How Country Living Changed My Style

When you are accustom to city/suburb living, it may not be apparent to you just how much the manicured environment allows you to wear certain items easily. In the country, unless you have a lot of paved areas around your house, expansive gravel pathways or wooden deck space, there is a lot more dirt and grass surface to walk on and not a lot of hard clear surfaces. This makes for a very different experience wearing certain items, one of them being long length skirts and dresses. Sweeping hemlines are beautiful but in the countryside it does not go well with moisture, taller grasses, ticks, and dirt.

While I love this maxi/ankle length seen here, I had to stop buying them or be willing to hem them shorter.

I have nearly face planted because of a long length hemline. Face planting can happen in the city/suburbs too, long hemlines do not only trip you out in the countryside! However, when this length gets wet from dew on the grass or rain they lengthen even further by weighing down. They stick to your legs. They get muddy and grass and dirt sticks to them which gets tracked indoors. Ticks are an epidemic in many states in the US and they will hitch a ride on anything dragged across their territory. There is nothing appealing about inviting these pests into the billows around my legs and nether regions.

Long lengths work best for dry, clear, flat walking areas where you are not bending, walking up stairs or ladders, up and down horses or tractors, or even carrying babies or children. It is frankly a hazard anywhere but it is just unsuitable for the lifestyle of homesteading, farming, gardening, or being active outdoors where your interests probably are if you live in the country.

But didn’t pioneer women wear long dresses?! Pioneer women did a lot of things we do not choose to do and this is no different. The pioneer women had hard lives and it produced endurance and character. It made them rely on God. I wouldn’t say we have a lack of difficulties in modern day, we have different difficulties. I do not choose to add to them. Whatever our difficulties now, may we learn to rely on God as well since we are no less in need of Him.

The things that pioneer women did that I will add to my life are the things that make life better. Pioneer women were adept at planning because food availability was dependent on their timing of planting, harvesting, fermentation, curing, or stretching ingredients until they could buy more. They thought ahead, took timely action and worked everyday to feed, clothe, and caretake well for their household often with very little.

They had many hardships and I will not be adopting many things about their lives, including their hemlines.

I took these photos on a dry day. I took them while only meandering a non grassy area. This skirt is useless to me anywhere else in any other weather unless it is about a foot shorter. But I am glad it could serve as a country fashion lesson. I prefer long lengths and I never wear anything above the knee. Mid calf length at the longest works for my daily wardrobe. It is a significant difference to take up the hemline a few inches.

If you will only be in the house or on the patio or in your garden gravel pathways, then a long skirt is more manageable. But long length limits you in your daily wardrobe to do other tasks or be able to venture about on the rest of your property.

Aside from the length of this skirt being too long for daily living, this outfit is an example of a beautiful chilly fall day look. A sweater top tucked into a skirt with a belt and boots is a beautiful combination! Happy shopping (or hemming) for your country wardrobe! Check back for more country living advice and style.