2025 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

Gem-gem

Good evening everyone,
My Mum bought some dinosaur material when my nephew was a toddler. He is now nearly 10 and the material is untouched. I used a small section and made a dinosaur pouch for my step-nephews 4th Christmas. I will make a draw string bag to go with it, 

Cost to me £1.20 for the inside pouch. 😀

PipneyJane

Gem-gem said:

Good evening everyone,
My Mum bought some dinosaur material when my nephew was a toddler. He is now nearly 10 as the material is untouched. I used a small section and made a dinosaur pouch for my step-nephews 4th Christmas. I will make a draw string bag to go with it, 

Cost to me £1.20 for the inside pouch. 😀

Very cute @Gem-gem

- Pip

Cherryfudge

They are so sweet they almost make a dinosaur fan of me. I'm sure they will be well loved!

CapricornLass

Love the dinosaurs - they are such fun!

I have a spend to declare - 1.5 coupons for another bra.  This particular one has a very high cotton content, and I'm hoping that it will help when we get the next heatwave!  

PipneyJane

Did anyone see “The Social Knitwork” that went out on BBC1 yesterday? What did you think?  If not, it’ll be on iPlayer and is worth a watch.  I’ve just watched it.

It’s the story of a Northern Irish knitwear designer and her business, preparing for a pop up shop in LA.  She designs handmade knitwear, mainly made from roving.  The yarn is so thick that the stitches are hand formed and woven together.  Maybe 20 stitches across the back of a jumper.  

All the knitters are based in Northern Ireland and work from home.  I’m assuming they’re paid per piece but there was no discussion of the economics behind the business.  For instance, we don’t know whether she managed to sell all of the stock she took to LA.  I hope she did - she comes across as a really nice person.

- Pip

maryb

I had a quick look at Clarks and they have brought back a very similar style to the most comfortable shoe I have ever worn so that is 5 coupons earmarked
https://www.clarks.com/en-gb/shaya-tess/26183002-p
Clarks keeps being bought out by various private equity groups and a couple of years ago it looked as if they had completely abandoned their core adult demographic and were going for the ugliest clumpiest styles they could find.  I think I'll buy these sooner rather than later just in case.  Every time I go into my local branch the stock seems to be more and more spread out to fill the space which is not a good sign

PipneyJane

maryb said:

I had a quick look at Clarks and they have brought back a very similar style to the most comfortable shoe I have ever worn so that is 5 coupons earmarked
https://www.clarks.com/en-gb/shaya-tess/26183002-p
Clarks keeps being bought out by various private equity groups and a couple of years ago it looked as if they had completely abandoned their core adult demographic and were going for the ugliest clumpiest styles they could find.  I think I'll buy these sooner rather than later just in case.  Every time I go into my local branch the stock seems to be more and more spread out to fill the space which is not a good sign

Ooohhhh.... Very nice @maryb.  I have to say that I'm tempted, too, but I have multiple pairs of shoes to wear out first, which are in a similar style.  

Private Equity firms are the scourge of capitalism.  Just look at how Thames Water was bled dry by Macquarie Bank...  Load the firm with debt, then transfer the cash raised to the owners by way of dividends.  Finally, sell the company off to either another PE firm or to a pension fund that hasn't done its due diligence.  Rince and repeat.  (I've just finished listening to a Freakonomics Radio series about private equity.  If it were law to only pay dividends out of post tax profits; the industry would collapse.  No profit = no dividends.)

- Pip

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, spends to declare 😁. 1 pair of jeans for OH's birthday present so 6 coupons spent so I have 65.5 coupons remaining 😁

@PipneyJane honestly I think it is immoral to be giving out dividends to share holders when there is not enough money to run the business. If the law only allowed dividends to be paid from post tax profit maybe they would do a better job of running the company. I am still incensed by bank officials being awarded massive bonuses after the bank fiasco which resulted in tax payers rescuing them. Bonuses should be paid for doing an exceptional job not only surviving by getting massive hand outs from the tax player. There are many people who work very hard for very little money and via their taxes paid for those bonuses. Sorry rant over 😁.

The seeing bee was interesting and I have to say I loved the garment of the week 😁

Take care everyone
65.5/66 coupons remaining

kiwisavings

Great to hear that there is a new season for the GB Sewing Bee, we have just finished the last season here in New Zealand and so will probably have a few months wait here for this new one.

Some news on handbags...
I have found a few advertisements from 1941- 1944 for handbags, they are listed as being coupon free!

November 1941



December 1941



March 1944



During this time, there were also quite a few ads from other stores that included handbags as items for sale, so they did appear to be available. I'm not sure if the one from 1944 was much more expensive due to quality or price hikes??
 

Sarahspangles

kiwisavings said:

Some news on handbags…
During this time, there were also quite a few ads from other stores that included handbags as items for sale, so they did appear to be available. I'm not sure if the one from 1944 was much more expensive due to quality or price hikes??

It could be, or maybe Morocco leather was less expensive? I looked on Wikipedia which suggests it could be goat or sheep leather and I think those are thinner. The middle bag is ‘leather cloth’ which isn’t leather.