2023 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

CapricornLass

Another spend to declare: 400g of acrylic wool, so 4 coupons.

Cherryfudge

@skogar, thank you so much for all that information! I'll search that website tomorrow, I've already warned DH I'll be spending! Mind you he's generally the one who plays the piano, so the reupholstered piano stool is very much in his interests.

maryb

isn’t isn’t it odd how one can sometimes have complete blind spots and then when you realise how stupid you have been you slap yourself on the head

During the winter it’s harder to get bedding dry without using the tumble drier.  So I had the idea of using a top sheet so the duvet cover doesn’t need washing so often.  Bought a king size sheet only to find that, of course, it’s too wide because it has enough overhang for tucking in which I wouldn’t be doing.

So yesterday I was looking in various shops to price up a standard double size flat sheet and suddenly realised DOH!!!  Just cut the big sheet down to size

obvious?  Yes of course but clearly not to me!

skogar

Hello Mary,

The advantage of that plan is you can have it the perfect width. A custom fit! 

Or before you cut it down to size check the wear on your existing bottom sheets if it would be the correct size for a bottom sheet. Only realised how worn some of my sheets are when one tore when I put it on the line last month! So I'm now looking out for some replacements. I'm struggling to find a source of good quality flannelette sheets - some of them seem very thin and only brushed on one side.

Laura_Elsewhere

I must sort out my signature with its list of coupons- I lashed out wildly and bought a new skirt (needlecord, A-line, mid-calf, mid-smoky-blue, Cotton Traders) and I think I haven't yet added the blue cotton dress I bought just before it got too cold to wear it... (although I think I may wear it in winter with a grey thin-merino poloneck under, darker blue cardi over, petticoats and grey stockings under). 

The dress will be 7 coupons, leaving 14: "Frock, gown or dress of other fabric - 7 coupons"

And the skirt is another 7, leaving me only 7 coupons for two months...: :Divided skirt or skirt – 7 coupons"

I hope I don't find I need anything else! 

So my coupons this year have gone on two pairs of jeans, two pairs of plimsoles, wool for a slipover I have yet to design, handmade leather lace-up shoes, a t-shirt I find I rarely wear so that was silly of me, two pairs of viscose shorts to wear as knicks, one cotton dress with pocketses, one needlecord skirt with pocketses. 

- the jeans and plimsoles both very well-made so should last years; the leather shoes should outlive me, literally, thirty or forty years. 

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere said:

I must sort out my signature with its list of coupons- I lashed out wildly and bought a new skirt (needlecord, A-line, mid-calf, mid-smoky-blue, Cotton Traders) and I think I haven't yet added the blue cotton dress I bought just before it got too cold to wear it... (although I think I may wear it in winter with a grey thin-merino poloneck under, darker blue cardi over, petticoats and grey stockings under). 

You and me both, @Laura_Elsewhere.  Your new skirt sounds lovely.

While I was in France last week, I went to the Caen branch of my favourite French boutique chain, Un Jour Ailleur, and bought a suit as predicted: grey pinstriped jacket and trousers (no matching skirt available*), plus the pink jumper that exactly matched the colour of the pinstripe and another dark red jumper (both pure wool).  That's an extra 27 coupons spent.  (I am so far into the red on my coupon count that it's embarrassing.)

Total spend £439.76, a whole £1 more than I had saved up in my Clothing Account, and includes a 150 Euro discount.  

- Pip



* Since there wasn't a matching skirt, I did try to buy a second pair of the trousers, but was informed that they only got one pair per size.

Cherryfudge

Un Jour Ailleur, 

'A Day Elsewhere'? Shouldn't it be Laura who shops there?

I have a jumper and polo neck to declare but I'm going to cheat and use DH's coupons as he has plenty to spare and they're part of his Christmas present. I expect women generally had control of the family coupons during the war, in which case I'm following in their footsteps. I imagine older people sometimes donated coupons in some way to help family, too.

PipneyJane

Cherryfudge said:

Un Jour Ailleur, 

'A Day Elsewhere'? Shouldn't it be Laura who shops there?

 

Cherryfudge said:

I have a jumper and polo neck to declare but I'm going to cheat and use DH's coupons as he has plenty to spare and they're part of his Christmas present. I expect women generally had control of the family coupons during the war, in which case I'm following in their footsteps. I imagine older people sometimes donated coupons in some way to help family, too.

 

In which case, it's my DH who has a yarn problem, not me.  That 36 coupon's worth of Studio Donegal wool is all his. 

Seriously, though, I have more than enough of everything; I just need to use my outfits, not store them.  (In 1940's terms, I definitely have an upper-middle-class wardrobe's quantity of clothes.) I will need to buy a couple of pairs of trainers in the next year for running, and (probably) a backup pair of loafers for work.  On the trainer front, the thought occurred to me that if I buy the heavier, "walking" trainers, they'll be waterproof - running ones aren't - AND once I've done my 300-ish running miles in them, they'll be perfect for day-to-day wear for at least a year after I cease running in them.

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

Mr E has used masses of coupons this year after using very few before- the lymphoedema means he has had to have new linen trousers for everyday wear, new undies of a different type and new socks of a different type! While we were at it, we bought him some new colourful t-shirts...  

Laura_Elsewhere

Cherryfudge said:

Un Jour Ailleur, 

'A Day Elsewhere'? Shouldn't it be Laura who shops there?

Hee hee hee That made me smile!