2022 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

PipneyJane

nannygladys said:

Thanks for the explanation, Laura _Elsewhere, I've seen those 'cashmere' sweaters in the supermarkets! I will keep an eye open in the cs, you never know I may come across a real one or am I being optimistic? Mind you I'm not usually lucky, but I will make it my mission to own one before I die

Tomorrow I'm going to see what material I have in to plan a top, and I'm sure I once bought some flowered denim for a skirt, I hope it looks better than it sounds

Nannyg

I'm going to baking over the weekend so I will bring the cake and biscuits next week.

You never know,  @nannygladys I have a dressy black cashmere twinset that a friend found in a charity shop and gave to me as a birthday present.  The jumper has sequins around the neck, while the cardigan has them all the way around the edge.  I wear them when singing in concerts in winter.

If you want to save up to buy a new cashmere cardigan - or request it as a birthday/Christmas present - the John Lewis ones are very good and cost around £90.  They aren’t made “cheap”.   Mine have stood up to quite a bit of wear and tear, since I purchased the first one 4 or 5 years ago.

Ironically for a website about saving money, we don’t talk a lot about budgeting.  Every month, I set aside money for my clothing allowance and my crafting allowance.  These are automatic transfers to separate savings accounts, made on payday.  Not huge amounts of money, but it does build up, and by keeping them quarantined from my regular account, they don’t get accidentally spent.

- Pip

PipneyJane

Fizz2015 said:

Hello, room for another to join the challenge? I can bring cakes, knitting skills and I have an allotment. 

I would like to do challenge for myself, OH and DD-5. I do most of the clothes buying and love a bargain. Realistically we do not need anything for a good while. 

Do we have to declare gifts? It is my birthday and was gifted a coat (bought last year). 

Having to declare any spends will ensure I think carefully about buying items rather than random purchases. I need to find some new hobbies rather hitting the shops when I have any spare time.

Welcome @Fizz2015.  Happy birthday!  Thank you for the cake.  Please take a seat by the fire.  I’m just boiling a fresh kettle of water.  Cup of tea?

As @Cherryfudge said, gifts are gifts and don’t usually cost the recipient any coupons.  They do cost the gifter coupons, so if you are prone to make stuff for friends and family, then you may need to ask to use their coupons for the gift.  

Of course, anything bought second hand or bought prior to the imposition of rationing is coupon free.  For example, if like me, you have a stash of yarn, then utilising that doesn’t cost you coupons.

- Pip

MoneysavingmadGem

Never thought about a crafting allowance. I have to focus on one project at a time or I feel overwhelmed and nothing gets completed.

I've wombled some fabric on a free site to hopefully recover a couple chairs and a jumper for my step daughter. Going to go for a rainy stroll to pick it up! So I'll have a cuppa on my return.

Since meeting my OH, I have started to think like him, he says with clothes you get what you pay for. For example a decent pair of boots will last longer than the cheap supermarket ones. Therefore, he looks to have a small amount of durable clothes than lots of clothes that wear out quickly. That for me puts a whole new spin on my budgeting for clothes as I used to just look cheap and replace often. Now I look for quality and offers - i love a charity shop find or a bargin sale! 

Laura_Elsewhere

MoneysavingmadGem said:

Since meeting my OH, I have started to think like him, he says with clothes you get what you pay for. For example a decent pair of boots will last longer than the cheap supermarket ones. Therefore, he looks to have a small amount of durable clothes than lots of clothes that wear out quickly. That for me puts a whole new spin on my budgeting for clothes as I used to just look cheap and replace often. Now I look for quality and offers - i love a charity shop find or a bargin sale! 

It's my downfall, having far too many projects on the go... and not finishing them!

I love your OH's approach and it's definitely what I've moved into since starting this challenge a few years ago - gone are the paper-thin Primark tops that were never really quite what I had wanted, and instead I'm buying nearly-new or literally-new shirts second-hand on eBay and customising them to be just the fit, sleeve-length, etc., that I like! 

They last much longer, and fit much better

TwibbleDee

PipneyJane said:

Ironically for a website about saving money, we don’t talk a lot about budgeting.  Every month, I set aside money for my clothing allowance and my crafting allowance.  These are automatic transfers to separate savings accounts, made on payday.  Not huge amounts of money, but it does build up, and by keeping them quarantined from my regular account, they don’t get accidentally spent.

I just figured that budgeting was covered in other threads, so not really covered in this one.

Hubby & I have an arrangement where we each get an "allowance" each week, and that is used for our individual eating out, clothing, and fun money.  We keep track of everything on a spreadsheet that we both have access to and update almost every day to keep it balanced with the bank.  Funny thing - we changed banks last summer, and the final straw for our old one was that you could have all the same transactions, but the balance would be wrong, then when you logged in later, the balance would have updated to match what you have in the spreadsheet, but that was after you went crazy for a while trying to figure out why it wasn't right.

nannygladys

Plans changed for me this weekend, a pair of trousers to alter for a work colleague of dd1, won't take long I've done them for him before so I know his measurements and a dog bed for dd1 dog, hers (the dogs) is going all flat so I'm going to fashion one out of 2 old duvets, a quilt covet and an old fleece, done quite a few of these in the past for various people and in various sizes!!! But hers is going to be extra soft and cosy as she's getting on in years and getting a bit stiff in the legs! I might bring her for a walk around the village if I can get any fuel coupons as they they don't live too far away.
So no clothes being made at the moment.
Nannyg

Gem-gem

@Laura_Elsewhere Thank you. 

Most of my jumpers/cardigans are Merino wool - this is my favourite type. 

I also have an alpaca wool jumper and cashmere. I have seven merino roll neck jumpers, all different colours, I've had them for more than 10 years 👏 and they are still going strong. (H0bb$ and Laura A).

Happy birthday @Fizz2015, thank you for the cake. It is great being able to sit round the fire with like minded people.

MoneysavingmadGem, I work on the same principle as you and your DH when it comes to clothes. Fewer items - better quality - look after them - last longer. 

PipneyJane, I ever since I bought my first house, I have always set budgets for different areas of expenditure including clothes and have stuck to them. It means that I don't feel guilty when I go and buy 'said items' plus it is my choice how much I choose to spend on each want/need. This challenge is fab because only having a set amount of vouchers really focuses your mind on your needs. So, in a way it is budgeting 😁

What is the oldest item of clothing people have in their wardrobe? 

I have a pair of pj bottoms that finally gave up the ghost - wore thin and finally ripped from about 30cm - had them between 25-28 years. Now, my oldest thing is a coat - about 15 years old. 

Laura_Elsewhere

Gem-gem said:

What is the oldest item of clothing people have in their wardrobe? 

Oh dear, definitely not one to ask me  

For ceilidhs, I wear my Gran's dance shoes which are from the late 1930s... in very cold weather I wear a Harris tweed jacket that I have had for 8 years or more and Dad had it for over twenty years; for funerals I wear either his black wool-twill jacket or my long black needlecord coat my friend make me when we were late teens in the late 1980s... I'm too plump these days but for quite a few years I wore original mid-19th-century open drawers, slept in either a Regency muslin frock or a late 18th-century man's linen shirt, and used an early 19th century linen towel. I have, and wore a lot, my Grandfather's dress clothes, top hats, etc... Oh, and Dad's stripey pyjamas from when he was finishing off school and went to university with him in the late 1950s which I wore all through my teens and twenties and still have; and a pair of 1953-issue British Army pyjamas, blue-striped... 

As a student I acquired (still have) a tatty old knee-length military coat, which I assumed was some mock-up from a Gilbert & Sullivan thing until I started repairing it - it was literally in holes all round the hem from terrible moth damage. Then I discovered the buttons were shaped wooden shallow domes under their ornate threadwork so I took it up to the museum in Edinburgh that summer, who sent me to the Castle (!) where their uniform chap was - he said it was an "1890-1892 non-commissioned officers' un-dress frock-coat, unspecified regiment" and I gawped and stuttered that I had just been wearing it and he brightened up immensely and said that was brilliant - he said it wasn't intrinsically valuable, there were hundreds of examples in museums, it was already in far from pristine condition so he was pleased as Punch that I was enjoying it so much and I should jolly well carry on - so I did, and started finding other non-pristine items that I incorporated into my normal (for me! ) everyday wardrobe... 

I don't think I wear anything very very old any more because I'm now more rotund - but I do still wear a pair of ankle-boots I bought in 1984 from Annello & Davide in Drury Lane for over £50 and wore several times a week for decades and still occasionally wear. My Church's brogues are older than me, mid-1960s or earlier.  And that black needlecord highwayman's coat my friend made me in about 1989-90 is hanging up on the boxroom door within sight as I type this! 

florianatwobob

I’ve not worn it for years (did in my teens in the 90s) but I still have my grandad’s trilby. He died 1983 and was born 1903. I’d say it probably dates to the 1940s/50s. I always remembered him in flat caps or his waterproof fishing deerstalker numbers. 

Fizz2015

Evening All, sat with a hot water bottle as it is rather chilly and trying to keep the heating bill down. In terms of oldest clothing, I have a uni hoody bought in 98 and still going strong, though worn for gardening and painting now. Not sure how is still fits as I about 2-3 stone heavier. Hence I have a wardrobe that has about 4 different sizes in and I can't bear to part with the smaller stuff as I want to lose weight and not not have to restock my whole wardrobe. 

For funerals I have got smarter coats, black, and a black and grey tweed sort of material. The last couple of funerals I attended I wore a dark purple wool knee length coat, it is smart, single breasted and about 15 years old. 

When I think about the money I have wasted on clothes over the years it depresses me. Now I know my style and go for things that are slightly more classic and avoid fast fashion.

Can I ask how many coupons is a swimsuit? 5 or 6? I desperately need a proper supportive swimsuit for proper swimming rather than just lounging in the facilities. 

Plan to knit some hand warmers over the weekend that I can wear when typing. I have plenty of wool stocks. DD has also asked for sleeping bags for her doll's so will make some out of old clothes or knit some.