2022 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

florianatwobob

@CapricornLass I worked in IT infrastructure too, the one day I wore a dress and heels to a site meeting was the day I ended up doing a site survey minus my engineer. That was fun! 

Now it’s trousers all the way just in case despite no longer working in IT. 

Gem-gem

white-rabbit_2-2 said:

Thank everyone for such a warm welcome… I would love to pull up a chair! You all sound like such a fabulous bunch 😊

I have wayyyy too many clothes but all classic stuff that I don’t want to donate but remodel. Not that I’m stingy I’m just working towards retiring early (I’ve not been very well and I have a high pressure job) but also I hate the situation with clothes being dumped. 

I’ve been seesawing between minimalism and making my clothes wrk for me. Any advice is really appreciated. Do I get rid, or keep and remodel?? 

@white-rabbit_2-2, Welcome. I have made a pear crumble today, pears from my neighbours garden, please help yourself. 

With regards to wearing tights, I prefer the thicker variety. I tend to keep sheer tights for weddings and funerals and then use them again sparingly after that. 

Like yourself, I am also working towards early retirement. I would retire next summer if I thought that I had enough money to last till my work pension starts.

I also have the same dilemma, I also seesaw between minimalism and making clothes work for me. I tend to go for similar colours - navy is my base colour, then I have lots of whites and greys. I did buy a pink top this year - which is so unlike me! 

When I lost loads of weight 12 years ago, I kept all the really good quality clothes and like Laura said, got rid of the clothes that didn't work for me or had rips/ stains etc. 

My mum used to put either her summer/winter clothes away in the loft and get them back out at the beginning of the season. I wonder if this would stop us from getting bored with them. Does any do this? I have a small wardrobe, that I keep our occasional outfits in, I usually put my summer clothes in there. But very rarely my winter clothes, as I mainly work on layers. 

Pip, I saw in London that there were lots of autumnal colours displayed. I will have to dig out my orange roll neck, that I bought 13/14 + years ago.  You will all need your sun glasses on. 

Good night. 

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, I have 2 vouchers 15% off for celtic & co plus free delivery valid until 31st January 2023 . If anyone would like the code pm me. 
Take care everyone

PipneyJane

maryb said:

I don’t know what demographic John Lewis is targeting these days but for sure it’s not their traditional loyal customer base.  And I am so sick of seeing a sea of slob in every clothes shop I go into.

Pip, the stall holders all put their prices up at Ally Pally because they are charged so much by the organizers.  You’d be better off looking in Goldhawk Road - fabric heaven!  There are also a few decent hobby stalls in Shepherd’s Bush market but otherwise it’s internet shopping.

Thanks for the tip, @maryb.  Fortunately, I am only looking for patterns at the moment, but I'll remember Goldhawk Road when next I'm looking for fabric.

- Pam

Cherryfudge

Gem-gem said:

My mum used to put either her summer/winter clothes away in the loft and get them back out at the beginning of the season. I wonder if this would stop us from getting bored with them. Does any do this? I have a small wardrobe, that I keep our occasional outfits in, I usually put my summer clothes in there. But very rarely my winter clothes, as I mainly work on layers. 

This is exactly what I'm doing today and have done for years due to lack of storage (and having too many clothes). It really does help you not to get bored, though as I put this year's away I noticed there are some I've not worn all summer.

I bucked my own trend and found three hardly-worn items which have now been donated as I'm not realistically going to be back in those sizes/styles.

I have what I feel are ridiculous amounts of summer shoes. I found three pairs of sandals and a pair of boots which were beyond repair so these are binned. Even so I found thirteen pairs of summer-weight footwear, of which twelve are now stored (the gold flats I know I can wear for winter occasions so I've kept them out).

I don't think I've bought any summer shoes this year - for some reason I didn't feel the need! 

PollyWollyDoodle

I don't do the swap-over any more, since I live alone I've got a whole wardrobe to myself 😁 but I don't have that many one-season clothes anyway.  I wear a lot of things all year round e.g. T-shirts and cardigans, they are just layered more in winter.  I have put the linen trousers and chinos at the back of the rail and brought the heavier clothes to the front. I still try and have a seasonal cull though, getting rid of any summer stuff that hasn't been worn much. 

Baileys_Babe

PollyWollyDoodle said:

I wear a lot of things all year round e.g. T-shirts and cardigans, they are just layered more in winter.  I have put the linen trousers and chinos at the back of the rail and brought the heavier clothes to the front. I still try and have a seasonal cull though, getting rid of any summer stuff that hasn't been worn much. 

I do not have a summer or winter wardrobe I also just wear more layers if the weather is cooler.

Laura_Elsewhere

I definitely have clothes I only wear at certain times of the year! 

I have jumpers I don't wear in summer and sun-tops I don't wear in winter, for example. 

I have cardigans ranging from a bit of extra warmth on a chilly summer's evening through to adding serious cosiness over a jumper in midwinter. 

the thing is, ime, wearing more layers will make you a bit warmer, which is fine if you turn the heating up, or on, but if those layers are in materials suitable for summer then the amount of insulation is going to be limited - especially if they have synthetic fibres which almost all modern clothes do, they are mostly 'blends'. 
Adding thin layers of wool or silk is far more insulating than piling on polycotton or synthetic fleece. 

On other MSE boards I can't help noting the number of people talking about their preparation for trying to manage with less heating who are buying up synthetic fleece and sweatpants/shirts etc., and thinking sadly how much warmer they would be if they nipped down their local charity shop and picked up a few lightweight wool jumpers to layer instead of the thick sweatshirts and fleeces that won't trap anywhere near as much heat... 
(I know of course that some people can't wear wool but it's actually a very small number; many people think they can't wear wool because modern cheap woollen jumpers are made from chopped fibres put through cheaper cotton-spinning machines... try a charity shop for an older, good-quality jumper - all those boring old M&S men's v-neck 100%-wool thin jumpers are perfect, try wearing a couple of those, nice and loose-fitting, or wear a snug-fitting one over a t-shirt and under a shirt...)

florianatwobob

I do love a woolly jumper or at least a jumper made from natural fibres, synthetic clothes make me static-y and itchy. The proliferation of polyester in clothes is one of my pet moans and it really doesn’t wear as well!

thriftwizard

@CapricornLass you made me laugh, remembering the long-ago days when I spent hours crawling around under ministerial desks looking to see what they'd managed to unplug or spill coffee over. Then our department manager was promoted & we got a new boss who was under the impression that the few female IT staff should wear skirts, tights and - high heels?! - in order to look "professional"... luckily discovering that I was expecting DS1 liberated me from all that!

No further "makes" here, but must get cracking on the underwear front...