Sheena Patterson of Oxford Garden Design wants some style as well as warmth in winter

I can’t complain about the weather this autumn, but now that those record breaking temperatures have fallen to near normal for this time of year, I’ve taken stock of my underwear.

Practical is the word for it. If you spend as much time outdoors as I do you’ll understand the necessity of thermal underwear, hardly the sexiest of garments but something no self-respecting lady gardener should be caught without.

The recent dip in temperature forced me, armed with my credit card, in a quest to find practical, but feminine clothes, to be worn on the inside this winter.

Reluctantly bypassing the long queues for handbags at the fashion outlets in Bicester Village, I made my way to the underwear shop, stoically ignoring the alluring arrays of silky garments on display.

It was hardly a surprise that there were no thermals set out to attract the average shopper’s attention. On enquiry, I was quickly shown the exit and pointed in the direction of the ski shop. There a helpful young man explained that there were only men’s sizes available. Undaunted, the quest went on into various outdoor sports type shops but I failed to find anything that even remotely fitted my criteria for comfort and sexy feminine style.

As I suspected, the target market for long johns and thermal vests is somewhat dominated by the male winter sporty types. The name ‘long john’ evokes an image of Victorian sleepwear in my mind and certainly does not conjure up the alluring sexy, silky look I am determined to achieve.

Who the original John was is unclear; there is a theory that the name derives from a famous boxer, John Sullivan, who wore the garment in the boxing ring. Again, not quite the look I have in my head.

Just because I run a gardening business I can see no reason why my undies should resemble those of a Victorian heavyweight-boxing champion. Something pretty and pink are my requirements.

At this year’s Chelsea flower show, a Swedish company had an alluring display of girly gardening gadgets, wellington boots with bows, rose-printed sun hats, flowery dungarees and such like. Fun and feminine certainly, but not entirely practical given all the rain we’ve had recently.

A few years ago visitors to the Chelsea flower show were asked to donate clean unwanted bras for a display. Apparently the conical shape makes them ideal hanging baskets and if you sew two together you have what was described as a hanging bra-sket. Obviously the bigger the bra the more you can grow; I guess you might grow anything from a couple of cherry tomatoes to a pair of decent-sized melons according to the cup size.

My research in practical clothes for winter gardening women continues. I tried typing ‘thermal’ into the search bar on the Ann Summers website and no results were displayed… strange.

Surely I can’t be the only woman who requires sexy, luxury, waterproof, thermal knickers and bras that, in the fullness of time, can be re-cycled into hanging bra-skets?

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