2018 Fashion on the Ration challenge

PollyWollyDoodle

Good heavens. Perhaps there was a mistake at the maternity hospital ...

PollyWollyDoodle

Yikes, did anyone see 'Stacey Dooley Investigates: Fashion's Dirty Secret' last night? It's available on I-Player. The production of cotton is wrecking the planet ... I did know something of this, but I was shocked to see just how bad it is.

I really need some new jeans - that is a need, not a want, I wear jeans pretty much every day if I'm not working - but I think they're going to be coming from a CS now if possible. It's always a real challenge to get jeans to fit, I foresee an awful lot of trying on, especially as there are usually only two or three pairs in my size in each shop.

Laura_Elsewhere

Between research showing that bread made using modern (Chorleywood) methods being so bad for you, and research showing that artificial sweeteners are worse for you than sugar, and research showing that our clothing choices are killing the planet...

I am basically becoming my grandmother!!!!

This morning I showed Mum how to make up a packet bread-mix, and she was very excited. Just before lunch I dashed out to their excellent nearby hardware shop and bought her a sheepskin-on-a-stick long-handled duster thing to get the cobwebs out of their high ceilings. After lunch I helped her tactfully explain to their "Woman who does" how to actually do a few things, because Mum was having to go round afterwards re-doing things...

I am definitely turning into my paternal Gran - my maternal Nana was an excellent housekeeper but she didn't teach Mum any of it. Gran taught me all my housework and sewing skills, and Grandaddy taught me lots of gardening and now in their 70s and 80s I'm being asked by my parents how to do this or that old-fashioned thing!

I found clothes-moths fluttering about in the pile of wool blankets, so those went out on the line in bright sunlight and 30mph gusts and not a moth-egg in the world would stay attached in that! Their precious silk duvet went out for half an hour and the cover into the wash ("how often do you wash it?" I asked Mum... she looked vague and said she wasn't sure it came off... in other words, they've used that silk duvet on their bed every winter since 1999, and have never washed the cover nor hung the duvet out on the line to air it... eeeuuuuwwww!)

Anyway... rambling...

I just bought new jeans - that spiv, Mr Asda, if you recall. But I should have known that a pair of jeans for £8 means somebody somewhere is cutting corners...

Hmm.

Next year, I shall be REALLY keeping to my coupons, and shall we say that second-hand clothing has a lower coupon rate, to encourage us to Make Do And Mend?

EDIT: I now realise second-hand clothing already IS exempt!!

Laura_Elsewhere

PollyWollyDoodle wrote: »

I really need some new jeans - that is a need, not a want, I wear jeans pretty much every day if I'm not working

The more stretchy the denim, the quicker it wears through, so maybe you could investigate different cuts of jeans and possibly even altering them, so you can buy ones with less lycra, therefore harder-wearing?

I used to wear men's button-fly Levi 501s all the time when I worked as a field archaeologist and they lasted a million years. Still around on eBay for 40-50 quid a pair, look great on most women's shapes with a big belt, and last for years because they are made of really good denim. I think they make a version now but it's not as good, so definitely look for the old styles... and of course FABULOUS pockets because they're designed for men.
Why do people think women only need titchy little pockets?!?!

PollyWollyDoodle

That's an interesting point Laura - I used to buy men's jeans when I was younger (and slimmer!) because I liked the fit better. . I might investigate that again when I've got more time.

It's amazing how I can focus when I need to! Today I had half an hour left on my parking ticket after going to the bank. I decided to see how many CSs I could get round in that time. Two had no suitable jeans, at least no blue denim, I managed to try on four pairs in the remaining three shops and bought one.

To my surprise, it was not too stressful because the choice was so limited. Usually buying jeans has me in despair because of the choice between boot cut/skinny/straight leg/high-rise/every variety you can think of. I wouldn't say these are a perfect fit, but they are good enough – and no coupons!

I know what you mean about turning into your Nan. I'm not sure that viscose and man-made is any better than cotton, we now know that fleeces are bad for the planet and apparently we should all give up eating meat. I got myself into a bit of a state about single use plastic earlier in the year, I have decided to do what I can when I can but not stress about it too much. I think my footprint is probably pretty small compare to those of others. Do you think watching the Stacey Dooley program would change your niece's view about replacing her wardrobe every year?

PipneyJane

PollyWollyDoodle wrote: »

Good heavens - I'm not sure what 26kg would look like but I must be well below that. Was it this https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6244055/The-average-Briton-buys-clothes-large-suitcase-year.html? (Sorry, the only non-paywall article I could find.)

I wonder why we buy so much more than other nationalities.

Yes, it was, thanks.

I've long wondered the same. Is it down to the quality of fabric or construction, which is so poor that we've become acclimated to having to shop for replacements every five minutes so do it thoughtlessly? To give you an example: my favourite pair of jeans are literally falling apart before my eyes - the fabric is breaking down on the front of the thighs - and that has never happened to me before. I purchased them in 2015.

When I first moved to the UK, nearly 30 years ago, the fashion High Street seemed to be two-tiered: at one end, you could buy cheap but poorly constructed clothing made from man-made fabrics; at the other, you'd pay a fortune for anything made from natural fibres. The only shops that fell in-between were M&S and Next (both of whom made reasonable suits for work), but I didn't earn enough to shop there often.

(In 1991 or 1992, I remember paying £50 for a pair of Levi 501 jeans. At that point, my take-home pay was less than £720/month. I wore those jeans to death; they were my only pair.)

Things have not improved, even though the High Street has expanded considerably.

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

Pip, I think it's the other way round - the fabric became worse because we demanded cheaper and cheaper clothing so that we could buy more. I think the marketing caused the demand, and then the demand for cheap caused the drop in standards.

As I understand it, they used to use long-fibres of cotton and wool and especially cashmere, but now the requirement for cheaper fashion means they cut corners, so what used to be done by cheaply-paid people is now done by machine, and so instead of laboriously combing out the fibres and spinning those into thread to weave or knit, they chop up the fibres, including the rubbish bits, and use different methods to force those little chopped-up bits into a thread that is woven or knitted.

The longer fibres twisted together by spinning will grip each other and resist sliding apart so are stronger. The chopped bits will slide apart under mild stress.

It's also why so many people think they are allergic to wool. There are people who are actually allergic to wool, but not vast numbers. Most of the people who claim wool allergy are actually having a contact reaction to all those gazillion little tiny ends poking into their skin.

And it's why cashmere now is so cheap, and yet doesn't last. The classic cashmere was phenomenally expensive but people literally worse their grandmother's cashmere cardigans because it lasted so incredibly well. The stuff now costs a tenner and lasts ten minutes...

monnagran

I can relate to this. When I was growing up in the forties and fifties, the only reason for getting a new item of clothing was that the old one was very old and worn out or you had grown out of it and it was due to be passed on.

We usually had one outfit for best, you could recognise people in church by their outfit. This, when starting to wear out, was demoted to work-wear. When it was even too shabby to seen in public it would be covered with an overall and used for housework or gardening.
The only deviation from this was that you could have a winter set and a summer set.

The idea of actually having a choice of clothes didn't really start until the late fifties.

Apart from a summer top that I picked up on the sale rail in Tesc*s I bought no new clothes this year, so presumably have nearly all my coupons unused.

How's the black market in clothing coupons?

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere wrote: »

Pip, I think it's the other way round - the fabric became worse because we demanded cheaper and cheaper clothing so that we could buy more. I think the marketing caused the demand, and then the demand for cheap caused the drop in standards.

As I understand it, they used to use long-fibres of cotton and wool and especially cashmere, but now the requirement for cheaper fashion means they cut corners, so what used to be done by cheaply-paid people is now done by machine, and so instead of laboriously combing out the fibres and spinning those into thread to weave or knit, they chop up the fibres, including the rubbish bits, and use different methods to force those little chopped-up bits into a thread that is woven or knitted.

The longer fibres twisted together by spinning will grip each other and resist sliding apart so are stronger. The chopped bits will slide apart under mild stress.

It's also why so many people think they are allergic to wool. There are people who are actually allergic to wool, but not vast numbers. Most of the people who claim wool allergy are actually having a contact reaction to all those gazillion little tiny ends poking into their skin.

And it's why cashmere now is so cheap, and yet doesn't last. The classic cashmere was phenomenally expensive but people literally worse their grandmother's cashmere cardigans because it lasted so incredibly well. The stuff now costs a tenner and lasts ten minutes...

Hmmm..... Good points, Laura. I hadn't thought about the automated treatment of natural fibres in order to make cheap fabric. Yes, that would explain why my jeans are dissolving and also why cheap cashmere sweaters develop holes when washed.

When i wrote my post yesterday, I was thinking about - but couldn't verbalise - whether we've got a "cultural cringe" about fashion and, maybe, that's why the British buy so many clothes. We're never "good enough" and are always trying to live up to an impossible standard. How many times have you read an article about dressing well that refers to stylish/chic French women and sets them up as the gold standard of being well-dressed? We've had decades of it.

My own observation is that French women are no better or worse dressed than any other women. Culturally, though, their expectations are different - the French are more frugal than we are and prefer to buy things made in France (same as with their food). You can have a credit card in France, but you're expected to pay it off every month; if you don't, expect a call from your bank asking you to explain why. (I've witnessed this with French colleagues*.) If you don't have a huge amount to spend on clothes and can't borrow to maintain your habit, you'll tend to buy fewer pieces of better quality, coordinate them with the other things you own and expect them to last.**

- Pip


* My poor French colleagues. I used to quiz them about all sorts of things, particularly money-wise, in an attempt to understand how life is lived in France. To be fair, they'd do the same to me. As the resident Australian, I would translate Britain for them.

** On the rare occasions I've been to (and shopped in) Germany, I've noticed the same phenomena.

Laura_Elsewhere

monnagran wrote: »

... so presumably have nearly all my coupons unused.

How's the black market in clothing coupons?

Judging by how I've been buying everything on the black from passing spivs, it seems to be thriving!!!!

It's been a real eye-opener to me, and I am really determined to do better next year.

One thing that's emerged, for me, is how much I buy fabric and yarn that I don't then use... that's accounted for quite a few coupons.