KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

oceanspirit wrote: »

Which jeans do you buy? I've been looking for a decent quality pair for a couple of years.

Re furniture, OH and I have decided to look for older wooden furniture and we thought we'd look for an old pub table for our dining table - we wanted something which had seen some life and still had many more years life in it. The MDF hall cabinet I had to buy in a hurry 10 years ago was wobbly within a few weeks and the plastic coating chipped very easily. It has always looked horrible and I can't wait to get rid.



I guess we're not supposed to mow the grass with lawnmowers as well then. The last one I had lasted 1 1/2 seasons. Bought a new one this year and one of the wheels falls off.

The jeans are hiut denim, made in Wales, my oh has a pair which is now well into the fourth year and going well, these are over a year old and worn daily. I braved the slim fit high waist....I have gymnast thighs so can't normally get slim jeans over my knees! They were (gulp) £125 but per wear they are becoming exceptional value for me! I had a lovely chat to one of the girls there when trying to decide what to get.

We have just been passed a hand me down lawn mower which my mum bought 30 years ago, and used to mow nearly an acre of grass each week. It started perfectly after a splutter, and my OH mows the lawn here in minutes and finishes happy too!

GreyQueen wrote: »

Re Next's clothes, hmm, haven't bothered with them for a couple of years, went into their sale and had a poke around and quickly realised that all I could see was a bunch of miserable rags which I wouldn't accept as freebies, never mind pay even a reduced price for........! Good grief, I've seen and passed on better items at jumble sales.

Much of what is offered for sale is blown together out of third rate fabrics, sewn with inferior threads, buttons barely hanging in there, seams unfinished, dyes poorly-fixed and designed to have 'hanger appeal' which means it looks rubbish on human-shaped humans.

Pah! I'll contunue charity-shopping where you can see how things have washed and worn and any egregious faults have mostly revealed themselves.

If clothing retailers want to stay in biz above the cheapy-cheap fast fashion level, they'll need to cater to the age cohorts which have the most money to spend (demographically, the 50-plus woman). At the moment, they don't seem to know how to make well-designed stylish clothes from reasonable cloth which a person might actually see herself wearing.

rant over

I agree absolutely and have on two occasions even written to M&S to that effect. I did not receive a reply. More recently they sent a silly questionnaire on their fashions and asked "If M&S were a celebrity, who would it be, and why?" I suggested Grayson Perry as it seems to share his fashion sense.

You are right about the awful quality. The big problem is that already the quality materials we used to take for granted are no longer being manufactured in sufficient quantities anywhere in the world. I worked in the clothing industry for a while and a size was a size. Now you have to try anything on and the excuse is that it depends upon the design (although the idea of size labels is to help the wearer, not change the game with every design). I can't go into some shops because the smell of the garments is overpowering. They must be sprayed with some kind of anti-rot chemicals so they survive the long sea journey from the far east, in a container. I do sometimes wonder what will happen if our link with the producing companies is broken, and we have to dress ourselves. We don't grow cotton here, or vast quantities of flax, and even wool no longer makes a dent in the clothing market. All the skills required to cut and sew the garments in bulk quantities are dying out, along with the engineering skills to make the necessary machines. Maybe we should be careful not to Kondo too many of our old curtains :rotfl:

I have some items of clothing from BHS which are still going strong (unlike them) and some old pieces from Marks as well.

I have an old dress from BHS which I wear again and again - probably every two weeks. It washes well and although obviously not new, it's good enough to go out in. It could be over 25 years old. I also have some mini skirts from Marks (I wear them over leggings these days!) They are probably over 25 years old too - but they are still comfortable and the fabrics are still fine. I must have about 5. Hmm, one red, one brown, one black, one plaid and I must have at least one blue one. Whenever I think about replacing them I can never find any as good.

Clothing items I've kondoed recently include much newer items which have gone at the seams, the fabric has been too thin and created holes or they are too see through and I have to wear tops under them which defeats the object of lightweight summer clothes. Also gone are the clothes that I have bought in desperation for my summer holidays when I've looked for so long and found nothing better, and have realised that I don't want to wear them any longer.

I have a holiday in 3 weeks and the old faithfuls will be being packed again.

I have no trousers - the last ones I bought in Marks yonks ago, but I can never find any in a fabric that I like. I was sad to get rid of the last 3 pairs I had but they were worse for wear, and I hate the new thin/lightweight fabrics. I like to wear trousers when I am cold - so now I wear cotton leggings, although I worry that the ones I like will not make a reappearance.

frogletina

I agree with your comments on the poor quality of clothes now, nothing seems to last more than a season, I find I buy less and less now but the good quality stuff can't last forever! I had to re-sew all the buttons on the last cardi I bought as one fell off and when I checked all the rest were loose.

Also - why do clothes come with half a dozen labels in? I'm sure I could wear a smaller sized bra if there weren't 6 labels sewn in (M&S)!

I love Northumberland, very envious of anyone who visits. I was at Lindisfarne in January and it was absolutely beautiful.

I have kondo'd 4 small raised beds from the garden, it's taken weeks to get the soil into the garden waste bin, if I fill it too full the lorry can't pick it up. Nothing grows very well there and I have raised beds at the community garden now. Sometime this year I will turn that area into a proper garden bed and have some lovely flowers (maybe).

got to make the effort to get my arris in gear, just had my second mug of tea, in reality I have to wait in for a new big lightweight planter for the pluglets I forgot I ordered. I am part filling with plastic bottles and fruit trays. The plugs I am putting in are called sunpatiens compact and should give a lovely show in all weathers this summer. Cosmos are in the allotment as from yesterday and 40 mini plugs of marigold have been quickly re-plugged at home. So very much easier when the right gear is handy and clean

I kondoed two codling moth traps, had them in my shed for a long time, unopened, one is now hanging to serve three trees at home and the other will go to the allotment as soon as. Nice rain for the last couple of days btw, good time to plant out down here. Like when I plant bulbs, its worth it in the end