Frump to Fab 2018 - Fabulous Dahhhhlings

savingfortomorrow

i love a rumage in the pre loved and re purposed for furniture and clothes, i find a lot of the high street very generic, It has a samey look and is dull. I like the mix of old, new and tesco. It creates some individuality. Practically i would prefer to buy a pre owned decent dress verses fast fashion for the ethical and practical reasons, at least it last longer. I find fast fashion disintegrates upon washing and stuff in a charity shop at least it will last beyond a wash.

I hate the trend of matching by colour, size please. it allows me to see what i can fit into and get. I love the latte idea, i am more frugal about buying clothes than food and it is illogical. i will look twice at bargains, maybe because i am trying to just limit what i buy somehow.

I am really keen this year to donate warm clothes before the start of the cold rather than waiting, my hangers don't need warming and any christmas themed stuff. it's just constant editing is easier than a big declutter. i am keeping a give away bag in the utility so rather that it being put away i just edit after drying laundry. it seems to help.

lessonlearned

SFT. You make an excellent comment about donating seasonally appriopriate clothing (love the clothes hangers don't need to be kept warm analogy).

When I volunteered at Scope it was very frustrating when people gave us summer clothing in October and winter clothing in May. We didn't have much in the way of storage and we had to dispose of an awful lot of perfectly good clothes, usually having to send them to be ragged. Such a waste. The charity could have made so much more money if people cleared out their wardrobes at the beginning of the season rather than the end.

I have already edited my autumn winter wardrobe and donated what I no longer need. I will donate summer clothing around April time. I have put unwanted summer clothing into a spare suitcase for now rather than taking it to the charity shop out of season. If I do manage to drop a dress size any time soon then I will donate any winter clothing which is too big straight away. Like SFT I will be editing regularly.

Stacy Doolin did an excellent programme recently about fast fashion and the devasting effect it Is having, both in human terms of exploitation of workers but also the very real degradation of the environment and the subsequent ill health of populations living near or having to use water contaminated by the manufacturing process.

I must confess I hadn't made the connection between Polyester and plastic (duh, I'm afraid I always was a bit of a duffer at science) and I certainly never realised about the fibres in fleece or micropore fabrics getting into the water table. They literally shed plastic every time you wash them.

It is so difficult though because even if you do manage to source say pure cotton instead of poly cotton, cotton itself uses so much water in its processing that it is causing water shortages.

I always knew fake fur is kinder to animals obviously but I didn't realise just how bad it is for the environment. Fake fur isn't biodegradeable, it is virtually indestructible. And it has to go somewhere. Usually landfill. The plastic fibres leach into the soil and from there into the water table.

What are we to do.:o

I think I am going to try and consume less. I shall definitely be buying less new stuff from now on and definitely no more cheap disposable clothing. If I buy new I will try and buy only natural fibres where possible.

I agree charity shopping can be very hit and miss though. You can't say today I'm going to buy X. You just have to keep popping in to see what's available.

pollypenny

It's just so hard to avoid plastics in life. we're really trying. The one thing about polyester etc is that it does last - although the news that it sheds every time it's washed is alarming.

Then we have the cotton problem, of course! Those who insist on 'natural' fabrics cannot afford to be smug.

seven-day-weekend

My husband loves charity shops. I can't be bothered to look through the rails 'just in case', especially as they are not usually organised by size. If they are also pokey and cluttered (as they often are) and full of people, I find them overwhelming.

I have a quick look through the handbags and then wait for him outside.

Having said that, he usually finds something He got a lovely set of Sanderson William Morris curtains for £4 once. They are in the bedroom.

moneyistooshorttomention

Re the materials clothing is made of and there are now ethical clothing manufacturers out there. Googling for "ethical clothing" will now bring up a noticeable number of choices.

Ones I've come across to date that have things I like are, for instance:

https://www.bambooclothing.co.uk
(not tried yet)

https://muddandwater.com/
(they do a range of clothing - including dresses). I've got one I bought at a car boot sale recently and it's reasonable quality/feels nice and soft. It's label size 12 - so I shall be wearing it when I've gone down one more size.

https://www.greenfibres.com
(limited range of athleisure - but I've inspected it personally and it's decent quality).

Bubblesmum

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Quick query time here on clothes.

I got absolutely drenched through earlier today in the shower-proof raincoat I bought from a charity shop as a temporary thing - while I diet back down in size.

So I thought - I really do need to make sure the raincoat I intend to get when I'm back to "proper size" is indeed waterproof. Seasalt ones say they are and have been tested out in Cornwall (some of which I guess gets similar weather to here).

SO:
1. Are they as waterproof as they say they are?
2. Checking out the sizes and thinking "Perhaps I should buy one marked as size 12 - ready for when I am back to my proper size?" Then I got confused by checking out what they say about their sizing on their website. It looked like I'd need to buy one with a size 8 label on for "proper size". As my "proper size" is 36" chest. They vary from style to style they do - but overall "size 8" seems to be around 39" chest (and big hips - and I know I'm same size hips and bust).
When they say 39" chest - do they mean "We've allowed room for bulky sweaters and the like underneath them" or do they mean "We mean you having a 39" chest".

Who has got a Seasalt raincoat and what do you think?

As a wheelchair user I need a long waterproof coat, as I love the sea salt brand I bought one of their popular coats a couple of years ago.

It was good quality for the price, and it was better than showerproof but definitely not heavy rain / drench proof, my problem was that I found it was fine in the spring and autumn, but I was very cold in the winter because although a rain coat it wasn’t a winter coat.

Must admit I have given it away this year and bought a Musto, their Suffolk coat, via the internet on discount but £100 more than the Seasalt. As Its from a sailing company it is very warm and heavy rain proof.

Finally size I always go for the size up to get a jumper on underneath

Hope that helps

clippy_girl

Morning ladies,

Interesting discussions re waists. I always measure the same point which is now down to about 40.5 but that is a lower point than my waist. I will need to do it properly.

I have lost around 10lbs and I think quite a bit has come off my waist. I have very large hips (even when I was very slim they always stuck right out) and also very big boobs (even when slim they are big). So I do have an hourglass figure. My waist is looking very small in proportion now. I wish it would come off my hips instead!

I bought some of those scales that measure body fat, visceral fat etc. and even though everything was in the dangerous category the visceral fat was always in the healthy range. Most of my weight has gone on bum and hips. It has reduced from 8 to 7 and as I can see my waist is noticeably smaller so maybe they are actually quite accurate!

It is 8 weeks today until I go to Sri Lanka for Christmas so need to continue with diet and exercise. It is very slow going although I can see more of a visible difference than on the scales.

So the guy I had been seeing for two months ended things last week So it is back to the drawing board I guess my confidence has improved though as I dated him at my heaviest and he made me feel good

LL re the dry skin from central heating, I put little pots of water on each of my radiators as last year it was drying out my nose and causing me to have nosebleeds.

I also bought a cheap humidifier from amazon which you can put essential oils in and started using it in my bedroom with lavender. The only problem is it has a green LED light on it which lights up when its on and as its cheap white plastic the whole thing glows. I need total darkness to sleep so I need to try and find one that doesn't have any light.

humptydumptybits

SFT I understand what you mean about seasonally appropriate clothing but it can sometimes be useful to have things the other way round, I'm thinking of a family members going to Australia in January and they really struggled to get some reasonably priced things for warm weather but got some nice things in a charity shop. I suppose that is a small market but it was a really useful one for them.


SDW your husband sounds a good match for mine.


Pollypenny Sainsbury's is my nearest big supermarket, it is about a mile away. I have got a local little Co-op but there isn't much choice and it can be expensive. In a few months I will have a big new Lidl less than half a mile away, well closer than that is I use paths but going round the road it would be about half a mile. I've never shopped in Lidl so I'm hoping that will be interesting. I have quite a choice of supermarkets with Morrisons, Asda and Aldi all within about 1.5 miles I suppose Tesco is the missing one from the big supermarkets.


I tend to use Sainsbury's and Aldi as they are the closest, pretty well nextdoor to each other so I go into Aldi for the things I like and then into Sainsbury's for a bigger choice and petrol.


Just off to the post office and bank, it is looking nice so might have a wander while I'm in town.

savingfortomorrow

Bubblesmum wrote: »

As a wheelchair user I need a long waterproof coat, as I love the sea salt brand I bought one of their popular coats a couple of years ago.

It was good quality for the price, and it was better than showerproof but definitely not heavy rain / drench proof, my problem was that I found it was fine in the spring and autumn, but I was very cold in the winter because although a rain coat it wasn’t a winter coat.
/QUOTE]

have you seen the jack murphy long coats. they are designed for hunting and have an extra wide section at the base of the legs to behind, to allow long stides over wilderness. the section can be opened or closed with velcro and might be useful to have more comfort. It is truly waterproof as i used it all the time on long journeys and wanderings. I always felt like some country lady who lost her landrover wearing hunting gear (i wish had a land rover). But they are waterproof and allow for layering. it's a good option that is good value and works.

sashybo

clippy_girl wrote: »

I also bought a cheap humidifier from amazon which you can put essential oils in and started using it in my bedroom with lavender. The only problem is it has a green LED light on it which lights up when its on and as its cheap white plastic the whole thing glows. I need total darkness to sleep so I need to try and find one that doesn't have any light.

Clippy I have a diffuser that is very similar to this for my DS in his room & read a tip on a parents forum to put the diffuser/humidifier in a porcelain/clay plant pot to block the light coming from it. Not sure if it works as not tried it but you can get nice colourful ones from ikea pretty cheaply so may be worth a try.

I'm actually thinking a humidifier would be better for DS so might move the diffuser into my room. I know that you have to be careful of which essential oils to use with young children so haven't tried any with my DS as yet. I was spending a fortune on refills for a vapour plug in when DS has colds so thought a diffuser or humidifier would work out cheaper in the long run.

I'm still struggling to do my yoga with any regularity due to my shifts/DH's shifts & DS having to be asleep so I get peace to do it! I did manage 50 mins & then another 25 mins over two evenings & will do some tonight but don't know when I'll get a chance after that. Might need to try getting up before DS to do it in the mornings, however this might wake DS up as he tends to wake when he hears me moving around. Plus I hate getting out of my bed.