2022 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

Laura_Elsewhere

@maryb - gosh, that's poor!  

maryb

When you walk through Marks these days, it’s a sea of slob!  And mostly plastic slob at that

Cherryfudge

I've been away a few days and come back with more than I took...

For a start, though I think of myself as an experienced packer, I finally forgot socks. After two days in the pair I came in and a day in thick walking socks, I got a three-pack of a 'good' make from TKM axx. I think that's six coupons in one swell foop. I've also recently thrown out some old running shoes that were ultra-comfy for work, but found a good replacement in the same place, so there go another five coupons. There was also a sweatshirt but that was pre-loved so no coupons. I think I've also forgotten to say that I found a pair of winter tights in the space under a drawer. They had once been DD's but she doesn't want them so I've acquired them. They are great under trousers on a cold day.

florianatwobob

@Cherryfudge pyjamas are my packing nemesis. I’m seriously considering designating a pair as ‘suitcase pyjamas’ as I’ve nearly forgotten them that many times. I definitely don’t think sleeping in the nuddy in a strange place is an option.

Moreso when I’ve been in hotels with impromptu midnight fire alarms and minor earthquakes (the earthquake was in Telford, nowhere exciting). 

weenancyinAmerica

When I traveled I took a top and shorts or sweatshirt trousers depending on the weather when I was traveling because of having to evacuate several hotels to fires and other disasters. I kept a list of what to pack on hand all of the time as I was home for one week and then on the road for three weeks for several years. Then I started taking tour groups to different places and filled in for guides who couldn't make the trip occasionally, so always had the list in the suitcase. Still keep the list on hand just in case.

Cherryfudge

I'm one of those people whose work and family commitments have meant I've often been away overnight, so packing is easy: there are basics that get thrown in and I leave things I will need in prominent places so I'm less likely to forget them. It's not infallible, of course, but I know there is a spare top, toothbrush and toothpaste, snacks and hand cream in my locker at work. I also used to leave supplies at Mum's to save me taking too much on the train.

Mum told me she was on a travel agent's list of people who were willing to fill cancellations at short notice, so she had to be able to pack for holidays abroad in a hurry. She stuck a list on the back of her dressing table mirror, saying 'Passport, ticket, money, keys'. If you had those, you could buy anything else you needed. It's helped me think straight at times, but of course it's no longer so simple.

What would go on a modern alternative? Phone, charger, medication I suspect!

PollyWollyDoodle

I travel away with work once a month, and quite often I’m away on weekend breaks, visiting family etc.

I keep my wash bag packed with small sizes of shampoo, body wash and so on, I even have a spare antiperspirant, so all I need to do is pop it in the suitcase. Since I did the Marie Kondo thing a few years ago my knickers and socks are all neatly rolled in the drawer and it makes it so easy to select what you need. 

I have recently discovered packing cubes – square mesh bags that you fill with your clothes and then they fit neatly inside the suitcase.  It’s not so much the packing as the unpacking, when you get to your destination you can just lift them out and put them in a drawer.  If you travel frequently I recommend them.

However I was reminiscing with a friend about how we used to have a family suitcase. Just the one, or perhaps there were two as we were a large family but definitely not one each. It would hold everything we needed for a two week holiday at the seaside. Hard to imagine now! 

florianatwobob

My wash bag is pretty much ready to go with a spare set of nearly everything. It made life so much easier when travelling regularly. 

PipneyJane

Girls, I am miles behind - at least 2 pages - but before I catch up, I wanted to reply to a couple of posts before I forget.

Firstly, @Laura_Elsewhere, congratulations on the serendipitous prize win.  I hope you have a lovely honeymoon there.  

Secondly, I feel your pain re the Scrummies.  We live opposite a school that goes from nursery to 6th form college.  It was a high school when we moved in; traffic not terrible.  Now, every afternoon the traffic is appalling.  Our street is also a bus route.  It’s not wide.  If cars are parked on both sides, then you can only have a single lane of traffic.  (Typical outer London street.). Not a day goes by when somebody doesn’t pull out without looking, having just picked up her precious children, usually into the path of the bus, then spends the next few minutes yelling at the bus driver, expecting him to back up with a string of cars behind him.  Thanks to the bus company, our street now had residents only parking on one side, for 2 hours twice a day.  The other side is single yellow line.  The parents continue to ignore both, park wherever they want (including across driveways) and it’s rarely policed by the council.

The residents of your flats should seriously consider installing electric gates.  In the long run, It’ll be cheaper than having to relay the tarmac every few years.  Most of the tarmac wear is from the Scrummies cars.

TwibbleDee said:

I need to figure out a basic style I like and will wear and can have in several different colors and then get rid of almost everything else.  My closet is atrocious.

It took me a while.  The first part of the process was working out what suited my body shape.  I worked my way through a couple of books about that - the one that worked for me was “The Colour and Style File” - and then, with the help of the “Wardrobe” book,  I figured out how to make a usable capsule wardrobe.  At the time, I made a lot of my clothes, and a painful lesson that I learned was that if a suit wasn’t in a neutral colour, it’d be too memorable to wear regularly.  Ditto if it was not classically styled.  (I was a devotee of Vogue patterns back then, made a beautiful, petrol blue, Armani suit and could only wear it once every 3 months.  The fabric cost £40-ish, the pattern £10 and my monthly take-home pay was £610.  Very painful.)

- Pip


PS:  If anyone ventured to the Messiah concert at St Delia’s last night, I was wearing my new shoes.  They fit beautifully.   (St Delia of the Kitchen, of course.)

Baileys_Babe

We used to go away regularly - often visiting friends or family or camping. Our wash bags are always packed along with the family medical bag, which contains prescription medications, over the counter medication and a first aid kit. I keep a packing list on my phone, so I only need to add things that are particular to that trip.