2019 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

maddiemay

Pip

I have a mental list and am quite happy to buy out of season and keep until needed. The skirt I bought today was a great find, just the type I needed. I don't buy these days unless it is just right, would rather wait.


The yarn is Rowan Felted Tweed which is slightly hairy, I have R. Arthritis in my fingers, thumb joints and wrists and the heat and humidity means they are particularly painful.

PollyWolleyDoodle

I had not thought of Oxfam on line, fit can be tricky as although I am generally a size 12 I have a definite hourglass figure and some cuts do not accommodate my boobs and my belly, compounded by having very skinny butt so trousers can look pretty dire:rotfl:

PipneyJane

PollyWollyDoodle wrote: »

MaddieMay - snap, after losing 2.5 stone all my lovely linen trousers have had to go. I am fine for the usual summer that we have, but when it gets proper hot I am struggling!

I went away for a couple of days this week with jeans and T-shirts, and on the first day I cracked. Had to go to a supermarket and buy a cheap pair of shorts. I'm quite pleased with myself because I also tried on a cotton skirt, but I didn't love it. I'm not spending coupons on something that is just "ok".

How many coupons for shorts? I'm guessing that because there is less fabric than in a pair of trousers, they will be slightly less?

I love charity shopping and I'm happy to take my time, but it is very much luck of the draw. When you want something specific it's sometimes easier to look on eBay or Oxfam online. I've just got a lovely linen blazer from the former.

According to the photo at the front, Child's shorts are 3 coupons. Since trousers of all forms for women are 6 coupons, i reckon we can settle for ladies' shorts to be 4 coupons - slightly more than a child's but not the full amount needed for a pair of trousers. Is everyone happy with that?

I'd never thought of Oxfam online. Didn't know about it, if truth be told. Thanks for suggesting it.

My best sesson of charity shop hunting was January or February 2013, when I scored 4 suits in the charity shops in Woodley, a suburb of Reading: two were M&S, one was Next and the other was Country Casuals. I think I paid £7.50 for each suit and I'm still wearing them.

- Pip (I miss Woodley. I used to work near it and visited regularly. There were 4 or 5 charity shops who always had very good quality stuff.)


ETA PS: I hear you re jeans in this weather. Last Friday, I stupidly wore jeans to the Proms. It didn't seem that hot outside, but inside the Royal Albert Hall it really heated up. We always sit in the cheap seats in the Gods and I really suffered. My DH bought me an ice cream during the interval and I couldn't stomach it, I felt so overheated.

PipneyJane

maddiemay wrote: »

Pip

The yarn is Rowan Felted Tweed which is slightly hairy, I have R. Arthritis in my fingers, thumb joints and wrists and the heat and humidity means they are particularly painful.

Yes, I know Rowan Felted Tweed. I knitted a hat in it. It's hairy enough to be sticky when your hands are hot and sweaty.

I'm sorry the heat is making your R. Arthritis more painful. I hope you find some relief soon.

- Pip

diminua

I've bought some jeans - not (as people have pointed out) really the weather for it, but I do need a pair and I'm very happy with these. I have trouble getting jeans that will both go over my hips and not gape round my waist. It seems to be getting harder to get short sizes too. Shops don't seem to have petite sections anymore.

So now down to 39 coupons.

Also - slightly inspired to take some old lace curtain I've got and make some bags for fruit and veg to save on using throwaway plastic. It's sitting doing nothing so it won't matter if I mess it up, and when I look at people on this forum remodelling jackets and knitting complex items it seems ridiculous that I can't even make a couple of cloth bags! Wish me luck.

CAFCGirl

Diminua I'm with you on short length\petite ranges! Few and far between for actual petite people. I tried a pair on recently and from the length calculated your need to be 5ft 5 - hardly petite.

I have spent c oupons, on a pair of shoes - now as a woman wearing them, they're 5 coupons BUT they're children's shoes (small feet are a blessing) which are 3..... So how should I approach that?

I've been gifted 3 patterns from SewLiberated which is super lovely, I may get round to printing them out this weekend, in breaks from knitting up the blanket.

Laura_Elsewhere

Oooh, nice one, CAFCgirl - definitely children's shoes are children's shoes - only 3, not 5 coupons. Plenty of smaller women during the war made their coupons go further by buying children's things when possible!

Laura_Elsewhere

diminua wrote: »

I've bought some jeans - not (as people have pointed out) really the weather for it, but I do need a pair and I'm very happy with these. I have trouble getting jeans that will both go over my hips and not gape round my waist. It seems to be getting harder to get short sizes too. Shops don't seem to have petite sections anymore.

So now down to 39 coupons.

Also - slightly inspired to take some old lace curtain I've got and make some bags for fruit and veg to save on using throwaway plastic. It's sitting doing nothing so it won't matter if I mess it up, and when I look at people on this forum remodelling jackets and knitting complex items it seems ridiculous that I can't even make a couple of cloth bags! Wish me luck.

Oooh, enjoy the net bags!

Laura_Elsewhere

I've just consolidated multiple boxes of haberdashery and sewing Stuff into two boxes.... goodness, I have a stupid amount!

I plan to start eBaying in Nov, after my short contracts of the autumn are over, and I think I may add some of the stuff I'm really never going to use - 5-metre bundles of coloured nylon lace trim, fancy buttons, that sort of thing...

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere wrote: »

Oooh, nice one, CAFCgirl - definitely children's shoes are children's shoes - only 3, not 5 coupons. Plenty of smaller women during the war made their coupons go further by buying children's things when possible!

I second this. 3 coupons for Children’s shoes, regardless of the wearer.

- Pip

CAFCGirl

EXCELLENT - Thank you for protecting my dwindling coupons all LOL

I'm on a charity shop hunt tomorrow. Wish me luck\bargains