2024 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

CapricornLass

Cherry Fudge, I'm in the same boat as you!  One problem is that I've inherited a lot of classic clothes from my mother, who was the same size as me.  Fatal!  Unfortunately I liked and still like a lot of them.  However, I'm getting round to the idea that I will have to go through them again, and get rid of a few things.  

Capsule wardrobes for me will have to include things I can wear for digging in the garden, or painting walls, or just generally mucky jobs.  Strangely enough the capsule wardrobes I have seen never seem to take account of such activities!

Sarahspangles

Coming full circle, isn’t it funny that approaches like capsule wardrobes and P333 are ways to ration our clothing stock? It’s nice to have the choice to do so, it can’t have been much fun in 1945 when you only got 24 coupons and your wardrobe was already pretty bare.

My brother recently scanned lots of family photos, my grandmothers seem so well dressed despite being born in 1906 and 1914 and going through the Depression and WW2 rationing in working class families.

Cherryfudge

CapricornLass said:

Capsule wardrobes for me will have to include things I can wear for digging in the garden, or painting walls, or just generally mucky jobs.  Strangely enough the capsule wardrobes I have seen never seem to take account of such activities!

Odd, that. Take comfort in the fact your life is enriched by the ability to do mucky jobs, and can extend your wardrobe in that direction!

I had a charity shop find today which I've yet to try on: summer trousers, harem style with a navy and beige paisley pattern. £2.99 and no coupons. I also saw some striped trousers that I really liked but which would need to be taken up... do I, don't I? I was actually feeling I need some smart everyday trousers and these would fit the bill but are five or six inches too long, which is a lot...

weenancyinAmerica

@Cherryfudge - all of my trousers have to be taken up by about that much unless they are the cropped trousers which are actually the right length for me.

I think you might just need a capsule wardrobe for each part of your life and for each season: Housework module for summer and housework module for winter, going out to visit and to church module for each season, travel modules depending on when and where you go (Switzerland in winter versus Spain in summer). A lot depends on whether you get four seasons where you live and whether you need to pack away some of your clothes when the seasons change. 

I couldn't do the Project 333 because I don't have enough clothes. Will need to go shopping soon or I will be in serious trouble this summer. Things I bought 20 or 30 years (or more) ago have been wearing out! Don't shop for clothes often enough. I have pictures taken 20 or 30 years ago where I am still wearing some of the things I wear now. A friend and my sister actually gave me some clothes this year because they were worried about me. Keep thinking I don't want to add to the landfill problems so I talk myself out of shopping for clothes. Actually still wearing the grey skirt and navy cardigan I bought when I started college (1965) at the charity shop nearby.  I do have three more skirts now. And one more cardigan (inherited from my father in 2006 - he had been wearing it for at least twenty years). Maybe planning some capsule wardrobes would get me to let loose and shop more.

Laura_Elsewhere

I think the posts about capsule wardrobes and 333 plans and the posts about photos of grandparents, the real wartime clothing raitoning and wearing clothes you've worn for decades all coincide to really emphasise how much better-made clothes were in the past! 

It goes right back to the thread-spinning processes... better-spun thread, which was better-woven to make really good resilient cloth, which was then properly-cut and sewn into clothes intended to be worn every day for years and years... and a huge secondhand clothes trade, not to mention passing things on- so an item might cost a lot to begin with but by the time it's gone through four or five owners over 20 or 30 years, it's affordable for people with much less money, and it still has years of wear left in it! 

diminua

And the quality of the clothes made it worthwhile altering them if they weren't quite right - taking up a hem maybe or changing the buttons, which can make a huge difference to how smart something looks. 
I'm no seamstress but I recently narrowed the back of a dress I bought last year and it's so much better - the cap sleeves now sit correctly on my shoulders, rather than slithering down to reveal my bra straps, which may be a charming look in your 20s on the beach, but not the image I want day to day now I'm 50, however hot it gets. A few years back I'd just have given up on dresses again, but I've spent coupons on it now, I'm determined to make it work. 

PipneyJane

diminua said:

And the quality of the clothes made it worthwhile altering them if they weren't quite right - taking up a hem maybe or changing the buttons, which can make a huge difference to how smart something looks. 

Laura_Elsewhere said:

I think the posts about capsule wardrobes and 333 plans and the posts about photos of grandparents, the real wartime clothing raitoning and wearing clothes you've worn for decades all coincide to really emphasise how much better-made clothes were in the past! 

It goes right back to the thread-spinning processes... better-spun thread, which was better-woven to make really good resilient cloth, which was then properly-cut and sewn into clothes intended to be worn every day for years and years... and a huge secondhand clothes trade, not to mention passing things on- so an item might cost a lot to begin with but by the time it's gone through four or five owners over 20 or 30 years, it's affordable for people with much less money, and it still has years of wear left in it! 

That is so true, @diminua and @Laura_Elsewhere.  The ideal wardrobe starts with good quality fabrics.  

Sarahspangles said:

Coming full circle, isn’t it funny that approaches like capsule wardrobes and P333 are ways to ration our clothing stock? It’s nice to have the choice to do so, it can’t have been much fun in 1945 when you only got 24 coupons and your wardrobe was already pretty bare.

My brother recently scanned lots of family photos, my grandmothers seem so well dressed despite being born in 1906 and 1914 and going through the Depression and WW2 rationing in working class families.

Interesting, @Sarahspangles.  I think part of it is that our grandmother’s generation had “standards”, so would wear their smartest clothes if they were going somewhere that they would likely be photographed.  It went both ways:  photography wasn’t a cheap pastime, so if your subject didn’t look their best, you wouldn’t waste your precious film on them.  

I have two spends to declare, neither of which cost coupons.  A multipack of skin-toned tights, and a hat!



We’re in Stirling for my first social events since getting sick: a 70th birthday party on Friday and the internment of the ashes of the Clan’s matriarch on Saturday.  (You may remember we came up or her funeral last autumn.). We drove up yesterday.  This morning, DH and I went into town and wandered around the shops.  I found the hat at the back of a shop which has no name, just an address: 10 Baker Street, Stirling.  We went in there because DH has been looking for a replacement hip flask - the neck on the old one broke - and they had some flasks in the window.  There were some tartan garments, sporrans, kilt hose, tartan ties and, at the back, a small display of hats.  

The ha only cost me £10.  I’m 99% certain that it is secondhand, but it doesn’t look like it was ever worn.  It’s got an M&S label.  It fits well enough that it didnt’t fall off my bald head when I bent over.  It will be perfect for the service on Saturday.

- Pip

ETA:  We’re driving home on Sunday.  Got my last round of chemo on Monday. (Also, yes, we bought a hip flask from that shop, too.)

PollyWollyDoodle

Ooh I visited Stirling last year, really liked it. You look great in that hat, Pip!  

I’ve been reading but not commenting much, life gets in the way. I started on that link to the ‘capsule wardrobe’ but it was loading very slowly, I might try again on the laptop. However I noticed in the intro that she promised it will fit your lifestyle, and that it does NOT include a camel coat, trench coat or ‘greige’ unless that’s what you want. 

I did Marie Kondo some time ago, it’s not for everyone - but afterwards I was amazed at how much easier I found it to choose outfits. 

I ended up with much less stuff, and it all seemed to go together much better than before - I guess that by only keeping stuff I loved, I instinctively focused on favourite colours and styles. It simplified my life considerably. 

potplant

That's a great hat - very 1930s cloche-ish.  I have never managed to wear a hat for style, only for seasonal protection - sun hats against ultraviolet, or berets against cold!

Cherryfudge

The hat is very 'you', @PipneyJane, and the pink shirt compliments it nicely. I hope the party and the ashes ceremony go well.