2021 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

Cherryfudge

TwibbleDee said:

Uh oh.  I just bought 5 pairs of jeans because practically all of mine either don’t fit or are so worn out, I rather worry about the inner thighs.  At 6 each, that means I’m down 30!  11 coupons left…and I have to figure out new shirts as well because those are falling apart as well!

Hmmm…I don’t think our “ration” takes into account how much quicker modern clothing falls apart if you haven’t time to sew your own!

Ooh, I have jeans envy! My favourites are both at the end of their days - the commercially embroidered ones have a couple of bad stains and the ones I embroidered are so thin on the seat that I daren't keep using them, though I'll save the embroidery to add to something else and some of the good fabric will find its way into another project.

The rest of the inventory goes like this:
cropped jeans - need warmer weather
black jeans 1 - ripped knee needs fixing
black jeans 2 - I need to lose weight
red jeggings - see black jeans 2
green jeggings - fine
green jeans - fine
jeans with lots of pockets - let's face it, I need either to start using these or pass them as they are too heavy for warm weather and too draughty for winter
blue spotty jeans - get worn a lot
embroidered jeans 1 - stained
embroidered jeans 2 - worn out

So I have more than one jeans problem, don't I?! Too many, too skinny, too worn, ripped...

TwibbleDee, I've watched YouTube on altering jeans but I'm put off by the weight of the material: I don't see myself getting a needle through it. In theory it can be done. I don't know how much time it would take though.

Laura_Elsewhere

I think one of the best things I've learnt from doing these Fashion on the Ration challenges is that most modern clothing is designed to last a very short time, and that our society pushes us to buy these things which have either design or manufacturing weaknesses built-in... it's why I will never feel comfortable about the allowance we get for having nylons coupon-free - I think we should find less-weak alternatives to thin nylons instead! Preferably not the gravy-browning and an eyeliner-pencil, mind you...!  

When you have to work out the coupon-cost of every item, it really makes you think hard about things, I find... 


I used to live in jeans but then I got so narked by having to replace or patch them so soon after buying them that I gave up almost entirely...  I now have two pairs, bought hugely-educed in price and worn only occasionally.

When I first lived in jeans, you bought a pair of Levi 501 button-fly jeans second-hand (because there were loads and I was in a common size), and they lasted several years before needing patched, and then he patch lasted another couple of years. Two or three pairs, and you could wear them every single day, subject them to hard wear, and they looked great, felt great and kept on going. 
Now there are no Levi 501 button-fly jeans in my much larger size, even with the internet, and the jeans available all have stretch fibres weakening the denim, and are made with thinner cheaper denim, and they don't 'waste' money on proper pattern-grading but just enlarge the pattern pieces without altering any other dimensions (which means that in larger sizes the thighs are under more stress than they should be, as the jean-leg is shaped for a leg that is only a little wider at top than at knee, so the fabric is over-stressed and thus wears through even faster)...

So I wear skirts, which look better on me, feel better on me, and until such time as I lose six stone or find Levi 501 button-fly jeans that fi my humungous size, then I shall carry on in skirts, with linen or cotton woven-fabric, non-stretch lace-edged shorts worn underneath... 

CAFCGirl

Baileys_Babe said:

Thanks, @CAFCGirl my socks are very simple and only use basic stitches, my sister wrote the pattern and I try and follow it. I need and want to spend some time practising different stitches, loom & peg sizes, yarns etc I need to make a plan and then stick to it.

I've just read your signature we too are a one income home educating family 😊

And a home edder?! Goodness me, we should be friends 

Baileys_Babe

CAFCGirl said:

Baileys_Babe said:

Thanks, @CAFCGirl my socks are very simple and only use basic stitches, my sister wrote the pattern and I try and follow it. I need and want to spend some time practising different stitches, loom & peg sizes, yarns etc I need to make a plan and then stick to it.

I've just read your signature we too are a one income home educating family 😊

And a home edder?! Goodness me, we should be friends 

Excellent idea my 2 are aged 16 & 12, it is always good to meet a fellow home edder.

Cherryfudge

And a former home edder! *waves

Re the jeans sizing - they're never right - I always need a belt.

Baileys_Babe

👋 @Cherryfudge

Wraithlady

Laura_Elsewhere said:

I think one of the best things I've learnt from doing these Fashion on the Ration challenges is that most modern clothing is designed to last a very short time, and that our society pushes us to buy these things which have either design or manufacturing weaknesses built-in... it's why I will never feel comfortable about the allowance we get for having nylons coupon-free - I think we should find less-weak alternatives to thin nylons instead! Preferably not the gravy-browning and an eyeliner-pencil, mind you...!  

I can recommend Snagtights if you're after tights that a/ fit and b/last.

OK, they're not cheap but, given my ability to ladder thin tights just by putting them on, it's worth it. 

Laura_Elsewhere

Wraithlady said:

Laura_Elsewhere said:

I think one of the best things I've learnt from doing these Fashion on the Ration challenges is that most modern clothing is designed to last a very short time, and that our society pushes us to buy these things which have either design or manufacturing weaknesses built-in... it's why I will never feel comfortable about the allowance we get for having nylons coupon-free - I think we should find less-weak alternatives to thin nylons instead! Preferably not the gravy-browning and an eyeliner-pencil, mind you...!  

I can recommend Snagtights if you're after tights that a/ fit and b/last.

OK, they're not cheap but, given my ability to ladder thin tights just by putting them on, it's worth it. 

Yes, everyone I know recommends Snag tights - and if I wore tights, I'd probably try them.


I've just not worn tights for so many years now that I can't imagine going back to wearing tight synthetic stuff over half my body under a skirt! I shall stay with my loose natural-fibre shorts and long natural-fibre stockings in cold weather, ankle-socks the rest of the year... 

PollyWollyDoodle

Completely agree that stretch jeans are a waste of money, the fabric doesn’t last. Of my current three pairs one was bought new about eight years ago from M&S and the other two are from charity shops. 

I’ll be getting my next pair from a charity shop - it takes time because you need to hunt around and try on several pairs, but in some ways I find it easier than buying new. There’s so much choice - bootleg, skinny, wide leg, low rise - that I get confused. This way it’s just ‘is there anything in my size’ and try on till I find a pair I like. 

thriftwizard

Another ex-home-edder here! Also very unhappy about "disposable" clothing... not that I've actually bought any lately. My last two pairs of jeans (Laura Ashley & M&S's Per Una) came from a charity shop & were only bought because I needed some for a dance costume. The two previous pairs, which were beginning to look very tatty, have now been turned into allotment shorts, by judicious application of a pair of scissors. 

I do wonder, sometimes, looking at some of the things my customers wear in the name of vintage, as well as the ripped skintight jeans and freezing cold crop tops currently favoured by some of the young - what, exactly, would clothes that are actually really comfortable and practical look like?