2020 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

CapricornLass

I'm the same - I've hardly bought any clothes this year at all (sandals are another matter - I've bought three pairs!)  Yesterday I was wearing a pair of leggings that are over five years old, with a madras seersucker blouse that I bought a couple of years before my eldest son was born - he was 33 this year!  Mind you, do summer clothes ever really wear out?  I've probably got rid of more because I've put on weight, rather than wearing it out.

Rationing now would also encourage people to tackle mending, or adapting older clothes into new ones, and just generally take better care of the clothes they've got. 

diminua

@pipneyjane: I don't really wear much make-up to work, maybe a bit of mascara now and then, and some face powder in a vain attempt to take the shine off. My skin gets really oily in the summer, and everything slides off anyway, so at the moment I'm not bothering at all. 

In other news I went into an actual clothes shop (well, a department store) and bought three tops, which add up to 15 coupons. Two were in the sale and the last (which wasn't) was much more money than I would usually spend, but then I thought: I really like this, and it's better economy to buy something I really like and will wear to death than three cheaper things for the same money that I don't like and won't wear much, at a cost of my coupons, and the wasted fabric / labour / pollution. 

So that brings me up to 24 coupons spent this year. I've already changed my signature as I tried them on at home and am keeping them.  

joedenise

I've finally got round to sorting out the trousers I made which are too short and have chopped off the bottoms and will be making the top bit into a pair of hopefully  wearable shorts!  Will let you know whether it works or not once I've had a go at altering them.


The bits I've cut off have been used to cut out another couple of shaped facemarks for DH!  I've been using some flowery material to make my masks!  Didn't think DH would appreciate that material, LOL!

TwibbleDee

*waves at everybody*

1. You may blame/thank Laura for my presence here.
2. My purchased items (and my slang!) may be a bit different from yours, as I'm in the US down in west Texas, where it's currently 50/50 on whether we'll hit 100, we note that we had 0.1" of rain because we get so little, and we might have a few days where it freezes every year.
3. Laura started talking about here when I mentioned splurges in a group we're both in on Facebook - as in, I bought 6 of the same $4 pair of slip-on shoes on clearance today because I like them enough that between them and my cowboy boots, I'll be covered on shoes for the next year or so.  I tend to buy multiples of the same item if I really like, because I so rarely do.  I think I have 12 or so tank tops with the bra built on that are the base of my wardrobe,  4 (2 black and 2 dark blue) of the same jeans, and I literally have an entire collection of tops that are all exactly the same except for the pattern of the fabric.
4. Laura is very good at convincing people that they should attempt to knit socks.  My plan is to remember HOW to knit over the next bit (I have a staff retreat, then vacation for a week), then proceed from there.
5. Yes, I read through this entire thread.  That does not mean I remember it all.
6. I am most definitely and resolutely a list person.
7. For 5 months, I should have 27.5 coupons...unless you're holding my shoes and shirt I bought before I knew about this today against me, in which case I'm down to -7.5 and better get cracking on the sewing/knitting and hope that my good fabrics weren't the ones we got rid of.

Hi y'all!

TwibbleDee

TwibbleDee said:

7. For 5 months, I should have 27.5 coupons...unless you're holding my shoes and shirt I bought before I knew about this today against me, in which case I'm down to -7.5 and better get cracking on the sewing/knitting and hope that my good fabrics weren't the ones we got rid of.

-9.5.  Because I bought 3.5 oz. of woolen yarn today in hopes of knitting socks.

PipneyJane

G'day @TwibbleDee and welcome to the Challenge.  Welcome, also to our Virtual Village Hall.  Did you ride over from the US Air Force base?  If so, the cricket pitch next door has some good grazing for your horse.  Thanks to Lockdown, the grass is considerably longer than usual and the cricket club won't mind so long as he's kept off the central square.  I'm the resident expat Aussie and I spent many years hanging around The Motley Fool, so if you need something translated into American, I can probably oblige.  (I grew up speaking three different versions of English:  British, Australian and American.)  

Please start the Challenge with 28 Coupons.  How could we penalise you for your actions when you didn't know we existed?  We'll just claim you flew in at midnight on 2nd August and were presented with your ration book on arrival.   Clever shopping, BTW.  Good quality, well fitting shoes are hard to come by at the best of times.  Hopefully, they'll last you much longer than a year.

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

Hurrah, welcome @TwibbleDee!  

How lovely to have you here!

thriftwizard

Hello & welcome, TwibbleDee! I'm just working out where I need to spend my coupons, needing a "posh" outfit for my middle son's upcoming wedding, and not much else! This year there are complicating factors in that in most settings, we can't try anything on, and needless to say, I'm not a standard size, being not-terribly-tall & somewhat top-heavy. Anyway, I have found a glamorous dress, and I've just found a fascinator that goes beautifully with it, though jacket, bag & shoes are yet to be found. So far, it's all secondhand, but I will (& can! It's a personal preference not to) buy new if I really can't find anything pre-loved.

However I've also just invested in another secondhand dress, with matching jacket, in a totally different colour, on Ebay. Something tells me that the jacket is likely to be the hardest thing to find; too short, and I'll be all tummy, too long & I'll look like a skittle amongst all these tall people. So if I don't find a suitable oxford blue jacket, I'll go with the pink, provided it fits & suits me; if it doesn't (and it should) it'll go back on EBay.

This isn't likely to be the only wedding in the near future, so hedging my bets isn't that daft; two sons & two daughters yet to go!

TwibbleDee

Thanks, Pip!  I read quite a lot, so hopefully I won't need too terribly many translations from English to American.  
Hi, Laura!
Good luck, TW!  I always hate looking for jackets even when I can try them on (busty, tall, and thick arms tend to complicate things).

Cherryfudge

Welcome @TwibbleDee! If I remember rightly from a reprint of a guidebook for American airmen, I can reassure you that the water here is drinkable. You will notice we have rather a lot of it, so I will add that that applies solely to tap water, not to the muddy puddles or the stuff that falls from the sky and down your neck. Have fun on this thread, I quickly became addicted...

Just hoping to glean from everyone's experience here: has anyone bought extra fine thread to do repairs on favourite tee shirts, and if so, was it worth it? I'm being tempted to spend about £18 on a set of these which is a lot if they can't do near-invisible repairs. I've previously had some success with using the (unravelled) overlocked threads from cuffs or hems as this seems to be about right for hand sewing without making lumps, but it's never easy to do this despite a lot of Youtubing.