I haven't flipped through Vogue magazine since about 1982, so I missed this page in the November issue. Fortunately, it was brought to my attention by the Proven Winners PR folks, via the e-mail newsletter of Chris Beytes, editor of trade magazine Grower Talks. Because what gardener isn't eager for some fashion advice?I like the gauntlet gloves--useful to avoid forearm scratches when pruning, although she doesn't seem to be pruning anything. Those might not be the best shoes for double-digging, though, and I'm a little worried about her toes if she drops her trowel. At least she doesn't have to worry about compacting the soil by walking on it; those spike heels might even aerate it a little.
The Proven Winners folks are wroth that although the designers got credit for the stilettoes and the pencil skirt, the growers didn't get credit for the celosia and the petunias. It seems a great injustice. Why don't they redress it by doing another garden fashion spread, and hiring me as stylist? I'll show them some garden clothes you could actually plant annuals in. (And I could inform this poor waif that November is not the time to plant celosia in New York City.)
Personally, my gardening apparel tends more toward grunge than glitz. I guess that means I'm a couple of decades out of fashion.
My gardening shoes are a miscellaneous collection of mud-impregnated old sneakers. My gardening tops are T-shirts that have been demoted from my grocery-shopping wardrobe for stains or rips (I mark them with a black "X" in Sharpie so I won't accidentally wear them outside the garden and frighten people at the supermarket). My gardening bottoms are venerable grandma jeans with an elastic waist for bending over and plenty of pockets to lose plant tags in. I always wear gloves, which get washed about once a year, though I rarely remember to wear any of my many hats.
Vogue probably wouldn't hire me to style a spread any more than they'd hire me to model. But at least I know what to do with a petunia.
Got a garden question? I recommend you call or e-mail the Plant Clinic of The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, the Master Gardeners of the University of Illinois Extension or the Plant Information Service of the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe .
All contents of this post are copyright Beth Botts. Feel free to link or share a brief excerpt with a link, but please do not reproduce photos or any other part of this blog without my express permission.
10 comments:
I like the little blue pickup truck but I don't see her driving it with those shoes!
My garden uniform is similar to yours. I'm glad I'm not the only one with a hierarchy of old t-shirts and jeans.
What a joke, Beth. She may wear those clothes in the garden but she certainly isn't going to do any serious gardening in them.
I'm surprised she doesn't have a huge hat on to complete the ridiculous outfit.
They would do well to hire you as a garden stylist.
I think my garden wardrobe is like yours. There are people in my neighborhood that don't recognize me when I'm dressed up.
That's hilarious!
All she's missing is the $165 monogrammed shovel.
Well, at least the colors are practical. Looks like a groovy outfit for meeting Fernando for drinks, but my gardening wardrobe consists of cargo pants, double t-shirts, a ball cap and tennis shoes. It's a great look for a 7th grade boy. The fact that I'm a 46-year-old woman is irrelevant.
I like your idea of marking your gardening T-shirts with a black X so that you don't accidently wear them out in the world. Because I didn't think of this myself, I have frightened people at the supermarket--although that could also be because they saw my fingernails.
That is one of the funniest fashion shots I've seen in a while - thanks for the laugh! Actually, I used to wonder about the old Smith and Hawken clothes photos. Although they were for real gardeners they still didn't look like what I'd wear in the garden. Old shorts and t-shirts for me!
those shoes might be good for the turf - but she could get stuck - live scarecrow?
I like the pockets in overalls - in fact just to look really crazy I think I'll sew on more
What can I say? I'll trash my rubber boots right this instant!
I think she's really a mannequin ... a scare crow, as you will ... just nonchalantly fingering the plants, but when her motion detector signals an intruder, she goes bazerk!
I have an old "big white shirt" that I like to wear with jeans when gardening. Yeah, it gets dirty, but I feel so gardeny in it!
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