There are times I've come in from working in the garden and realize what I've been wearing outside in public. I know gardening is not a fashion show. But, I have to say there are days I've looked at my clothing combination and thought "What was I thinking?"
Maybe it's the combination of capri length sweat pants, socks and Crocs that makes me cringe.
Maybe it's the rain boots with sweat pants that somehow end up tucked in that make me embarrassed.
Maybe it's the mornings that I run out for just a minute in pajamas with a coat and end up distracted by the weeds that I wonder if my neighbors were looking out their windows.
These are outfits I would never normally leave the house in.
I live on a fairly busy neighborhood street with parents driving by after dropping off or picking up their kids from school. When I stand up to wave do they notice my clothing combinations?
Am I the only one that dresses this way? Or is it just my impulsivity that I must get out and work in the garden right that minute that I don't even pause to think about what I have on? Gardening shows and commercials always show gardeners wearing clean khaki pants with a button down shirt and maybe a nice straw hat. Martha Stewart would never be caught wearing shorts and rain boots. Do most gardeners just wear whatever they have on, whether it's their work clothes, Sunday best, pajamas or a combination of those three?
I've always hoped I would get to be on the show "What Not to Wear". Not necessarily because I'm always a bad dresser, mostly because the trip and free clothes sound like fun. I've told my sister I wouldn't be offended if she suggested me for the show. If they came to secretly film me while I was gardening I know they'd pick me.
You are so not alone! I have had neighbors stop to ask me a question or to say hi and I notice they pause for a second and look at my pants and shoes. When they look back at my face, it's that moment I ask myself, "Just what am I wearing?" and we won't go into that!
ReplyDeleteI know my neighbors think I'm crazy. I've been outside in the snow and rain wearing a t-shirt and scrub pants taking photographs. In the summer, they see more of me than I'm sure they really want. It's my garden, I'll dress the way I want. And if I really feel the need to pull some weeds with coffee in one hand and a camera in the other, well, what's it to them? :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to know it's not just me! We have one neighbor who always catches me in the strangest clothing combinations! I told him one day I would clean up and wear matching clothes and make him look me over!!!
ReplyDeleteLove the sassy wellies!
ReplyDeleteI am such a gardening slob, but hey, who cares - I'm not going to dig a pond in an evening dress just to please the neighbours!
I was out there one day last summer in my sassy wellies (light blue with dark blue flowers on for the wellie aficionados!), shorts and a long raincoat - all over which were covered in mud.
Glamour girl I so am not. Ho Hum!
You have to know that my slip-on work shoes are parked right beside the back door. Most of the time they stay in the yard, but being so easy to wear... And I do have changes in garb waiting indoors too, but often the trip out of the yard is a last-minute event, that...
ReplyDeleteWell. I'm not alone, then. Thanks! :-)
I'm right there with ya! Dirty t's, stained sweats, bare foot! I look like a hillbilly most of the time. And I usually have a dirt mustache to go with.
ReplyDeleteYou are so not alone.
ReplyDeleteI seem to have a habit of messing up non gardening clothes. Often I've come back from say the supermarket, finish unpacking the car and just have to quickly check something in the garden, next thing is I've weeded somewhere or watered something and inevitably marked my shirt or trousers.
I haven't managed to cut the lawn wearing a pinstripe suit mind!
This post sure hits home. I am a big sweat pants, torn and bleached kind of gal in the garden. Very ugly. I used to find it easier to jump in my car and go get the son at school, but I got so many looks even when I stayed in the garden I try to be done and changed before he gets home from school. Now those boots, they sure are an eye catcher. You just might start a new trend:)
ReplyDeleteNot only are my clothes all dusty and grungy but so is my hair. I need some pretty Wellies. Maybe they would look at the boots and not at me.
ReplyDeleteDarla- Glad I'm not the only one. I guess we are more interested in our plants anyway, and they don't care what we have on.
ReplyDeleteTom - You're right, what should I care :) I'm usually not dressed appropriately for the weather either.
Mildred - Hopefully our neighbors will notice our gardens and not our clothes, right :)
Nutty Gnome - You crack me up, love the image of the rain coat outfit :) Wellies really do go with pretty much anything anyways... :)
Shady Gardener - Those slip on shoes are almost too easy aren't they? Anything that's easy to put on to get outside quicker is the best.
flowrgirl1 - I laughed at your hillbilly comment and dirt mustache, I usually have leaves or something tangled in my hair as well.
Rob - I think you should go for the formal lawn mowing outfit, you'd be the talk of France!
Tina - There will probably come a day that my daughter will be horrified to have her friends see me in my gardening attire :) Aren't those boots fancy, they match everything :)
Anna - My hair is usually full of twigs and dirt too. Those wellies have sure gotten their money's worth!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! I had to laugh when you said, "capri-length sweat pants, socks and crocks." This is exactly what I wear. I'm sure I look ridiculous if not down right nutty and neurotic. Thankfully I've got the greatest neighbors and my backyard has high enough fences and shrubbery. Half the time I'm wearing my socks--just stepping out for a second... Valerie Easton, garden writer extraordinaire wrote a short essay about the change from fashionista to well, whatever we are. I'm trying to think of the name of her book, to no avail. If you think about it maybe you can check on it next time you're at the library. After reading it I was like, okay, I'm not so kooky after all. Or maybe we're all kooky. But it's a happy kooky. Anyway, thanks for the great topic!
ReplyDeleteI'm with ya there! I have a pair of jeans that have holes all over them. I wear them anyway out in the garden, that is ;) And my overalls aren't much better- You know it's really bad when you wear them to the store! My neighbors have probably seen the crack in my *** many times, when I just need to stand up and pull up my britches- it only takes a second! And color? My gardening shirts and tank tops are very colorful- I use my painting ones! He he! Oh well!
ReplyDeleteGrace - I enjoy Valerie Easton's writing, I'll have to look for that. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one in these strange outfits. I've done the socks only too, forgot about that :)
ReplyDeleteTessa - Oh yes, the pulling up of the pants! That's another good one, it's such a pain to have to stop what your doing to hike up your pants! I find all of my oldest shirts with holes in them to wear too. :)
Hi, so glad to have found your blog. I have truly enjoyed it. I too am not a fashion dresser :0) luckily where we live now I have a lot more privacy. Although even when I didn't I wore whatever I had on, holes, stains and even covered in poo since we live on a small farm...lol Love your pretty boots :)
ReplyDeleteI wear whatever I have on when I find myself in the yard-If I'm coming home and spot some weeding that needs to be done, I'll be puttering around the yard in my sandals and skirt. If I'm wearing my robe and drinking coffee when I remember that it's GBBD, then I'll be outside in that, taking pictures. The worst is on Sundays though. Our house is just down the hill from the local Mormon church, and everybody walks to church in their Sunday best, and they can look right down into my yard where I am A) NOT wearing anything close to my Sunday best and B) clearly NOT going to church either! i always feel so guilty!
ReplyDeleteShannon - Thank you! You sure do have lots of space now, and no one but the cows can see what you have on :)
ReplyDeleteDreamybee- I'm glad I'm not the only one in my pajama's too. I've had that same thought on a Sunday when I'm working in the yard dressed in my dirty garden clothes :)
I enjoyed reading the comments as much as the original post. What a fun one!
ReplyDeleteLet's see, I have some stained jeans or worn out shorts and older t shirts I put on when I know I'm going out for awhile to garden. If I get sidetracked with nicer clothes on, I'll frequently do something to get them dirty. I'll also go out to do something quick in my pjs, but it may turn out to be not so quick. I have several pairs of athletic shoes I garden in, but it seems like whenever I get new socks, I just go out in them to do some close by deadheading or herb picking, or whatever, so they get stained right away.
Oh, and I hate wearing gloves, so my hands get stained. When I give money or get change, I try to keep my hands in such a way, that the palms don't show too much, as they tend to be stained from spring to the end of summer.
We live on a corner lot that gets quite a lot of traffic, as we are a block from a busy street. Sometimes my hair is OK, other times, it's a mess.
Sue - It has been fun to see what other people wear and that I'm not the only one! I love that other people garden in their socks. I really thought I might be the only one doing that! I like how you described trying to get change while not showing your stained hands, that made me laugh :)
ReplyDeleteIf Valerie Easton can write about Fashionistas, then I think we all qualify as Gardenistas!
ReplyDeleteWith me, it is the other way around. I stop in the garden to do one with, and end up staying an hour, usually on the way in or out. Once, I let my purse on the garden stand, and couldn't think where it might be for several hours. I keep an old trowel stuck in the ground that I use for these unscheduled visits.
ReplyDeleteNutty Gnome - I like that, Gardenistas!
ReplyDeletegardenpath - It's funny how distracting gardening can be, there's always something calling out to get done. Glad you finally found your purse :)
I always work out in the garden in the morning, around the time of my workout, so my outfits are usually sweat pants and tee shirts. And I always have my ugly glasses on, not my usual contacts, so I'm sure the neighbors think I am one frumpy gardener! Oh well.
ReplyDeleteLOL, Catherine. This is a great post. It sounds like many of us have "terrible taste" when it comes to gardening attire! Count me among them. The worst for me is all the time I spend outside in my pj's. Summer is the worst for that ~ it's so nice early in the mornings, I just slip out first thing and don't take the time to change. My neighbors have never said anything but maybe they secretly chuckle at me?
ReplyDeleteI haven't visited for a couple days so I also wanted to say great job on digging out the tree all by yourself! That's ambitious. I think the replacement choice of a magnolia is great. It will be beautiful. I bought one last year too ~ 'Jane' ~ I think it's one of the hardier ones for my cold zone.
Msrobin - I wonder if neighbors of gardeners must wonder about us all, it sounds like we all care more about working in our yard than what we have on.
ReplyDeleteKathleen - I almost didn't mention the pj's part, because I really thought I was the only one :) So glad to see I'm not! I just saw that Anna @ Flowergardengirl also has 'Jane'. Now I need to see what that one looks like.
Ha ha ha...your post cracked me up! I can totally relate, ecspecially walking out in my pajamas and getting distracted by weeds and spending another half hour in the yeard. Or the shoes with the random pants, and shirt.
ReplyDeleteA Girl and her Garden - I'm glad you could relate. Pretty funny the combinations that can end up together, all to get out us out in garden quicker than having to look for things that match.
ReplyDeleteHi Catherine,
ReplyDeleteIt is so ironic you posted on this... I always say no one I know in everyday life would ever recognize me if they saw me in my garden. Always have on jean shorts - never pants - but they are so grungy looking from all the black dirt stains. I wash them but it is no use. My shirts are all bought for the purpose of gardening but they are stained up as well. (Gosh, this sounds awful as I write it.) Just think, my neighbors think this is the way I always look. I actually love fashion and trends and that's why I say no one would recognize me on gardening days.
Now, I just need some of those adorable boots you have and maybe they would make up for all my dirt stains.
Meems @ Hoe and Shovel
Oh, yes, this hits a little too close to home. My summer gardening pants (for when the mosquitoes are on the attack) are khakis that are too short (they shrunk) with paint stains all over worn with one of my husband's old button down white work shirts (also with paint stains for the matching effect). The feet are encased in either old Mudd shoes or neon pink Croc-type sandals. If I don't dress like this, I'll ruin whatever socially acceptable clothing I'm wearing in the garden. (And then there are those times in the early morning on the way to the compost bin in my robe...)
ReplyDeleteMeems - It is so nice to see I'm not the only one :) It's been fun seeing what other people wear too, I've been laughing as I read all the comments. As Nutty Gnome called us, we're Gardenistas!
ReplyDeleteMr. McGregor's Daughter - I have ruined some brand new clothes with impulse garden projects. I guess it's better for all of us if we just wear our crazy clothing combinations. And once again I'm so glad I'm not the only one out in pajamas or robes in the garden :)
Oh you name it and I've worn it. I can be found in the garden in my jammies on a fairly regular basis and when I deliberately dress for the garden, it's in clothes that don't even reside in my house. There is a shelf in the garage reserved for the grubby gardening clothes. They're appropriately disgusting! LOL
ReplyDeleteHi Catherine,
ReplyDeleteI am about to post a pic of me in my compost pile today and put a link to this post. I am assuming you won't mind. I'm not sure if there is a rule about this kind of thing, but people have left a link to my blog without telling me, so I think it's acceptable.
I had a fun day outdoors today!