2018 Fashion on the Ration challenge

RicardaRacoon

Merry Christmas everyone! It was so lovely spending this year discussion clothes and the occassional black market spivs!


I've just sorted my whole wardrobe. Sorted out a couple of things in my current size that I'll likely not wear again and a lot of stuff in a smaller size. I had two huge boxes of clothes that don't currently fit and sorted half of it out for donation. I only kept absolute basics like jeans and blouses and a couple of dresses that I know I would still wear should I ever go back to this size. Now I only need to work on my goal of getting to that size again...

So I now have a massive donation box in the basement and a few things that weren't fit for donation anymore went into the bin. And I just filled the bin bag with other sorted out stuff for good messure, christmas ornaments that are no longer my style and a few bulkier items I kept in my wardrobe for GOd knows what...



I'll definitively be in again next year and I figure that all I will need for spring, unless I lose a lot of weight by then are one or two blouses and a new pair of jeans. So I will hopefully get through the first half of the year with most points intact and can then spend them on autumn clothes in a hopefully smaller size.

Laura_Elsewhere

Interesting - several of us have mentioned changing size as a factor in having/buying lots of clothes...

I still wear clothes that were in boxes for years and years, either from my changing size or from changing style - but as I settle into middle age at 50, I intend to settle into working out what clothes properly suit me, and not keeping everything, let alone buying more of everything!

I shall have to work out walking kit too, as I'm joining the Ramblers in January... I have both modern trainer-type and old-fashioned leather walking-shoes, but am definitely not the lycra and fleece sort! I must work out what works best... starting with their shorter "short and social" walks and hoping to work my way up to longer ones!
I have the Accidental Trousers, which are basically a divided skirt, suitable for most weather, and I also have a blue cotton version just above knee-length which would be practical in warmer weather.

thriftwizard

Looking forward to doing this properly next year! I too have vast stashes of fabric & yarn to use up but somehow there never seems to be just the right thing... obviously I need to go to New Zealand to look for it! Or - spin my own.

I am toying with the idea of buying some serious underwear; as my "mopping-up" treatment progresses I will apparently need to keep very warm, throughout January & February, in a house with original Edwardian drafts... so some "combinations" seem a good idea. Silk ones... I have some Christmas & birthday money to spend & could still sneak them in on this year's coupons!

PipneyJane

thriftwizard wrote: »

Looking forward to doing this properly next year! I too have vast stashes of fabric & yarn to use up but somehow there never seems to be just the right thing... obviously I need to go to New Zealand to look for it! Or - spin my own.

I am toying with the idea of buying some serious underwear; as my "mopping-up" treatment progresses I will apparently need to keep very warm, throughout January & February, in a house with original Edwardian drafts... so some "combinations" seem a good idea. Silk ones... I have some Christmas & birthday money to spend & could still sneak them in on this year's coupons!

Have a look in your nearest ski shop. I am still wearing the silk thermals I purchased for a ski trip in 2001. They stand up to quite a beating. They get worn to football matches from November to April each year, so have probably been worn 140 times over the years.

Laura_Elsewhere wrote: »

Interesting - several of us have mentioned changing size as a factor in having/buying lots of clothes...

I still wear clothes that were in boxes for years and years, either from my changing size or from changing style - but as I settle into middle age at 50, I intend to settle into working out what clothes properly suit me, and not keeping everything, let alone buying more of everything!

I shall have to work out walking kit too, as I'm joining the Ramblers in January... I have both modern trainer-type and old-fashioned leather walking-shoes, but am definitely not the lycra and fleece sort! I must work out what works best... starting with their shorter "short and social" walks and hoping to work my way up to longer ones!
I have the Accidental Trousers, which are basically a divided skirt, suitable for most weather, and I also have a blue cotton version just above knee-length which would be practical in warmer weather.

I hear you, but losing weight is hard work and slow going. My weight has varied by a stone over the years. Some years, I get back to 9st 10lb and size 12 before ballooning up again to 10st 10lb and size 14. Some of it is due to travelling for work - living out of a hotel is a killer for your diet - the rest is being hypothyroid and not enough exercise. The real problem for clothing is that it all sits around my midriff, so the difference between dress sizes can be as little as 2lb. I have had to accept that the only thing I can do is shop for the size I am now and hope that whatever I buy sits well on me as I gain and lose.

My goal for 2019 is to work on my physicality by doing a short muscle-building workout on Mondays to Wednesdays (when I’m in the highways depot), and doing the couch-to-5k on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. I work locally or from home on Thursdays and Fridays, so it means I don’t have to get up any earlier to go for a run.

Army surplus woollen combats will are your best bet, Laura, for rambling. They’ll keep you warm. However, for walking in the worst weather, may I suggest that you get a pair of waterproof over-trousers to put over your trousers when it rains? Golf shops will sell them - that’s where I bought mine.

HTH

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

PipneyJane wrote: »

Army surplus woollen combats will are your best bet, Laura, for rambling. They’ll keep you warm. However, for walking in the worst weather, may I suggest that you get a pair of waterproof over-trousers to put over your trousers when it rains? Golf shops will sell them - that’s where I bought mine.

Ah, now that's not a problem for me... I have various skirts, inc exceptionally serviceable wool ons and a couple of silk ones, all suitable for rambling, and if it's torrentially raining, then I actually have a wrap-around skirt made from dark green ripstop nylon which I can just tie round my waist and keep my skirts bone-dry!
For my upper half, I normally wear wool jumpers in cool weather - the rain just sits on the fuzzy 'halo' and can be shaken off, and I'm never out for more than a day these days. In hot weather, I just make sure I'm wearing layers for decency, short-sleeved shirt over camisole (or in cool-hot weather, a knitted wool slipover over short-sleeved shirt), or suchlike, and let my arms get wet, because they dry faster than any clothing...

I really have never got the hang of modern conventional clothing...

And yes, re size-changing. My core muscles are so feeble, after spinal problems a decade ago, that when I sit down my waist measurement increases by 2-3 inches sometimes... I've stayed stubbornly at 17 stone for several years now, which feels hopeless, but I live in hope!

PipneyJane

Happy New Year Ladies.

Please join the 2019 Challenge. Thank you for your company and support on this journey in 2018; I am in awe of your creativity.

- Pip