2023 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

Cherryfudge

@Liverpool_Anne, I think you're doing very nicely as you still have some leeway with your coupons!

My husband is similar: jeans year round. He won't wear scarves and has taken years to convert to gloves and a beanie, but his circulation isn't too good and his hands get very cold. I've explained time and again that warmer neck/wrists/ankles help general warmth, but it's all too big a step to make. He will happily wear woollen jumpers, thankfully, but they always end up with holes under the arms for some reason. Triumphs have been lounge-type funnel-neck fleeces which he now wears in the house, and a puffer jacket which staves off the worst of the cold when out of doors.

Liverpool_Anne

@Cherryfudge OH has a thyroid problem and has to take blood thinners after a massive blood clot so does feel the cold. Luckily will wear a scarf when outside but does not wear enough layers or slippers when indoors so I can literally be wandering around in a t shirt and OH is cold wearing jeans and a lightweight fleece . I generally find if my feet are warm I am warm so a pair of good thick socks and slippers and I am toasty I predict the purchase of more wool jumpers

flamingo747

Mine got converted last year to a thick wool cardigan from CS which I bought him mostly as a joke because I thought he'd say No Way. I'm now keeping and eye out for a second!

thriftwizard

Mine's taken forever to notice that a nice woolly jumper is 100 times warmer & more comfortable than a cheap sweatshirt...

5 more coupons surrendered; went to polish up my ankle boots, having decided that they would be appropriate wear for travelling and for my cousin's funeral, as I'm currently without my own transport so am reliant on trains & lifts from assorted brothers & won't have much room for bulky things. Anyway, the ankle boots were not just squeaking, but actively letting in water, and with storm Ciarán approaching & due to be right over us at the time of the funeral, wouldn't do. I was also struggling for a bag that fitted both what I was wearing plus what I need to carry, and a waterproof that isn't bright pink, but managed to find both secondhand in our charity shops, which vastly outnumber our high street shops. (The waterproof (Qechua) is a bit tight; I wouldn't want to wear it up Eryri,  but it's reasonably smart-looking & will do. But the bag is a triumph; a Zatchel, for £10, which I wouldn't have hesitated to buy at full price!) Anyway, M0shulu had some ankle boots which fit the bill; their shoes are usually too narrow for me, but we went up a size & they're good. £30 less than full price too; hopefully they'll give me several years.

Two months left and just 2 coupons - this is the first time I've really struggled, thanks to assorted family happenings! I may even technically be over now; I did buy some yarn when we were in Pembrokeshire but didn't think I needed to surrender any coupons - a cone of pure Jacobs in a charity shop, from the local mill, which closed down a number of years ago. Unused, but not exactly new. No idea what I'm going to do with it; it's definitely not next-the-skin stuff, but would make great hats/legwarmers/blankets sort of thing.

diminua

Winter coat purchased - brown duffel, gloverall age 13. It's the first coat I've had in years that doesn't need the sleeves rolled up, but I don't think I could have done this coat up two years ago to be honest, especially over the hips. 

That means I either have 2.5 coupons left (if I consider this a child's coat) and can get a scarf that goes with it (I already have gloves), or am half a coupon over if it's an adult coat and will have to hit the black market.

I've given up amending my signature for a bit btw - it keeps resetting to an earlier version and I don't know why. 

CapricornLass

It must be something about men's jumpers - OH 's always go under the arms too. Though the ones that I knitted for him seem to have avoided this fate.....

PipneyJane

@thriftwizard - the cone of yarn is second-hand, so definitely doesn't require coupons.

@diminua If something is a child's size and bought from the children's department, then it only requires a child's quantity of coupons.  Gloverall coats are excellent.  For a long time, I regretted the one I left behind when moving house in 2000.  (It wasn't recoverable.)

- Pip

(Quick, flying visit type post. I managed to hurt my right deltoid muscle last week - the one that covers the shoulder - from too much use of a mouse at work.  Classic RSI. It took 7 days to settle down, plus replacing both keyboards - office and home - with ones without a number pad.)

Cherryfudge

I hope you feel better soon, @PipneyJane. Sounds painful.

PollyWollyDoodle

Ouch, I hope that it’s settling down now @PipneyJane. Very difficult when you’re using a computer all day for work.  

Well, I finally had to break into my coupons, lest I be accused of hoarding them!  Three new bras at 1.5 coupons each.  A pair of ankle boots, five coupons. And six pairs of knickers, 12 coupons.  So that’s 18.5 coupons, I’ll have to check back through my posts, but I don’t think I have bought anything new so far this year.  Everything else has been from charity shops or, once or twice, one of the online second-hand sites. 

When I began this challenge, I would never have believed it was possible. I do have the advantage of living in a fairly prosperous town with a lot of charity shops, and having the time to browse. I don’t really dress up much, mainly jeans if I’m not working, but I have several times been asked where I got something. Second hand definitely doesn’t mean compromising on quality!   

PipneyJane

Thanks @PollyWollyDoodle - it has settled down a lot.

Quick question for you all:  has anyone tried the M&S thermal jeans? What are they like?  Do they really keep you warmer.  Since I'm permanently cold in Winter, I'm tempted to buy a pair or two from our local Spiv.  (If I'm over, I might as well do all my shopping this year.)

- Pip