2022 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

nannygladys

CraftyLittleLisa - making 9 items is quite doable in a year. I never know what actually contributes towards a capsule wardrobe.

skogar

Nannygladys  - It doesn't really matter, it depends what you wear - the idea is that you have some different clothes in colours / patterns that you can mix and match together to create a variety of outfits. So 9 tops wouldn't be a capsule wardrobe as your bottom half would be rather chilly! A capsule wardrobe made of 9 items might contain something like 3 different tops, 2 pairs of trousers, a skirt, a dress, a cardigan and a jacket but what the items would be would depend on what you like to wear.

skogar

Complete failure so far on my other things on my wish list - failed to find a suitable warm navy cardigan or one in a 2nd colour - I know exactly what I want but it appears that there are none to be had, similarly with my wishlist navy dress.

Now have a new job so could really do with that cardigan or a warm jacket have hunted through my scarf collection and found a few scarves that i can wear with a plain black dress I have for work to ring the changes a bit - I usually wear dresses as i don't have to decide what things go with it like with trousers and tops. The black dress is nice but looks a bit drab without something to brighten it up. So that lets me bring another dress into play for work.

Cherryfudge

skogar said:

Now have a new job so could really do with that cardigan or a warm jacket have hunted through my scarf collection and found a few scarves that i can wear with a plain black dress I have for work to ring the changes a bit - I usually wear dresses as i don't have to decide what things go with it like with trousers and tops. The black dress is nice but looks a bit drab without something to brighten it up. So that lets me bring another dress into play for work.

Hi Skogar, you may already have seen this article as mention has been made of the 100 day challenge not so long ago. Some women opted to wear a plain black dress for 100 days and feed back about it on Instagram. The idea was to promote wool as a sustainable fabric with minimal environmental impact, but even if your dress isn't wool, it's interesting to read about how these people felt and see pictures of how they rang the changes (you might need to look on IG for those).

100 days in one dress — wool& (wooland.com)

(Thanks to @TwibbleDee, of course, for introducing me to this fascinating world! If I weren't such a jeans and sweater type of person, I think I would have joined in. I see the charity Tearfund is doing a 'clothes fast' as a fundraiser this year, limiting participants to 10 items of (visible) clothing for a month, which is a similar exercise in reducing the impact of the clothing industry).

P.S. I can't claim to be any sort of example though: when I worked in an office I bought second hand but had grey trousers, black trousers and a black skirt, black shoes, black boots, pink blouse, pale blue blouse and a couple of those all-in-one shirt/blouse tops, and a jacket. Oh, and bling-y necklaces! It was more or less completely interchangeable. Sitting behind a desk most of the time was like going out to dinner: people mostly see what you wear nearest your face so that was where a pop of colour came in.

skogar

Hi Cherryfudge,

Many thanks for making the comment. Yes - I saw the 100 day dress thing - it was very interesting (and was the inspiration for me having a rummage through my scarf collection) to try and brighten up the black dress and make it look a bit different - I have 4 that will go with the black dress (more than I thought). With a jumper the dress would work like a skirt (in appearance). I will have a look at the jumpers next and see if II can spot anything that would work. I do have a nice little collection of scarves and the idea of getting a navy dress was that I could create different outfits using the scarves. Most of the scarves I have a bit of blue in so I would have a few more scarves that I could wear with a navy dress. My main purchases I have planned for this year is  couple of (ideally wool) cardigans, nice warm ones as I don't have any cardigans at all, a navy dress, a white top and some cozy warm socks.

Great capsule wardrobe example there - I'm a bit short of blingy necklaces (although that is a good thing to look for when I next go in a charity shop) however you've reminded me that I do have 2 necklaces that I could bring into play for work outfits (I only have 2 necklaces in total) I will have a rummage and see if I can find them. The good news is they go with everything I've got.  

I have a few skirts that I could wear as well if wanted but am a bit short of tops to wear with them - hence the white top in the wish list.

Cherryfudge

I think I'm with you in a preference for navy - it's a bit softer than black but just about as versatile.

I have quite a few necklaces but only because I'm not good at getting rid of things I no longer use. I really don't do jewellery nowadays, but thinking about my wardrobe recently has me considering if it's time I reviewed it and looked out some new variations. That could include jewellery, it would make me look a bit more as though I'd made an effort! I hope you have fun putting together your work outfits, I did.

Reading the 100 day challenge again led me down a rabbit hole and I've been looking at a thing called a Chrysalis cardigan which is basically a wide circular wrap that can be worn many ways. The original is expensive (by my standards) but I have a couple of narrower circular scarves so I tried one out as a cardi and I think there's more mileage in the idea than I at first thought. I wonder if anyone here has tried it and if so, what did they think?

TwibbleDee

I wonder if this would greatly exceed my current sewing skills:
https://youtu.be/DoA7Nkzlg4A.  It’s an Infinity Wrap Dress.

Cherryfudge

I love that dress and that fabric! I think it might eventually be the sort of thing I could try. Thanks for posting it!

Liverpool_Anne

@TwibbleDee, she makes it look easy and it looks lovely, looking forward to seeing yours

Laura_Elsewhere

The daft thing about this 100-day-dress thing is that nobody would bat an eyelid if a chap wore his charcoal-grey or navy suit to work every day with a pale blue or white shirt every day and a navy or dark red tie every day... 

Why do women feel pressured to wear different clothes all the time?! 

Same historically for formal wear - men wore the same tailcoat, etc., but women had to have new ballgowns