Gardeners' musings
Gardening clothes
Posted by: James Alexander-Sinclair, 29 January 2008, 10.57AMDoes it matter what one wears for gardening? Obviously most people look for warmth in winter, cool in summer and comfort all year; elegance is not really much of a consideration.
My father-in-law, for example, has a waxed jacket which is more hole than jacket. Yet wearing tatty old clothes for gardening is a relatively new phenomenon. If you look at the famous photographs of Vita Sackville-West in her high laced boots (which must have wasted at least 15 minutes of good gardening time just getting into them) or Nancy Lancaster in capri pants and a sombrero it is obvious that style was important. (There are some wonderful pictures, taken by the great Valerie Finnis, in 'Garden People' by Ursula Buchan and Anna Pavord.
Even professional gardeners always maintained a certain decorum - ties, waistcoats and (for the head gardener) a black hat and heavy fob watch. Not for them a pair of holey jeans and a sweater grimy with compost and dusted with spilled rooting powder.
Nowadays anything goes. I have laid a patio in tweed plus fours and I remember once putting up a fence wearing a kilt but that was a short affectation - the wind and splinters got into uncomfortable places. I long ago discovered the advantages of a large hat when gardening; it shelters me from the rain, protects from the sun and - if it is really hot - can be filled with water and slammed on the head as a cooling shower. At the moment I have four. There were more but a dog ate one and another was snaffled as headgear for a bonfire night guy.
Apart from protective hats the most important pieces of gardening gear are good boots (Gertrude Jekyll knew the benefits of sturdy footwear - her boots were painted by William Nicholson in 1920) and, when handling thorny things, a pair of stout gloves.
Monty Don has a range of individual outfits in corduroy and strong cotton that make him look a bit like a 1930's farmworker hoicking sheaves of corn and eating chunks of strong cheddar. Chris Beardshaw has a range of foul weather gear that would make an Icelandic fisherman jealous. Sarah Raven always looks elegantly rumpled and is never seen in mucky jeans. Joe Swift needs to wear a woolly hat.
People fall into habits and often have favourite gardening clothes - not always savoury and occasionally rescued from the jumble sale. It would be interesting to hear what other people wear in the garden...
Today 



Comments
Lorrie Flannery
29 January 2008, 01.12PM
Amoret
29 January 2008, 01.27PM
Net Essex
29 January 2008, 07.42PM
morning glory
29 January 2008, 10.12PM
kate hutchinson
30 January 2008, 01.42PM
grandiflora
29 January 2008, 04.49PM
Richard Jones
31 January 2008, 11.39AM
Obelixx
31 January 2008, 04.28PM
Kler
31 January 2008, 04.56PM
rosebud
31 January 2008, 08.04PM
Gillian D
01 February 2008, 08.34AM
Art Myrkle
01 February 2008, 10.13AM
Jenny B
01 February 2008, 04.24PM
Soggz
02 February 2008, 01.52PM
Antonia
02 February 2008, 08.16PM
Maeve
03 February 2008, 05.42PM
The Garden Monkey
05 February 2008, 11.33AM
Dunfermline gardener
08 February 2008, 07.42PM
The Gardening Fashionista
08 February 2008, 08.18PM
James A-S
12 February 2008, 05.51PM
jenny b 2
17 February 2008, 04.37PM
Paul Narramore
26 February 2008, 09.50AM
Jilly
16 March 2008, 09.40AM
fallen angel
26 March 2008, 02.45AM
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