As the train pulled into Amherst , I heaved a sigh of relief. The heat and monotony had dulled the city beyond recognition--everywhere people trudged around in a late summer's daze, squinting into the thick air and scuttling into the closest air-conditioned building. But now, weekender bag in hand, I was making my escape--an impetuous trip to the Berkshires for a long weekend of  clean air and quiet.  Hawthorne's "Tanglewood Tales" and tickets to a night of Tchaikovsky with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in hand, I set out to find my bed & breakfast, a little old manor house tucked back in the lush trees on a shady side street. I slipped into my dress and sauntered back out into the cooling afternoon, an hour or so before the concert, content to wander my way onto the Tanglewood grounds in the lovely pine-scented air.

Once night had fallen and the orchestra played its last note, the crowd rising to its feet to shout "bravo" with a rejuvenated gusto, I found myself once again wandering out through the trees, humming the opening bars of"Sleeping Beauty" to myself.  Lost in my reverie, I wandered perhaps a little too far, when I saw a dim-glowing light in a clearing up ahead. As I approached I heard laughter and then the faint notes of fiddle music.

It was a group of young musicians gathered around a camp fire--three of them with their violins out sawing away at an Irish reel, the rest making novice attempts at contra dancing, much to their own amusement.  I watched from a short distance, their joy and abandon intoxicating, before someone in the line noticed me.  A girl of about 20 came skipping out of the line over in my direction, and, without a word, grabbed my hand, pulling me into the dance.Abandoning all the city girl in me, I joined them, sashaying and curtsying and do-si-do-ing until I couldn't stop laughing and had to take a rest...

It was in this moment the Berkshire line was born.  Made for the last breaths of summer, this line embraces the Woman-in-the-wild--with basic,feminine silhouettes in easy-to-wear fabrics that provide you the ease and comfort you need for a weekend getaway, a last summer barbecue, or even a long day at the office. Slip into one and feel the joy of the evanescent summer--you'll be glad you did.