visit. We ate dinner there and loved every moment of it.

We also had dinner at Amaya, an Indian restaurant that my parents had been to several times before and really love.

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What To Do

We saw Romeo and Juliet in the West End with Sadie Sink. If you love a modern interpretation of Shakespeare, it's extraordinary.

We saw the Schiaparelli exhibition at the V&A. Beyond the beauty of the pieces themselves, what struck me was Elsa Schiaparelli's philosophy. She designed pieces that weren't just beautiful, they were functional, they served women better in their lives. That's something I think about constantly in my own work. My favorite pieces were a collection of dresses she created for the editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar. The editor was in mourning, so they were all black. They were simpler than Schiaparelli's avant-garde pieces, more timeless, but the attention to detail was extraordinary. The way the shoulder pads were placed, the intricacy of the buttons, the subtle pleating and of course the construction. Those dresses were designed in 1935, and I would still wear every single one of them today.

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We attended the Chelsea Flower Show, which was the real purpose of the trip. It was incredible, and you can find my full recap here.

Shopping in the design district was another highlight. My mother knows every great fabric and trim and hardware store in Chelsea, and she has such an appreciation for the details. It's always such a pleasure to go with her there. We visited Bennison, with their wallpapers and fabrics reprinted from historic archives. We went to Colfax and Fowler, with that same archival approach but a different sensibility. We went to Chelsea Textiles, Fermoie with their beautiful pillows and lampshades, and Bertioli, where I met Corinne Hibbert, who owns Thyme, an estate in Gloucestershire that I've wanted to visit for years.

When I'm looking at a printed linen from Bennison or a Colfax and Fowler document, I'm not just thinking about wallpaper or a chair. I'm seeing a jacket or a dress or a skirt, a shoe or a handbag. I'm thinking about proportion and pattern and how it would move across a woman's body.

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What I Wore

When you design shoes for a living, your suitcase fills up fast. Shoes take up more than anything else, but scarves and belts you can pack a million of. Every piece I packed had to work with multiple other pieces. A white slingback that disappears into an elegant outfit and works in a garden. A Vienna belt in white leather that anchors an entire look. These aren't casual choices. They're the foundation of how I think about design.

Here are the nine outfits I managed to photograph while we were there, with the Sarah Flint pieces that made each one work.