2020 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

thriftwizard

My (replacement) second pair of sandals have arrived & fit beautifully. I'm realising that I will probably have to spend some coupons replacing underwear again, as I still haven't got round to making knickers out of old t-shirts ( but I will eventually! Once I've finished the landing curtains...) however I draw the line at trying to make bras. (Probably! Unless someone knows of a good, comfortable & do-able pattern for a 36G?) When I first took a "Get to know your overlocker" lesson, there was a follow-on for making your own lingerie, but sadly they were all pretty-pretty tiny lacy scraps, not a lot of use to sturdy & active matriarchs like me!

ETA: gorgeous colours, Laura!

PollyWollyDoodle

Haha Thriftwizard, I’m right behind you in the queue to make your own knickers. When I unearthed the cupboard that holds my UFOs, I found a bag of Jersey scraps which are being saved for exactly this purpose.  I really, really want to make some and surely they can’t take that long can they? Only I just haven’t found the time and it’s six weeks on now… My niece asked for a bra pattern for Christmas, she takes after her auntie (and mum) and is a large cup size, I will see if I can find the details. A bit like the knickers though, she is furloughed but I don’t think she has got round to making it yet!

PollyWollyDoodle

Right, this https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/OrangeLingerie?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=200457826 has patterns of different cup sizes, check carefully which size before you buy.  I haven’t actually tried the pattern, so I‘m not recommending it as such. I do know that it came to a lot of pages that you need to print out, although obviously you only need to print the ones relating to your particular size. There was a very sharp intake of breath when I realised how much this was going to cost just for a PDF! It was what my niece wanted though. You could also buy a kit with all the relevant notions and fabric. I think I’d prefer to put my trust in a sturdy manufactured version 😀

PipneyJane

thriftwizard said:

My (replacement) second pair of sandals have arrived & fit beautifully. I'm realising that I will probably have to spend some coupons replacing underwear again, as I still haven't got round to making knickers out of old t-shirts ( but I will eventually! Once I've finished the landing curtains...) however I draw the line at trying to make bras. (Probably! Unless someone knows of a good, comfortable & do-able pattern for a 36G?) When I first took a "Get to know your overlocker" lesson, there was a follow-on for making your own lingerie, but sadly they were all pretty-pretty tiny lacy scraps, not a lot of use to sturdy & active matriarchs like me!

ETA: gorgeous colours, Laura!

On the knickers front, I can totally recommend these from M&S.  They are very comfortable, don't ride up with wear, wash well and (so far) stand up well to wear.  I bought a 5-pack last summer and another at the start of Lockdown.  Probably the best use coupons I've spent this year.   

Speaking as a 34G, I cannot recommend Bravissimo more highly for bras.  I'm lucky - we have a store nearby - but their mail-order service is superb.  

HTH

- Pip

PollyWollyDoodle

Another Bravissimo fan here.  Their fitting service is amazing, and I never go anywhere else for bras. 

dolly84

PipneyJane said:

thriftwizard said:

My (replacement) second pair of sandals have arrived & fit beautifully. I'm realising that I will probably have to spend some coupons replacing underwear again, as I still haven't got round to making knickers out of old t-shirts ( but I will eventually! Once I've finished the landing curtains...) however I draw the line at trying to make bras. (Probably! Unless someone knows of a good, comfortable & do-able pattern for a 36G?) When I first took a "Get to know your overlocker" lesson, there was a follow-on for making your own lingerie, but sadly they were all pretty-pretty tiny lacy scraps, not a lot of use to sturdy & active matriarchs like me!

ETA: gorgeous colours, Laura!

On the knickers front, I can totally recommend these from M&S.  They are very comfortable, don't ride up with wear, wash well and (so far) stand up well to wear.  I bought a 5-pack last summer and another at the start of Lockdown.  Probably the best use coupons I've spent this year.   

Speaking as a 34G, I cannot recommend Bravissimo more highly for bras.  I'm lucky - we have a store nearby - but their mail-order service is superb.  

HTH

- Pip

Funnily enough I bought a pack of those knickers in black ages ago and they have been the worst knickers I've ever bought, I agree they are very comfortable and don't move but the waistband started fraying off on every pair within a few wears.

Laura_Elsewhere

I'm another for whom dainty little scraps of lingerie are useless, coupled with a lifelong insecurity about looking awful in undies and that infuriating but deep-rooted sense of shame about, whisper, gasp, shock, periods... 

My chap is some kind of genius as he came up with the idea of getting extra-specially-nice knickers for periods, and so when most women are wearing their worst, ugliest, horriblest kickers, I'm wearing these M&S Velvet Floral-Lace High-Waisted knickers in a tactful dark red (!) and it really definitely does make a difference to how I feel! 

https://www.marksandspencer.com/velvet-floral-lace-high-waisted-brazilian-knickers/p/clp60125429

They aren't available any more but you can find them BNWT as one or two pairs on eBay etc, and conveniently for me, they tend to have larger sizes left  

I shall be hand-sewing silk undies to wear for my wedding, because I need 'something blue' - plenty of old and new and Dad is lending me Grandaddy's beautiful old wristwatch to wear, but I couldn't think what would go with the colours and be blue - so I asked my parents for ideas and they chorused with grins: KNICKERS!  

PollyWollyDoodle

Brilliant idea Laura! And I suppose that’s something you could start on before you’ve decided on the actual dress, because they won’t be seen on the day. 

I’ve said before that your chap is a keeper, and I am even more convinced! Thankfully those days are behind me now and not missed at all, but you’re right I would probably have been wearing my grottiest undies. 

I love the idea of making silk knickers, I do like a bit of luxury although I have never had matching bra and knickers sets. Do other people choose their underwear on the basis of what the day holds (i.e I’ve got a bit of a tough meeting later today, so I’ll wear my favourite red knickers for a bit of a boost/not going out today so this old pair will do) or is that just me? The silly thing is, once I’ve got dressed I probably couldn’t tell you what I’m wearing without looking!

PipneyJane

PollyWollyDoodle said:

Brilliant idea Laura! And I suppose that’s something you could start on before you’ve decided on the actual dress, because they won’t be seen on the day. 

I’ve said before that your chap is a keeper, and I am even more convinced! Thankfully those days are behind me now and not missed at all, but you’re right I would probably have been wearing my grottiest undies. 

I love the idea of making silk knickers, I do like a bit of luxury although I have never had matching bra and knickers sets. Do other people choose their underwear on the basis of what the day holds (i.e I’ve got a bit of a tough meeting later today, so I’ll wear my favourite red knickers for a bit of a boost/not going out today so this old pair will do) or is that just me? The silly thing is, once I’ve got dressed I probably couldn’t tell you what I’m wearing without looking!

For the best part of a decade, I wore matching sets of underwear.  A clean bra and matching knickers every day. (All from Bravissimo.) It was part of a promise that I'd made to myself:  the ex had kept me so broke that when I finally left him, I only had the grottiest of underwear left and I vowed to "spoil myself" with matching sets.  I was worth it.  Paranoid about visible panty line ("VPL"), virtually all the knickers I purchased were thongs.  What killed the sets was (partially) weight gain and partially hypothyroid induced periods-from-hell, with unpredictable episodes of flooding that can only be contained by wearing sanitary pads.  (Thongs and pads don't mix.) 

As sets wore out, I didn't replace them.  The last batch of bras I purchased are all the same design: smooth surfaced "Tee-shirt" bras that won't show under clothes.  Just as I'm wary about VPL, I'm equally paranoid about my bra showing.  To me, that's unprofessional.  (I work in engineering, a very male dominated environment.  Some bloke once tried to chat me up in the pub, when I was visiting Site.  Suddenly I had 12 big brothers giving him the uglies.)

- Pip

maddiemay

Pip - smiling at the thought of your  "big brothers" protecting your honour, well done them.
Back in the day when all we slim young things wore mini skirts I worked as a buying clerk for a metal working company, office was situated upstairs above the factory, which we accessed via open tread stairs often to the cry of "red ones", black ones" today etc from the chaps down below.  I very soon learned to wear "big knickers".
These days it is always Sloggi maxi briefs and a non matching pretty bra. At one stage it was near impossible to buy an attractive bra in anything bigger than a D cup, thank goodness there are well engineered ones that are nice to look at and make me feel good.  I live "in the sticks" so no Bravissimo or John Lewis, but have been able to find indie lingerie shops where to owner/staff take great pride in sending one home in something great.   Overdue for a visit, town about 30 miles away, I do hope that she is still in business when my shielding is over.
Laura - another one who thinks that your intended is definitely a keeper.