What do you wear when gardening?
So what do you wear when you’re gardening or at the allotment? Are you like Alan Titchmarsh wearing jeans, a jumper and boots? Do you emulate Monty Don and his intriguing uniform of blue shirt come smock? I always wondered where he got them from until I came across an ironmongers in Ludlow that had some in stock and wondered whether this was his source. Maybe you manage to garden in a skirt a la Sarah Raven and Alys Fowler or with funky, chunky scarves like Carol Klein.
Me . . . . well I like to think of my gardening attire as ‘scruffbag chic’. I’m messy at the best of times, although not on a par with Wellyman whose record is 2 minutes wearing a clean shirt before food ended up on it. Put me somewhere with soil, tomato feed and flower pollen and there really is no point wearing anything that is considered ‘good’. I’d love to look half as elegant as Rachel de Thame does in her Barbours, even when she’s digging up an enormous shrub. But it isn’t to be.
You will find me in jeans that are paint splattered and holey, teemed with Wellyman’s jumpers that have shrunk in the wash and an oversized fleece which has splatters of ‘Wild Thyme’ paint on it from painting the fence last year. Of course, there are my trusty green wellies but even these are looking past their best and have traces of paint on them. I told you I was messy.
The thing is I actually quite like the opportunity to not have to worry about how I look. It makes a refreshing change when there is so much focus on fake tans, designer clothes and botox everywhere you look now. A woman did turn up at the plot last year in big ‘Posh Spice’ style sunglasses, smart dark jeans and pristine black wellies. She planted up some strawberries and then I never saw her again. Allotments really aren’t the place to be precious about appearances. As I found out early on when I was caught in a torrential downpour. With nowhere to shelter on the plot, I tidied up and set off for home. By the time I got there I was completely drenched, hair plastered to my head, rivers of water running down my face and soaked right through. I got some strange looks from people as they drove past in their cars cocooned from the elements.
Fortunately, there was nobody about the other day to witness my trouser incident. Having decided to go to the plot I got changed into my scruffs. One pair of jeans had a hole in the crotch and were waiting to be patched up, my other pair had a gaping hole in the thigh and it was cold and I didn’t want a draught. After some digging around in a drawer I found another pair, got changed and wandered up to the allotment. Now these jeans normally need a belt but when I had put them on they had felt fine. I just thought that I might need to do a bit more exercise after Christmas excesses, so I didn’t bother with the belt. However, after 10 minutes or so of bending and digging something didn’t feel quite right. It was then I discovered the jeans had slipped right down and I was now displaying my knickers to the world, like some teenage boy in his deliberately saggy trousers. I am just so grateful it was January and I was alone with my embarrassment and that my oversized fleece pulled down as far as it would go protected my modesty on the walk home. Note to self, those jeans need a belt next time.
Oh, WW, thanks for the good laugh, glad you got safely home without being accosted!!! Like you, I am a scruff bag when gardening, wearing clothes that are not good enough to go to the Charity Shop!
These fun posts are just what we need in the winter! Me, I wear jeans that I bought that were too short to go out in but are perfect because they don’t get so dirty around the hems in the garden. Christina
I go for the ‘Compo’ look! I’m actually running out of tatty clothes for plotting in and will have to have a rummage through my wardrobe to see what I no longer wear off plot to replace them with.
The most important thing is to be comfortable, and to have lots of pockets.
I spent too many years having to wear a suit and tie and now relish the fact that I can dress down (nearly) all the time! xx
Leggings and T-shirt in warm weather; leggings and a sweatshirt in cold weather; Sweatpants and a sweatshirt in REALLY cold weather. I may start out with a fleece jacket, but it comes off pretty soon. Thanks for a smile in the depths of winter here.
I love the Alys Fowler ‘tea dress and wellies’ look but my garden just seems to muddy/dirty to carry that off. A selection of long-sleeved t-shirts layered beneath regular t-shirts combined with jeans – usually featuring riskily positioned rips. But as I’m in the privacy of my own garden, there’s only the husband in line of sight if the rips get bigger as I work….
I can’t believe you have copied my post Wellywoman – shame on you!
Wellies or clogs for the feet, as our ground is fairly moist due to a high water table, and normally jeans. In winter it’s a shirt, a jumper and perhaps a jacket (and yes, occasionally it’ can be a tweed jacket), and in summer it’s either a shirt or just a bare torso. (YAY for being a guy and being able to take your top off without the neighbours starring. Mind you, my mother used to do her weeding topless in summer, and the neighbours stopped noticing after a while.)
Good grief, your mother used to weed topless. I like to think Danish people are much more “cool” than we are. We would just get cold among other things…
I think wardrobe cast offs is a good way of describing my box of gardening clothes, even they are getting beyond the pale and are too full of holes even to layer.
I have just bought a Barbour in a charity shop and intend wearing it on the allotment next visit. That plus really warm socks in wellington boots brought from home rather than the icy cold damp ones in the shed.
Comfort is all when gardening.
I can’t imagine gardening in scarves or sunglasses – they’d just get in the way! I have a super-comfy pair of faded jeans, nice and stretchy (essential for all that bending), patched at the crotch because I haven’t found a replacement, and skinny hemmed so that they tuck neatly into my wellies. If I ever grow out of them, that will be incentive enough for a diet. A nice woolly bobble hat keeps my hair out of my eyes and an old padded gilet that my son outgrew keeps me warm. Oh yes, and I try to do the Alys Fowler look as long tunics cover a multitude of sins so I can bend and stretch to my heart’s content without falling out either end of my top!
For me it’s trousers and a shirt or tee shirt in Summer. In Winter a good warm sweatshirt/jumper with long sleeved tee shirt underneath and trousers too, of course. Don’t understand people who garden in skirts. Not dooable for me!
Hi,
I do have a gardening jumper, which I put on if I’m doing some serious work and know I’ll be out there most of the day getting dirty, scratched and such. It’s one of those which have some special weave to them do that thorns and such just don’t penetrate and rip it or me.
As for trousers; well many a ‘yoga’ pant has been ruined out in the field, they often don’t last more than a few minutes before I’ve got mud on them from sitting or laying taking photos or just plain old kneeling to do a bit of gardening. Perhaps I should also invest in gardening trousers as I’ve been stabbed a few times in the good ole bottom…
Shoes, well I don’t like wellies because they rip up the grass, so generally it’s a pair of cheap trainers or my slippers……………….
What a cautionary tale
Sounds like the sort of slip up that might befall me. Comfort and not minding whether it gets dirty determines my choice of allotment wear.
The trick is to find clothes that allow you to move but don’t get in the way. I swear by M&S Per Una skinny leg jeans for Winter, as they have a decent amount of stretch and the fabric is thick enough too.
Because I have been in a removable cast for a while now, I have had to wear skinny leg trousers all the time, so have a selection of “jeggings”. Once they start to show their age, they will be perfect for gardening. Best of all are some skinny legged stretch “cargo” trousers I got from the Next sale. So go I have three pairs. Just hope once I start getting properly active I don’t lose too much weight before I get full use of them.
Tops? M&S long sleeve t shirts almost all year. Topped with an old fleece in Winter. And always long socks.
I just had another surprise Christmas present; a vintage gardening book my husband forgot to give me! I love how the men were out there with their suits and ties and smart shoes on back in the day.
Jeans and jumper in winter for me, jeans and t shirt in summer. I wear walking boots rather than wellies as they keep my feet toastie.
Thanks to everyone for their comments. I’ve loved hearing about everyone’s attire. There are a few ideas out there that I might take up myself, although topless gardening isn’t one of them!!!!
Oh dear, another super scruff here! I often work in the garden in my pyjamas and wellies, complete with a hen resting on my shoulder. I must look like a pirate. I visit the allotment in paint splattered tracksuit bottoms and jumpers that have seen better days.
I also like the feeling of not caring on my appearance, it’s far too uncomfortable to garden in neat clothing. Besides, I’d be worried about getting messy…..that’s dull
Jeans, t-shirts, fleeces, and walking boots cos I have such small feet that ladies wellies are too big and kid’s ones are too narrow. Also I find them really cold and difficult to walk in.
My wellies are the most essential thing. If I’m just popping out to do a couple of not-too-messy things then I may just pull them on with whatever I already have on, skirt or jeans. For more serious work I have several pairs of old holey paint-speckled trousers and t-shirts that have seen years of abuse; first for exercising in, then for renovating the house and now for gardening.
I love to ‘scruff up’ for the allotment, it’s important to wear clothes that you can rub your mucky hands on. Also like to call in to Tesco on the way home and pretend I’m farmer!
Cashmere jumpers …. yes I know it sounds a bit grand. In January I buy one in a sale, it is my tidy jumper for the year. In year 2 it becomes my working jumper and gets worn every other day year in year out (I work as a gardener). So price per wear – very reasonable. Also they are lightweight, warm and comfortable. They usually last a few years before they disintegrate into more holes than jumper!
Walking boots and currently M&S jeans – sadly these seem to have more stretch than jean so although they start OK by the end of the day – like you, they are around my knees somewhere
K
I wear trousers from tuff stuff. They have knee pockets that take pads so you don’t need a kneeling mat – and only £19.99. Huge bargain!
I wonder if tuff stuff trousers will work for women ……. might have to check them out!
Oh I like this wellywoman! do you mind if I do a post of my own about it?
Welsh Hills Again
No, of course not I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Well here it is http://welshhillsagain.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-do-you-wear-when-gardening.html and any suggestions to help with my particular bugbears would be very welcome!
Great post, Wellywoman! Interesting how so many of us gardeners have obviously spent time mulling this over but then again gardening wouldn’t be much fun if we didn’t feel comfy while doing it. I inadvertently flashed our postman while weeding the front garden but that’s a whole other blog of my own!