Prairie Chic

My sister of Carrots and Chocolate asked me to post on prairie fashion. I think she was referring to prairie-inspired clothing. Something stark and sun-washed like this:

Or maybe these boho, childlike pieces from ModCloth:



But since she might be better at composing outfits, I’ll write instead about the actual field clothes that I've been living in for the last month. I came somewhat prepared to tromp through the knee-high grasses, but I’ve also acquired other helpful gear while here.

The first major purchase that I made was a Marmot PreCip jacket. I bought it a few weeks before class started. It was in investment, but one that has been worth it. It’s rained enough, both on daily excursions and on the very wet camping trip, that I’ve easily worn the jacket half of my time here.

Next, are my pants. I brought a few pairs of old jeans to wear in the field. I wasn't sure what else would work as well and figured that I could get the jeans as dirty as I wanted. I coated the cuffs in insect repellant each day and then waded through wet grasses. Later, I dried them from the shower curtain so they'd be stiff, but ready for wear the next day. I went a week straight on one pair of jeans, but they were miserable to put on each time. The thick cotton soaked up water and clung to my legs during the hottest parts of the day. I started noticing my classmates' pants with envy. They were made of lightweight nylon and had zip-off legs. The funny pants that I'd laughed at before the class now took on new appeal. I had to find some.

The North Face pair that I found have replaced the jeans. I bet I could go even two weeks in these pants!

The only downfall is that the thin fabric is easily pierced by some prairie plants. Don't expect the pants to protect legs from yucca or prickly pear cactus. Some porcupine grass got through as well.

Finally, sun protection is a must for fair-skinned prairie enthusiasts like me. Dr. S., having had a skin cancer scare in the past, strongly recommended that we watch out for sunburns. He laughingly told the story of a girl who had once shown up on the first day of class in her bikini, intent on getting a tan by the end of the course. The sharp grasses soon set her straight.

Dr. S. suggested that we all wear hats. He had quite a collection himself and wore different hats for different prairies. Here are a couple. He also wore a safari pith helmet sometimes.


As you can tell from the photos, most of Dr. S.'s hats had some porcupine grass seeds stuck through the band. He liked to show how the needles would dry out and twist together into corkscrew shapes. The corkscrew helped the seed burrow into the ground for the next year. The seed twists and untwists with moisture until safe in the earth.



As for me, I was content with my SPF 55 and a couple of baseball caps, a Cardinals hat and a Pioneer Seed Corn hat. Coupled with some sunglasses, the hats kept me from squinting in the bright open-field sunlight. Though not part of today's prairie fashion, I think the pioneers knew what they were doing with the sunbonnets. How different our ideas of prairie wear are now that the people creating fashion don't spend time out of the cities!