2019 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

Laura_Elsewhere

CAFCGirl wrote: »

Am I right in thinking 5 pairs of pants equates to 2.5 cami knickers, which equals 10 coupons?!

Yep, that's my calculation too!
The original: "Petticoat or slip, cami-knickers or combinations - 4 coupons "
The updated: "one pair of Cami-knickers would equal two pairs of modern bikini-style knickers or thongs."

So two knicks for 4 coupons = 2 coupons for one pair, 10 coupons for five!

PipneyJane

I have just seen the biggest office fashion faux pas. As you know, I work in engineering, in a male dominated environment and am frequently out on site/in a depot. However, today, I'm in the UK head office. Normally, what does my head in is that the majority of women in this building aren't dressed to promote a professional image, they are dressed for picking their kids up from the school gate. (Frequently, I'm the only woman on my floor in a suit.) Today, however, was something different.

Picture if you will a crowded staff canteen. A 30-40-ish, smartly dressed woman is walking towards you carrying her lunch tray. She's got a fitted black, wrap blouse on - styled like a shirt but the fronts cross, showing a little cleavage - and a fitted, beige, jersey fabric skirt. She also has her bag or a purse tucked under her arm. She chooses a table and goes to sit down, with her back to me. As she bends over to put her tray down without dropping her purse, I realise that, because the fabric of her skirt is stretched taunt, I can quite clearly see she's wearing a black thong under her skirt. She straightens up and the fabric doesn't quite recover - you can still see her knickers are black, just not as easily. She sits down and, again, the fabric is stretched very thin, almost transparent. The jersey is cheap and, even if she was wearing matching knickers, everything would show through in vivid detail.

I don't know the woman and i'm down there with a table full of male colleagues, so I'm not about to draw even more attention to her and embarrass her by sidling up to say "excuse me, but everyone can see your knickers through your skirt and it's worst when you bend over".

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

Pip, I honestly think a lot of younger women have no problem with their knickers being visible - they surely must be unbothered by it, judging by just how thin some skirts and leggings are that I see worn.

Maybe it's like bra-straps? Remember in the 1980s when if your bra-strap showed, it was cringeingly embarrassing? Not sexy or fashionable, but excruciatingly embarrassing, like toilet-paper on your shoe...

And now it's completely normal, and blouses are literally transparent, or vest-tops are cut-away showing acres of bra-strap or -back, and if you said to them, "ooh, your bra is showing" they'd think you needed psych help...

I honestly think for a big chunk of the younger population it\'s the same with knickers showing through transparent skirts, dresses or leggings...

I sometimes really wish the fashion would turn and people would keep their underwear to themselves, along with their sex-lives and sexual predilections. Bring back a spot of privacy!!!!

Laura_Elsewhere

Hah! (triumphant exclamation of achievement)

That black linen I was looking for but didn't buy yesterday to replace my reliable, trusty, oft-worn black linen summer skirt...

I re-evaluated said black linen skirt - it needs some needlework round the waistband but the biggest problem was the added patch-pockets, for which I used "black linen", which promptly changed to dark-grey on first wash... they've just looked awful, because they are visibly faded and the rest of the skirt isn't.

I discovered earlier today that I actually already own a Dylon Black Velvet machine-dye!

I also have a 95% cotton 5% elastane top which I never wear because although I love the cut and style, it is just the Wrong Shade of Burnt Orange for everything else I own.

So now skirt and its pockets, and orange top are all going round with the packet of dye!

With luck I shall have retrieved both skirt and top - without spending any coupons!!!

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere wrote: »

Hah! (triumphant exclamation of achievement)

That black linen I was looking for but didn't buy yesterday to replace my reliable, trusty, oft-worn black linen summer skirt...

I re-evaluated said black linen skirt - it needs some needlework round the waistband but the biggest problem was the added patch-pockets, for which I used "black linen", which promptly changed to dark-grey on first wash... they've just looked awful, because they are visibly faded and the rest of the skirt isn't.

I discovered earlier today that I actually already own a Dylon Black Velvet machine-dye!

I also have a 95% cotton 5% elastane top which I never wear because although I love the cut and style, it is just the Wrong Shade of Burnt Orange for everything else I own.

So now skirt and its pockets, and orange top are all going round with the packet of dye!

With luck I shall have retrieved both skirt and top - without spending any coupons!!!

OOOHHHHH!!!! Fingers crossed both come out the perfect shade.

I think you’re right re dressing, BTW. I still can’t get over the number of women in the office who wear what 1980’s-woman would regard as “hooker shoes”.

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

Hmmm... the skirt is better - but the pockets are still a different black

I'm trying to think what else I could do to make it look better. I'm a bit cross I didn't think yesterday of buying quarter of a metre of linen-blend black, which would look very like the skirt linen, and would be enough to replace the not-the-same coarser-weave pockets!

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere wrote: »

Hmmm... the skirt is better - but the pockets are still a different black

I'm trying to think what else I could do to make it look better. I'm a bit cross I didn't think yesterday of buying quarter of a metre of linen-blend black, which would look very like the skirt linen, and would be enough to replace the not-the-same coarser-weave pockets!

How about removing the pockets and inserting some into the side seams or the waistband?

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

PipneyJane wrote: »

How about removing the pockets and inserting some into the side seams or the waistband?

- Pip

I assume you heard the roar of laughter just now as I read this? I'd popped in to exclaim "hey, guess what I thought of trying, during one of several periods lying awake last night?" only to find you beat me to it...

Yes, just unpicking them now... side-seams.

What a twerp!

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere wrote: »

I assume you heard the roar of laughter just now as I read this? I'd popped in to exclaim "hey, guess what I thought of trying, during one of several periods lying awake last night?" only to find you beat me to it...

Yes, just unpicking them now... side-seams.

What a twerp!

Great minds think alike, Laura. :beer:

Guess what I stupidly did? (No, I have not bought anything.) When I was weaving in the ends on my Audrey in Unst cardigan, I stupidly cut the wrong end of a yarn join, the un-woven in end(!) right by the join. I've lashed it tight with wool, but I'm wondering if I'd better duplicate stitch it just to be sure. Any thoughts?

Of course, it still needs the button bands reinforcing with ribbon and the buttons sewn on. Which brings me to another question: do you wash and block first, before you sew the ribbon on? (I've never done this before, but I know you have.)

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

Oooh yikes, my heart goes out to you - I've done similar things. It's up there with painting yourself into a corner literally, or sitting the wrong side of the cut when sawing a branch...

how hairy is the yarn? If it's quite Shetland-y then you can definitely start breathing again Just wet it a bit and carefully rub the area with fingers to encourage the fibres to mesh on the inside...

If it isn't... well, I've used sewing-thread and a needle before now to rescue unravelling mistakes - the old house had such a problem with moths... on the wrong side, use sewing thread to run a ring round the vulnerable area and draw it a tiny bit tight, knot the two ends of the sewing thread and it will reinforce surprisingly well!

I generally wash and dry a cardigan before cutting it up, but I rarely bother with anything special beyond draping flat over a chair-back or hanging in the window on a shaped wooden hanger. I do have a Shetland woollie-horse I've used occasionally.

I make sure to give the cutting area a good pummelling when doing that first handwash, to help the meshing of fibres.