#AllotmentFashionWeek Day THREE – ‘Ramshackle Bodgers’

Day 3 #AllotmentFashionWeek 2018!

#AllotmentFashionWeek 2018 is sponsored by empathy RootGrow (PlantWorks Ltd)

If there’s one thing we discover about women during Allotment Fashion Week it’s that that they do like to balance glamour and style with practicality. I mean me, well I just do the bloke thing, stick on a camo t-shirt and the same muddy jeans I wore at the weekend, rescued from the wash bin, always fun if I happen to combine allotment visits with a school gate pick-up. Yes I do have a job, I’m not homeless… not easy to carry off in the Surrey Hills.

Anyway, here are two wonderful allotment owning ladies who introduce us to “Bodgers” – the name for allotment clothes apparently (I’m stealing that) and “creative ramshackle styling”. There is so much style going on in this post that I almost wish I was a woman with an excuse to bring glamour to my own allotments. I like the idea of a vintage headscarf and nail varnish, perhaps I’ll raid MrsGrow’s wardrobe next time she’s out at Badminton and give the older plot holders a shock.

Blogger & Instagrammer
Blog: linnetlane.co.uk
Twitter: @BryonySteward
Instagram: @bryony_willis

On the allotment there are a few particular items which Bryony finds herself returning to time and time again:

“The first is a pair of ages-old short denim dungarees originally from M&S which are actually hand me down….from my Nan! They are comfortable and full of pockets and durable enough to take everything I’ve thrown at them so far.”

Bryony never wears gloves unless she absolutely has to as she finds it restricts movement. Apparently hard-wearing denim is a better choice as they usually end up with muddy hands wiped on them and secateurs haphazardly shoved in a back pocket. 

“In my household we refer to old clothes used for allotmenting and DIY etc as ‘bodgers’ and I certainly have plenty of these.”

Bryony’s favourite ‘bodgers’ are a pair of shorts which she bought way back in 1999 (re-ee-wind) and are – in her opinion :

“A fabulous combination of multiple sorts of denim cut into little squares and sewn into a checked pattern. They fit me a little differently now than they did in 1999! But they are my summer allotment essential.”

Secondly, Bryony loves a good old-fashioned ‘Rosie the Riveter’ style headscarf:

“It keeps my hair off my face while allowing for a spot of vintage-inspired fun as I often can’t resist pairing it with a bright red lipstick! Likewise my vintage-style linen apron is great fun and doubles-up as a handy carryall when I’m harvesting. In the winter I replace a headscarf with my beloved grey fleece-lined Thinsulate hat, another hand-me-down I just couldn’t be without.”

Finally, Bryony said she couldn’t talk about allotment fashion without highlighting her enormous love for brightly coloured wellington boots (shown below)!

“I always wear wellies to the allotment for their practical qualities as they are warm, waterproof and mud-resistant, and it is nice to be able to add a bit of fun to my outfit by choosing bright colours! I currently have bright red, orange and yellow and I’m sure my collection will continue to expand. In the summer when it’s too hot for wellies I switch to “jelly shoes”, which any child of the 80’s will remember. I have multiple pairs of fun colours and I just find them so fun and practical in the heat – even if I do end up with a tiger stripe tan on my feet!”

Bryony says her wardrobe is a weird and wonderful combination of “the comfortable, the practical and the downright fun – and absolutely in that order”.

Instagrammer, Allotmenteer (& Web Developer): Roweena
Instagram @roweenaweb
Twitter @roweenaweb
Website: www.roweena.co.uk

Roweena’s allotment fashion style is apparently quite like her gardening approach:

“Slightly unkempt or creative ramshackle as I like to call it. One day perhaps my vegetables will be in neat lines and I will be able to float around in a pretty dress picking flowers”

Fashion essentials on Roweena’s allotment include old jeans, rolled up at the bottom in the summer.

“After falling backwards into stinging nettles when wearing shorts I’ve decided that jeans are just the most practical solution.”

Here we see Roweena in her cotton tiger print cotton vest top which she purchased at Fat Face, she says that it’s “nice and cool in hot weather and colour doesn’t show the dirt” (another one of us obscuring mud with colourful patterns)

“Boshed up old trainers are very comfy for walking and allotment jobs. My Eco coffee cup is great to fuel up at one of the cafes on my early morning walk to the allotment, watering gets done much more quickly after a strong flat white”

Roweena favours the fluffy bed-head hair look and has no time for straighteners if spending the morning furiously pulling up couch grass. She will however give her nails a splash of colour which, like Rachel yesterday, “can be useful for making grubby allotment nails look presentable” (although Roweena does not describe herself as a girly girly).

Finally Roweena recommends a cheap backpack for carrying essentials: biscuits, seeds, secateurs and a PBD free water bottle to keep hydrated.

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