This week I made a return to my local shopping mall, which has undergone surprisingly few changes after two very hard years. Yay!
But boy, this display just inside a J Crew store sure caught my eye. Is gardening now so cool that J Crew customers are actually buying these items?
Note the product description for the T-shirt above: “A shirt that pairs especially well with green thumbs…” So I guess so!
Not too long ago I remember a friend questioning my choice of “GardenerSusan” as my email address, since I was describing myself in such an uncool way. Obviously not a gardening friend but still, she’s artsy and her low opinion of gardeners was a shock to me.
So I wonder what led J Crew to invest in their customers wanting to identify as green thumbs. Could it be the 16 million people who started gardening in 2020? That’s what prompted the creation of the Great Grow Along, the FREE, 10-day online event that starts today. Elizabeth recommends it highly.
Okay, that’s your microdose of good news for the day.
Change that up a bit. Above “GARDENER”, add in much smaller print “Dirty”, then in very large print “HOT”, then small print again “sweaty”. Then below “GARDENER” add in much smaller print “which is why I would never wear this while gardening”
Perfectly said. People buy new clothes to garden in?!
LOL, Greg, that would be fun to do, and even funnier to wear!
It looks like the prep style but make it normcore. Checks out and more broadly relatable than microfarmer… 🙂
…then, there is that new, exciting milieu of ‘urban farming’…what the rest of us call ‘gardening’….just depends on where you garden, now doesn’t it?
I was a small child during the last age of houseplants, gardening, and self-sufficiency being cool, but I’m fairly sure that those who were serious about it didn’t feel the need to proclaim it – nor had the money to. Still, if it means that even 20% of those who snatch up a trendy tee-shirt go on to careers in horticulture because they weren’t disabused of it by the culture at large, that’s a win.
If any of them are reading this blog, I’d suggest saving the cash for a good pair of pruners, or a pair of well-fitting leather boots. My most successful and longest lived gardenwear has always come from the thrift store. Every once and awhile I dream deeply and consider slapping down insane money for a pair of Genuswear three-season insulated trousers, but I don’t think I’d be able to forget how much they were every time I stepped outside. -MW
Duluth Trading Post has insulated tough pants. They are expensive but last a very long time…my husband used to break through pants in a season, now he has them for years. If you order, you’ll get their catalogs for years, too…just sayin’ as a warning.
When my boys were young, I was able to dig into gardening, in a big way—-and my favorite item to wear was a pair of overalls—-My younger son, in 1st grade, was mortified—-he wanted me to wear a dress, and hi heels, like the other moms—Well, I have been a professional gardener for ….35? years, and guess who is now a die-hard gardener, and chef? And he is proud of my knowledge and experience—-and my practical gardening wardrobe!
I wanted to post a picture of my nerdy T-shirt that I did not buy in a hip store, but I can’t figure out how to do so. So I will just tell you that it says, “Hosta la vista, baby!.”
In the UK I suspect it would have to read ‘Garden Designer’ to be properly cool.
Thanks! I love seeing post that understand the value of providing a quality resource for free.