2024 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

Sarahspangles

I have a 2 coupon spend for yarn for a scarf, which I’m counting now* as I just blocked it to wear for a few days away. I’ll try to get a pic in daylight. I think that leaves me a balance of 23 coupons, and I could really do with a couple of long sleeve T shirts, maybe I will see some while we’re away.

I’m finding it very difficult to work out what to buy at the moment. I’ve got 20 weeks left with The Ministry - am I then returning to Civvies? It’s chilly piloting a desk but I’m sticking to basics as I’ll get wear from them.

Yesterday I took daughter posh charity shopping in Harrogate. She got a nice short padded Crew jacket, suitable for bus rides, very little worn. But Harrogate matrons seem to be petite and svelte so I didn’t see anything that would go near me.
 
* This is my ruse where I replenished my stash, but will only use a coupon when I actually finish something!

MrsCD

Thanks Pip.
My mam's dad was in the Durham Light Infantry at the Somme, and never spoke about it. We can only imagine what he saw. I went to see War Horse last week with my friend, and maybe because of the time of year, I found myself quite moved by the performance. 
We can only pray for peace in this uncertain world.

Nelliegrace

I found this photograph when I was researching family history. My grandfather was seriously injured nearby, on the same day as this was taken, near Cambrai in 1918. Everyone looks exhausted, both British and captured German soldiers have been carrying the wounded to this dressing station. For him it was part of a long journey home after three gruelling years. 

florianatwobob

@MrsCD Warhorse makes me very emotional everytime I see the film and when I saw it on stage. My Gt Grandad was at Gallipoli and the Somme we have his diaries. As a sometime farmer’s / horse and cattle dealer’s son in a wider family of farmers he had a great affection for the horses. And strong views about Continental farming techniques. 

MrsCD

@Nelliegrace, it brings it home, seeing just how worn out they all are. There's a lot to be said for each country choosing their best politician (😂😂😂😂 is there such a thing?) and making them fight it out.

Gem-gem

Good evening everyone. 

Was really pleased today, as I visited the second hand shop that I sometimes sell clothes in and they said that they had sold two of my jumpers. I walked away with £21.50. 😀 I will put that money aside towards my clothes budget for 2025. 

Does that mean that I can have some coupons back? 

Wearing a pair of second hand black trousers today that I got from my Mum. We did a swap she chose two of my merino wool jumpers that have shrunk in length. She is 6+ inches shorter than me. 

I also sold £5.50 worth of books. I also have four books that I am passing onto my friend. I am using the library more so have fewer books to sell/ pass on. I wonder if the libraries stayed open during the war? Cannot imagine that many books were published during this time. 

Nelliegrace

Libraries did stay open and were very popular during WW2, and although paper was limited books were still published. I remember cheap editions at school with course paper which seemed to be chopped straw?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:1940_British_novels

There were regular collections of used books for the forces and prisoners of war, both novels and text books, and collections of books for pulping and recycling the paper.

As a VAD in WW1 my grandmother was in a hostel in Paternoster Row, by St Paul’s Cathedral. It was the centre of the London book publishing industry, and had second hand and antiquarian bookshops.
The street was devastated by aerial bombardment during the Blitz in WW2 suffering particularly heavy damage in the night raid of 29–30 December 1940, during which an estimated 5 million books were lost in the fires caused by tens of thousands of incendiary bombs

https://journalpublishingculture.weebly.com/uploads/1/6/8/4/16842954/zoe_thompson.pdf

Sarahspangles

Nelliegrace said:

As a VAD in WW1 my grandmother was in a hostel in Paternoster Row, by St Paul’s Cathedral. It was the centre of the London book publishing industry, and had second hand and antiquarian bookshops.
The street was devastated by aerial bombardment during the Blitz in WW2 suffering particularly heavy damage in the night raid of 29–30 December 1940, during which an estimated 5 million books were lost in the fires caused by tens of thousands of incendiary bombs

We visited the Old Library at Trinity College Dublin this week, they’re just in the process of decanting all the books so they can carry out work including installation of sprinklers. They have irreplaceable books like the Book of Kells. The guide said ‘we couldn’t bear to have a Notre Dame here’. I can’t imagine what 5 million books would look like.

CapricornLass

I have a couple of Dr Doolittle books that were published during the war.  They are probably not as good as the hardbacks that were printed before the war, but they still had a decent cloth-bound cover.  I think its probably the colour plates that got affected most - there are only B & W line drawings in these books

Laura_Elsewhere

I have some children's books which have a design in the front saying 'War Economy Standard' - cheaper paper, shorter abridged text, denser text for fewer pages, fewer endpaper pages... 

I'm off to the two big re-enactment suppliers' markets outside Coventry this weekend (TORM and ARM, if anyone's looking). A few quid to get in, and then a lot of excellent top-quality kit and materials... I no longer do any re-enactment but it's the best place, imo, to choose from a wide range of pure wool cloth, much of it British wool, sometimes hand-woven, or natural dyes, etc. 
I am collecting three metres of 60" (!) needlecord-velvet in a gorgeous very dark midnight-blue, a present from a very very kind friend. I plan to make a jacket with it, lined with fake-fur from a furry throw I bought years ago to use a tiny corner to make a little teddy bear for Mr E's mother. 
I want to keep going on sewing- we tried Sewing Tuesday a few weeks ago, and on the two days we did it, it really worked. We've got a busy week next week and weekend following but then I shall push hard to have Sewing Tuesdays...