Garden Attire

[DrakeMaiden]

OK, I'm just curious how you guys dress when you are out gardening.

I own a really nice wide-brimmed gardening hat, but I NEVER wear it because whenever I'm out working I always get dirty or sweaty and so I prefer something I can wash regularly -- an old bandana.

Sometimes I buy clothes thinking "this would be a nice shirt to wear while gardening," but when it comes time to go outside and work, I always choose something cast-off, often jeans with holes in the knees, old faded t-shirts, etc. I just know if I wear something nice, I'll end up snagging it on something or grinding in some soil, or worse, something that stains (like say lily pollen).

The only drawback to my gardening uniform is that we now live on a corner lot, without much privacy, and all the neighbors get to drive by and see me outside working in my frumpy clothes.

So who among us are well-dressed gardeners?

 

[patandchickens]

An awful lot of my gardening is done in five- or twenty-minute bits where I duck outside real quick while DH watches the kids, in which case it's whatever I'm wearing at the time, with flipflops or sneakers or duck boots depending on the weather. Actually, beds in the front yard often get weeded when I arrive home from errands and the kids are asleep in the back seat - I leave 'em there with doors open while I pull sowthistles and plantains til they wake up

When I get a block of actual TIME to go outside, and am fortunate enough to be able to spend it in the garden instead of digging postholes or building things or replacing gutters or whatever, I just wear grungy shorts or jeans and one of my extensive collection of old stained half-dissolving t-shirts

I do have my beloved gardening hat, though. The current one is <counts on fingers> wow, it's ten years old this year! It was my take-the-Ecology-class-lab-sections-outdoors hat in my previous life <sigh>. It is a ratty fake-straw hat from Walmart, original price probably $4.99, its original raffia flower long since faded and fallen off and the whole thing starting to get kinda holey. (Not holey like my previous fieldwork hat that got half-eaten by a horse, though). It is kind of nasty in the sweat-bearing regions, but it is MY HAT dammit and I am optimistic I can get another few years out of it. It does blow off pretty easily anymore, though, so I swap it for a baseball cap on blustery days.

Just not yer Martha Stewart type I guess ,

Pat, not gonna tell you about my special mowing pants which make me look like a birch-camouflaged albino ninja with a large flappy butt

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Pat, not gonna tell you about my special mowing pants which make me look like a birch-camouflaged albino ninja with a large flappy butt

ROFLMAO. Your secret is safe with me.

Thanks for that, Pat. I feel better now.

You are smart about finding gardening time. Sometimes that is the only way you can get anything done -- in short 20 min or less intervals. It is really frustrating to only have short blocks of time to work in, but it's better than nothing, and it does add up.

Just think . . . in a few years you might actually have someone to help you weed the garden! Well, one can dream, anyway.

 

[Suess]

If I wore something "nice" in the garden it wouldn't be nice anymore. If I know I am heading out there when I get dressed in the morning I put on a pair of cut off jeans (cut at the knees--I'm not 21 anymore) and this time of year it is a tank top that has seen better days. I have been known to go out in whatever I have on, but I can't do that for longer than 15 minutes because then I wind up on my knees and that just ruins the pants. I do wear my everyday shorts out there sometimes, but they are just shorts.

 

[Rosalind]

The nicest things I wear gardening are froggy wellies.

I own a straw hat, but since my hair got super-long the hat no longer fits over a bun. So now the bun goes out the back of a John Deere cap, thereby keeping the cap on my head in windy conditions.

Other than that, a ratty old shirt and Dickies construction overalls. I recently had to purchase new overalls, and you know, it says something about the state of gender discrimination in the world today that after five stores, all of which sold heavy-duty work clothes (Carhartt, Dickies, etc.), not one of them had women's overalls even though both Carhartt and Dickies do in fact manufacture them. I ended up getting the smallest men's I could find.

I do know women who do heavy-duty work, other than me. They told me they just have to wear regular jeans and try to find jackets with extra pockets, or alter their clothes to have enough pockets and loops and things. What a pain. Same thing happened when I needed steel toe shoes to work the manufacturing suite, I had to special order men's size 5. And I've worked for employers who make you buy your own PPE, too, it can get spendy.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Thanks Suess. Good to know we're in the same boat.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Rosalind -- Yes, I know what you mean. My "duck" boots are men's size 5 and I often buy men's size small apparel if I can't find what I want in women's clothing. It is a shame that we women are all supposed to flounce around in pink skirts and high heels.

 

[SewingDiva]

Well, I have this wonderful hat

and depending on the weather I wear either a pair of Birkenstock gardening clogs with removeable cork insoles (15+ years old, much abused and still going strong) or Wellie knock-off boots from Costco. One thing I might do next summer is make mystelf a nice tunic from Solarweave sun-protective fabric. For rainy and cold weather I add an ancient Land's End canvas field coat with a Polar Fleece top underneath.

One thing I still need to find are warm - but waterproof - gardeing gloves for early spring, which tends to be cold and rainy in New England.

~Phyllis

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Phyllis -- it sounds like you've got quite the gardening gear. I have to laugh at myself because I own a lot of hi-tech outdoor gear, but I only use it when I go hiking. I just wear worn-out cotton and old parkas at home.

My husband bought me some gloves like what you are wanting . . . they are orange and waterproof (vinyl?) but lined with warm & fuzzy material. He found them at the local (mom & pop) garden store. I have no idea what the brand name is.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Here are some gloves that are similar to what I have, but in a much more attractive color!