2022 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

QueenJess

I have a couple of items to declare. Feel very guilty for buying anything new, but I promise I looked high and low, but could not find what I was looking for anywhere (not helped by being short). I sourced them in the most ethically friendly way I could.

Trying to give myself a break, but I hold myself to much higher standards than anyone else for some reason. However, I was sick of always looking rubbish and not feeling myself at all post baby, so I did buy some light trousers for the summer which I wore yesterday. They kept me cool and I love them so much. They will definitely get tons of wear and I don’t have any other summer trousers. I also got PJ shorts for the summer as I only have 1 pair, which is useless when one is in the wash (I only have leggings other than that, which will be too hot).

Anyway, if I buy anything I only get it if I absolutely love it and will wear it all the time. Anything I like, but don’t love does not get bought. Hoping I will have a very small wardrobe of clothes I love and are very me eventually.  I have also ordered a couple of other things, but I will only declare if they fit and I love them when they arrive.

Anyway, I think that is 8 coupons for the trousers and 4 for the PJ shorts? (Half of a full PJ set).

Wraithlady

I would have had some fabric to declare, but due to the incompetence of the retailer in question, I don't.

Ordered some fabric 2 weeks ago to make costume for a Roman evening - 3-5 days delivery. Didn't arrive, I chased it up twice, each time they apologised and told me it would be sent by courier and I would receive it 1-2 days later, it had been overlooked/wasn't on their records/had been missed ( I lost interest in the excuses).

Long story short, I emailed them on Thursday to say I wanted my money back and if I didn't get a response by Monday, I was going to Paypal to launch a payment dispute. They still had the nerve to ask me if I still wanted the fabric! But hopefully, after explaining in words of 1 syllable I Wanted My Money Back For All Of My Order, I got a promise that this will be done. 

Of course, if it doesn't happen I will be going straight to Paypal.

Fortunately, I had a few scraps of fabric( well, a choice of about 3 fabrics, total length over 5 metres) to make a costume with.

Laura_Elsewhere

@Wraithlady, oh, that stinks! 

I hope you get your full refund, and frankly I hope the fabric turns up just after the refund comes through! 

I'm about to make a final decision on some wool fabric for an autumn/winter skirt - British wool, woven in Britain, beautiful herringbone wool, from a reputable re-enactment supplier (Lindy Pickard at the Cloth Hall), and staggeringly cheap because she keeps her overheads low. Sixty inches wide, and £15/m - I have samples and am just trying to decide which one... 

Laura_Elsewhere

@QueenJess, I'm baffled as to why you're beating yourself up!

You do know that everyone eventually *has* to have some new clothes... ? It's ok, really it is...

You summed it up perfectly, I think - "Anyway, if I buy anything I only get it if I absolutely love it and will wear it all the time. Anything I like, but don’t love does not get bought. Hoping I will have a very small wardrobe of clothes I love and are very me eventually. "

That's what I'm hoping eventually to end up with. 

And you also wrote: "However, I was sick of always looking rubbish and not feeling myself at all post baby, so I did buy some light trousers for the summer which I wore yesterday. They kept me cool and I love them so much. "

You didn't have any other lightweight trousers for warmer months, so you bought some good-quality ones, which you will get great use from, which are comfortable and useful already. What on earth is wrong with that?!?! You identified a gap in your wardrobe, and bought something which will fill the gap - good for you! 

I think you definitely should give yourself a break - and I bet you look FABULOUS in your lovely new trousers! 

(Mind you, trousers! On a woman! You'll give the old Colonel a fit of the conniptions if he sees you out and about in the village in those! Very modern of you! )

QueenJess

Thanks @Laura_Elsewhere I have bad environmental related guilt, but also I always feel bad whenever I do anything for me rather than other people.  Must be a post baby thing as I've almost lost myself somewhere...

The trousers really were fab.  I can't cope with the heat and DH is way better than me.  We were out all day and I was lovely and cool, but he said he was too hot in his jeans and was struggling.  I can see them getting almost continuous use when it's too hot for a skirt (I'm as white as a sheet so burn pretty much instantly... covering up is a good choice for me sometimes!).

Cherryfudge

@PipneyJane, commiserations on the dire work situation, those of us who've struggled with decisions made over our heads which we could have told them were headed for disaster... we stand with you. Meanwhile there are still some biscuits in the tin and the cat is looking round for a lap to sit on if you can rest your feet for a moment.

@Laura_Elsewhere, the post-Covid thing are a pain. So good to hear you are back to sewing! We will expect a photo, of course. I've now made the swatches for the next knitted project but it's being held up because I forgot to put them through the wash. I blame Covid of course.

@QueenJess, all those purchases are legal and above board and remember we are encouraged to keep up morale by attending to our appearance.

As for me, I bought the lovely vintage dress and discovered the zip won't do up, so the diet has to begin, not to fit into that dress but for my health and because I don't want to go up another size. I went car booting again yesterday: I'm not buying clothes there as I have more than enough, even without coupons, so how did I come home with a Per Una hoodie, a cotton sweater, another lovely (but too small!) dress and a sofa throw? Perhaps I could get away with blaming Covid again? They are all items I will definitely get use from and I'm happy to be extending their useful life - apart from the dress which I will classify as a life lesson (they don't charge coupons for those, do they?)

QueenJess

Cherryfudge said:

@QueenJess, all those purchases are legal and above board and remember we are encouraged to keep up morale by attending to our appearance.

That's a very good point and I had forgotten about that... I did buy a skirt (already declared) a while ago that works for casual, evening dress and work, so I am planning on wearing it on Thursday when I actually have to drive into work so I can feel fabulous

Cherryfudge

QueenJess said:

Cherryfudge said:

@QueenJess, all those purchases are legal and above board and remember we are encouraged to keep up morale by attending to our appearance.

That's a very good point and I had forgotten about that... I did buy a skirt (already declared) a while ago that works for casual, evening dress and work, so I am planning on wearing it on Thursday when I actually have to drive into work so I can feel fabulous

Want me to help you draw the 'stocking line' from hem to heel for you?

My Mum told me she and a friend, as teenagers during the war, drew winking eyes on their knees and enjoyed causing a sensation on their Tube journeys.

PollyWollyDoodle

Ha I love that idea, @Cherryfudge!  Pip, I’m sorry to hear your job is being troublesome. I’ve had the experience of being taken over by a very much larger company and all the promises that nothing would change that of course were broken …. some of it was major, some of it petty but it’s very unsettling. 

@QueenJess I share your feelings, I have tried so hard not to use coupons and then suddenly had a splurge, but there are some things that I just can’t get second-hand or make myself. Then I remind myself that this isn’t about self-denial, it’s about spending wisely. And we are expected to use our annual allowance, I think we said we could carry some over from the previous year but no longer than that. As Cherryfudge said, keeping up morale is important!  

Laura_Elsewhere

@PollyWollyDoodle Yes!!!   This! 

@Cherryfudge, I love your mum's sense of humour!  

If I pay attention and don't go astray, by teatime I may have a basic skirt done - I hope to sew on the waistband, sort out the fly, and sew the rest of the centre-front seam, which will mean that I shall have made the basic skirt, and it will only await its pockets and hem  

(ooh, weird, it won't let me post this, saying "Body is 3 characters too short" - how weird!)