The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: spandit on April 05, 2013, 01:28:11 pm
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Where is it written that a gentleman in the countryside must wear yellow cords, a Tattershall check shirt, tweed jacket (with a Barbour over the top if it's raining hard)?
Are Hunters now infra dig? Should I buy Le Chameau instead? A friend of mine has some wellies from them that cost £300, or would one get more "rispeck" in Dunlops?
I've already got a brace of spaniels and am saving up for a Range Rover but can't possibly not look the part when surveying my estate :D
Just need to buy somewhere now...
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The trouble with a Barbour is that the rain comes straight off it and soaks ones trousers and one wetting ones breeks, doesn't suit ones social position and of course, ones Nanny would also get in horrid tizz if one did. :innocent:
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Love that Over The Gate. My country uniform of choice is battered Tesco jeans, thermal t shirt, fleece jumper that is more shavings, hay, dog and horse hair than it is fleece and because I don't have to go out anywhere today, I'm not wearing a bra! However it's too cold to go commando. My wellies are super chunky Heveas that look more like platforms. I did once have a pair of Hunter wellies but they lasted for about 3 months and then they split.
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One buys ones uniform for Oxfam these days as one does not want to dress like one of those Yuppie types or the neuvo riche. Buying from Oxfam shows we are intouch with the little people and you can get designer labels as you know the Duches of Kent uses Oxfam.....so if it good enough for Royalty then One must follow suite.
tala
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My man sorts my clothes for me, I believe he had my Barbour jacket professionally 'weathered' by one of those little village men to give it that worn in look before he put it out for me, I fully agree one has to look the part when surveying ones estate incognito, I only wear geives and hawkes suits as a rule
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I think one has to stay within one's class :-J
The country gent and his good lady with the mansion , should don the latest in tweeds and check shirts ,
The trusty game keeper should also don the appropriate attire when mixing with his employer,
whilst researching the trusty smallholder, many things game to fruition... 1st the country gent would spend most of his day sipping from the hip flask, where the small holder would be on intravenous drip of cider and home brew
the country gent would transport himself around in the latest range rover, where as the small holder would stagger around with a hang over.... one would be quids in, the other would be quads broke...
the country gent would be up to his knees in fine leather, whereas the small holder would knee deep in....... :innocent:
so!!!! ..top shops for the Small holder wardrobe... Primart, any charity shop, and last but not least.. any clothe bank without a lock on it .... :thumbsup:
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Hunter's are out, as they are no longer made in Scotland.
Tattershall's are in, IMHO, as they are jolly soft and warm, and cheap. The rest of ones attire is made up of random stuff, often with the rips held together with gaffer tape.
Did anyone see Prince Charles's jacket on countryfile the other week - well worn, and patched. I though that was a very good example to set :).
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Has to be a waxed jacket for me (not a barbour), puts up with loads of abuse, and wont tear easily. Nothing wrong with a checked shirt, but my budget only stretches to dickies. ;D
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Up here one goes Harris Tweed or one does not go at all !
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Up here one goes Harris Tweed or one does not go at all !
But not new... has to be third generation and looking like it was dug up and washed in a peat bog...
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Oh poor spandit, you must have been too busy organising the Pheasant shoot to see Prince Charles on Countyfile. These days one wears a terribly expensive jacket that has TOTALLY worn out - so chic!
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Raspberry cords all the rage here...
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I've got a co-op bag in each welly because they're both leaking, I'll upgrade them to M&S bags when I next shop there. Hope to buy a new pair after the dry summer. I have an old fleece hat of my 11 year old daughters which is glued to my head inside and out, I love it.
Bag Lady is in, I tell ya.
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never got on with huntes, too tight in the calf for me, my wellies are steel toecapped heavy duty type. I do have a barbour "drizabone" tho, it was shopsoiled and £40 at a country fair, too cheap to turn down. I don't wear it all that often, but it's fantastic when you have to let the chooks out in the pouring rain at 7 in the morning.
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Spandit have you been looking at some old pjcs of me when I was a huntin fishin shootin gent :eyelashes: :-J
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The comments stem from meeting an estate agent in Sussex at a farm we were interested in... He would have made Prince Charles sound a bit common :D I did see that episode, yes, and thought his hedging coat was wonderful!
I do have 2 Barbours that are past economic repair and a tweed jacket with moth holes in it
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I have to say, I did think the 'hedging jacket' looked the part.
I've got a couple of Barbours, trouble with them is they get pretty unpleasant after a few years, even with rewaxing.
:raining:
My shooting gilet isn't waxed but is of the same ilk as the Barbours and has fared much better over the years. The Drizabone coat has fared well too.
:fc:
And the tweed riding jacket only ever came out for certain classes of certain shows so is like new (and likely to stay that way as nowadays it never comes out of the wardrobe).
:trophy: :horse:
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Up here one goes Harris Tweed or one does not go at all !
But not new... has to be third generation and looking like it was dug up and washed in a peat bog...
Yes, very good point. It should also be noted that it is preferable that it remains a tad moist in order to exude the natural odour of ex-bladder liquid as used in the traditional processing.
But how about hats? very important is a hat. I have about a dozen including wooly hats, peaked wooly hat (a la Radar in M*A*S*H but mines black), a croc dundee style, a pananma + a cheaper copy, french beret, brown chord flat cap and a tarten one.....yes, lots:-))
A hat for every occasion has this Gent of the peat bogs!
Rgds
Sskye
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Hats. Well....... :thinking:
The faux fur lined sort of peaked one with the long furry 'ears' is essential. If it's not windy or too cold then it's the Australian outback type hat. A couple of tweed flat caps are also hanging up there.
Won't give the wooly things house room. :knit: Yuk.
Oh - and a 'designer' peaked cap, for geddin in wiv da groove innit.
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Wool fedora for me but saving up for a flat cap...
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Well worn stuff has a feel of its own....nothing better than an old faithful coat with pockets full or *rap!! :roflanim:
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I used to live next to an estate owned by a barrister and a major university dean..he used to wander about in old jogging trousers and couldn't care, the nanny was better dressed. It's funny how there is a perception of what 'one' should were in the country, I used to force my ample calfs into CLEAN Hunter wellies and cringe every time I stood on a stone..now I have warm sturdy Muckboots and could not care less what people think when I wander into the supermarket, I've been working. :farmer:
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My gorgeous and snuggly Aigle choc brown neoprene lined wellies (after years of coop carrier bag linings), £1 builders gloves from the bargain shop, all else from a charity shop or gifted from lovely friends. Extra appendage at present is the Cluson Clulite Headtorch as it's lambing time. Did once buy a Drizabone coat from ebay but it touches the ground as I'm only five foot tall. Mud build-up on the wellies is one thing, on yer coat it's another entirely.
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I hope you all carry a length of baler twine in a pocket at all times. I believe that's the law :)
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Oh thats where I've been going wrong .... baler twine tied round waist!
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I see no more practicable hat for agriculture than the flat cap.
Short peak, so it doesn't bang on the sight of your rifle, but still keeps the sun and rain out of your eyes; made of wool, so is warm, does not cover your ears so you can hear what is going on. Dunno where I'd be without mine.
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Farm wear is hardly fashionable, although I do have a lovely pair of neoprene lined hunters (which I ruined on day 2 by spraying them with purple spray by accident :innocent: )
I am a equine photographer though and am on the photography team for several county shows- so look smart for those- Dubarrys, smart black jeans, work shirt with either my tweed fieldcoat or wax jacket, but I do have my eye on a lovely Barbour lightweight quilted jacket that I might have to buy before Devon County show ;)
I couldn't live without my dubarrys, I wear them every day, day in day out...
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I see no more practicable hat for agriculture than the flat cap.
Short peak, so it doesn't bang on the sight of your rifle, but still keeps the sun and rain out of your eyes; made of wool, so is warm, does not cover your ears so you can hear what is going on. Dunno where I'd be without mine.
For once Steve I shall have to disagree with you ;D
Trapper hat for me. Snuggly flaps to cover my poor ears when the wind whistles, soft peak to keep the worst of the rain off me glasses, and nothing bangs on my rifle. Not that it would matter as I am rubbish anyway though I DID snag me a vicious looking pop bottle yesterday. (I know it's only an air rifle but it's still a real gun my brother said I could never have ;D )
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I wear country stuff mainly for dog related activities but, the " proper" suff is designed fir purpose and as much as I love my per loved Parker, when fully zipped up, I am unable to get my leg over....anything :innocent: , I have a proper outdoor coat but not so keen but he zip is great as it goes both ways.......I have tried many hat types, always if d wolly o e itch so I have a Wax deer stalker and with my Parker hood over the top, it will stay on in mot weathers.........I am a big used clothing fan.....used stuff is much better in my opinion as you do not feel so bad when it gets mucky or damaged.......
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I'm another flat cap wearer, there's a reason they still are popular. Though mine is a bit thin (was only a cheapo), so may treat myself to a nice one at some point.
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All my field gear is second hand or from Tesco. my fave is the black cap with ear flaps from Tesco and a thermal jumper from a friend in the military-its stretchy and almost comes down to my knees so is fab for keeping draughts out!
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Is it just me being a fattie or why do I find the mens stuff more appealing :innocent: I am a women, in fact I went to actualy buy new socks and my husband (bless him) went straight to the mens socks for me!!
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Agree with you Happy, I'm a bit of a man dresser too, don't do girls stuff. I'm not a fatty but I like stuff quite big so it's comfy (uh oh middle age) my OH always says I look like a sack o tatties. I buy clothes in sales or charity shops, so it's often the wrong size but that's ok and if it's not then so what :D .
My kids think I'm lovely so that's fine by me (they're not yet teenage obviously).
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I have very wide calves and have found Ariats the best, with Hunters now you are lucky if they last 6 months. My next door neighbour has white ones.
I used to have Barbour coat from the 80's but they do hum, so now I like a good quality fleece, polatec does make a difference and a cheap waterproof stockmans coat that goes past the thighs so the rain runs down and misses you. You can get them for as little as £25 and I find them good as they keep out the wind and the water. Resorted to two wooley hats this winter.
I live in a commuter village with normal next door neighbours, 2.4 children and they wash the car at the weekend so I stick out like a sore thumb. I have Nora Battys body and Compos dress sense. :excited:
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:roflanim: Some lovely visions..... I fell much more comfy living in an area where I am not so judged, I used to live in a posh town and if anyone saw me go out without make up or matching handbag, they would report back to my Ex that I had let myself go, here, I fell free enough to go out in my PJ's
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A friend and I were chatting over a cuppa yesterday saying much the same thing - we hate shopping for clothes, and since we have dogs it's usually scruffy trousers and cosy tops - and she is slim. But if we do go out we at least like to look smart. I quite like my femininity - I will be at Stirling City Choir concert on Sunday - dressed to the nines in a skirt nice top and high heels, with a little make up. Being 'front of house' I have to make the effort. I wouldn't like to be a complete slob all the time. :innocent:
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I wear really trendy jeans - well, they're ripped, so I reckon that makes them trendy, no?
TAS T shirt (of course), fleece jacket and fleece gilet on top (from Lands End's sale). The hot flushes mean that layers are essential.
I bought Dan a trapper hat for Crimbo, but as I'm usually first out in the morning, I wear it, following the "first up, best dressed" rule. If he's out first, I have a fleece hat that's a bit big ( I think it might be Dan's as well).
Muck boots and waterproof trousers or Ariat Terrain boots, depending on the job / weather. And I have a pair of old cycling gloves that we found in some old cycling kit of Dan's brother's that I really like. They're a bit hard up but if they get wet, they dry really quickly and they are quite grippy.
Like doganjo though, I do like to dress up now and then :)
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Like doganjo though, I do like to dress up now and then :)
Really struggle if I have to dress tidily to go somewhere. Either everything has got sheep s**t stains on it or it is so long since I last wore it that it seems to have shrunk :innocent:
I only have two pairs of jeans (and never wear anything else) so its takes a bit of planning to make sure that the tidiest pair are clean when I need to go somewhere.
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Now I am working in Edinburgh :innocent: I do dress up and surprising my clients compliment me so it's very important to wear lady things...trouble is, I have mostly winter stuff but at lease get a chance to don my jewels.......well when I have got over this nasty bug :wave: :unwell:
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The concept of having a summer and winter wardrobe makes me smile. My summer wardrobe is just fewer layers of the winter one ;D
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rosemary me too, trouble is, IF we have a heat wave I will be roasting
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Hmm, I'm just about to take the kids to the flicks this afternoon and contemplating will I take off my muddy jeans and put on a fresh pair or not, we'll be in the dark anyway ...... hmm..... I probably don't smell too good either come to think .... ::)
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...dressed to the nines in a skirt nice top and high heels, with a little make up...
I hope you're a woman otherwise you might get some odd looks... :D
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Quite extraordinary. Was browsing through a daughter's fashion website that end up on my computer, and thought I'd look at the ladies jumpers having lost a bit of weight, rather than the usual baggy, warm men's jumpers I normally wear. Most of the fashionable knitwear had bits missing - open backs, holes on the shoulders, low cut necklines that fall off the shoulders, cropped above the waist, etc. etc. Do none of these young women have any concept of clothing to keep warm in? Perhaps they all live in well heated urban homes where the main thing is to be able to expose as much skin as possible. They must live on a different planet to me.
Back in the real world of muddy pigs, for me the most important bit of kit to accompany the wellies, warm coat, wool hat, wool scarf and warm gloves is a pair of pull on waterproof trousers. An absolute godsend first thing in the morning when eager pigs are foaming at the mouth in anticipation of breakfast and have noses covered in mud from their pre-breakfast digging. I do like to be able to strip the muddy waterproofs off when I get back indoors so that I don't spread the mud all over the house and onto our fabric covered chairs. Tamsaddle
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Back in the real world of muddy pigs, for me the most important bit of kit to accompany the wellies, warm coat, wool hat, wool scarf and warm gloves is a pair of pull on waterproof trousers. An absolute godsend first thing in the morning when eager pigs are foaming at the mouth in anticipation of breakfast and have noses covered in mud from their pre-breakfast digging. I do like to be able to strip the muddy waterproofs off when I get back indoors so that I don't spread the mud all over the house and onto our fabric covered chairs. Tamsaddle
Ditto
mandy :pig:
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Not many post from us men here- wonder why.
I have about 5 pairs of Jasper Conran jeans ( seems odd having such on a smallholding) that I bought when I lived in the UK - one pair I wear when cutting wood ( oil stained), one pair for general DIY, one pair for mud work and another for going into town all clean. I store the 4 "in use" pairs of jeans in the spare rooms and over the banniser in our room along with various fleeces that I bought in UK charity shops. I know exactly what my different sets of clothes are or if they need a wash. However I am completeley scuppered if we have visitors and the OH has a tidy up. Tree cutting clothes on soon !!
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Wearing the fur trappers hat is always a good thing ... unless I've mislaid any of my tools , then it's wear the fox hat? :-J
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Wearing the fur trappers hat is always a good thing ... unless I've mislaid any of my tools , then it's wear the fox hat? :-J
:roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
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Wearing the fur trappers hat is always a good thing ... unless I've mislaid any of my tools , then it's wear the fox hat?
:roflanim: :roflanim:
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One wears what ones bank manager allows for .
I used to wear as much ex russian & nato military surplus as i could get and dye it black , most of the colour settled down after a couple of washes and by wash 20 most of it was only good for the dogs bed .
The ex german para boots were good but not so hot to get off when you needed to go inside the house quickly, so I took to having a pair of strong poly bags by the door and some undoable cable ties so I could use the bags as galoshes
I did always go for a good pair of wellies with a decent cleated sole and for a long time used Century industrial wellies with a steel mid sole and steel toe cap as they were recognised safety gear and thus were VAT free ..not seen any for at least ten years , but then ..I've not been looking .
Hats were alway a soft wool balaclava usually rolled up unless it was very cold but mainly used because I could fit the safety hat on top if needed or a water resisting 2 inch rimmed floppy hat with chin strap fitted for the wet weather to try and stop rain cascading down my neck .
Glove were usauly hard chromed yellow riggers gloves with a pair of the thermal metalic liners in cold weather or a wrist lenght pair of industrial rubber protective gloves with a cotton liner in them as the rubber used to make my skin go funny.
High summer was stripped to the waist most of the time with a pair of cut down rolled up legged pair of brit army lightweight trousers for shorts with pocket . On the cooler days that were fine it was usually surplus T shits and a ski roll neck jumper with the surplus trousers that had lots of pockets and a bit of knee protection .
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You can't beat a boiler suit.
Just pull it on and you are ready for work (although incase the better half is reading this I probably shouldn't admit the times I have not bothered to change out of my sunday best but just put the boiler suit on top.)
Doesn't matter how dirty you get, just peel it off at the front door and you are allowed back in the house.
In winter the answer is a thermal quilted boiler suit, soooooo warm. Make sure you get one with pockets big enough to hold a flask of tea.
Footware should be steel toes (either wellies or normal boots)
Pockets should contain string and a knife.
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You can't beat a boiler suit.
Just pull it on and you are ready for work (although incase the better half is reading this I probably shouldn't admit the times I have not bothered to change out of my sunday best but just put the boiler suit on top.)
Doesn't matter how dirty you get, just peel it off at the front door and you are allowed back in the house.
You know what, that's probably the best tip posted on this topic so far. I bought a pair of 'farmers overalls' from the local Ag Merchants. Invaluable. Loads of pockets too.
One quick unzip and it's a transformation from muddy, grubby, covered in hay smallholder - to a smarter, mudfree and acceptable parent for the school run, quick trip to the shops, or visitors.
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Yup, I've got the boiler suit type and the dungaree type (my favourites) because they let air circulate in warmer weather (didn't get much wear last year).
And I turn up to school in them, mums are used to me now - one even said she was thinking of getting a pair too, they're just so blooming handy! :D
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Yup, I've got the boiler suit type and the dungaree type (my favourites) because they let air circulate in warmer weather (didn't get much wear last year).
OH does dungarees from our local agricultural merchant with some fleeces and some weird and wonderful hats and gloves
Me I just wear Dickies Grafter Duo Tone Trousers @ £14.27 and Gildan Heavyweight Blend adult full zip hooded sweatshirt @ £15.22 a checked shirt 1 of 2 @ £15.00 from the summer country shows:- long sleeve for winter, short for summer and I have some swanndri fleeces to go over everything when it gets cold bought in the sale from the outlet store in christchurch and a green felt flat cap. Finally always steel toe capped boots or wellies