2026 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

Baileys_Babe

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82049746#Comment_82049746

Thanks @Laura_Elsewhere for sharing the dermatologists recommendations, pleased to see it is similar to what I currently do except I add soda crystals to my washing machine along with the detergent to make the water softer so we need to use less detergent. This seems to works for us and more importantly doesn't trigger cause reactions for the eczema sufferer.

I miss Biotex such a useful product.

PipneyJane

@Laura_Elsewhere it worked!

The stain is all gone. I soaked the polo shirt for 24 hours then washed it at 40C with 50g of biological washing powder, using the half-load setting. The solution for soaking was also 50g of biological washing powder, in a third of a bucket of water.

Thank you for your wise advice.

• Pip

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, spends to declare 😁. 1 shirt and 2 t shirts for birthday presents so a total of 13 coupons spent.

@PipneyJane yes I noticed the Norwegian football shirts as well 😁

Take care everyone

32/66 coupons remaining

itsthelittlethings

Bought 10 pairs of unmentionables. What a relief! It helps a person to know they won't be disgraced if taken in to hospital in a hurry.

We have a new supervisor, Mrs Crane. We had a team briefing yesterday and after she said to me - I need to speak to you, walk and talk. I thought I was in trouble but she was just talking about something to do with [redacted].

I have a new wireless that I bought with some overtime. I was listening to some boogie woogie the other day. All the other girls at work make fun of me but I am obsessed!

Nelliegrace

I tried on an old denim skirt as a change from trousers in the hot weather, and it fell off! I think it will have to go to the Red Cross shop. An unexpected and not unwelcome effect of several years on the rations. Heaven Bless Lord Woolton.

I bought nice long, grey vests, 99% cotton 1% viscose, reduced to £1 from the men’s department at Primark. It was worth looking for coloured ones instead of dying white ones. I won’t need any new vests for quite a few winters, and the old ones made cotton bandages and dressings.

I had to pinch a few of DH’s coupons, he very generously bought them for me and got a fluorescent orange T shirt for himself, perhaps he was thinking about the blackout dim mornings and evenings. So I have no coupons left. Any further purchases will have to be second hand or from a rummage in the suitcases in the attic. I saved a few lovely dresses from my late teens and early twenties.

Everyone was advised to empty attics because of the fire risk from incendiary bombs, and anyway DH is too old and unsteady now to climb a loft ladder.

diminua

As an eczema sufferer I can only underline what Laura said about rinsing. The sniff test works well I find - if it still smells of detergent it still has detergent in it. I love bubbles and perfume, but they don't love me.

I'm actually posting to report some more coupons out though. One dress, a kind of burgundy/chestnut colour. Mini dress on your average Joanna but knee length on me. I decided I needed a nice plain dress for work rather than the pretty patterns I'm normally drawn to.

A couple of tops - one striped and one patterned (I may have mentioned the patterned one before?).

I have also been hitting the charity shops - one blue cotton dress, very straight up and down (which I am not, but it is loose and forgiving) with a white cheeseplant leaf pattern. One linen blend white dress with black floral and box pattern (can't describe that better but hopefully the picture will demonstrate) and another stripy top.

I also promised to report back re ladders in tights and popsocks not supposed to ladder. One pair of tights have a small ladder which seems to be arrested by the weave but still a bit disappointing given the hype, pop socks going strong at the moment.

According to my spreadsheet I have 12.5 coupons left.

PipneyJane

@Nelliegrace well done on the weight loss. It’s all your healthy eating that did it. Why not take the skirt in?

@diminua Those dresses are very cheerfully patterned. Thanks for the update on the ladder-free pop socks.

I’m with you 100% on the laundry detergent issue. No, I don’t want my clothes to smell of anything. (Is it just my nose or does the majority of the population stink of either laundry detergent or cheap deodorant these days? < sigh > The power of advertising/marketing. No wonder air fresheners are the biggest source of air pollution in the home…)

I have a spend to declare. We went to see 10CC perform on Wednesday at the Royal Albert Hall. (Yes, they played all the classics. Brilliant!) As a cricket fan, I couldn’t resist this t-shirt:

This is the back, much smaller and at shoulder level:

Naturally, I’ll be wearing it when I attend the Women’s T20 World Cup Final at Lords on Sunday.

Another 4 coupons spent, which brings my total for the year to 53.5. That leaves me with 27 coupons, thanks to rolling over 14.5 from last year. On my wish list:

• A pair of plimsoles. (5 coupons)
• Another pair of hiking trousers, where the legs zip off to make shorts. (6 coupons)
• A woollen, navy blue, double breasted blazer with matching trousers and skirt. (26 coupons)

Hmmm…..

• Pip (Let’s hope I get lucky in charity shops.)

Baileys_Babe

@PipneyJane said:

I’m with you 100% on the laundry detergent issue. No, I don’t want my clothes to smell of anything. (Is it just my nose or does the majority of the population stink of either laundry detergent or cheap deodorant these days? < sigh > The power of advertising/marketing. No wonder air fresheners are the biggest source of air pollution in the home…)

I'm with you on this, a friend of DD's clothes smell so much of laundry products it makes the insides of my nose burn 😔

PipneyJane

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82058132#Comment_82058132

I get it, @Baileys_Babe. Certain perfumes gave my mum migraines. Ditto my sister and myself. Not fun. Anyone remember Christian Dior’s Poison? That’s my definite trigger.

I was on the Tube a couple of weeks ago, during the last heatwave, and almost everyone reeked of laundry detergent or deodorant. Seriously, if you wear an antiperspirant, use one that is unscented! That way, it doesn’t clash with your perfume, if you wear one.

(FWIW: I use Salt Of The Earth’s crystal deodorant. Never smell, ever, and one crystal lasts for 18 months or longer.)

OK, I’m off my soap box. I have another spend to declare…. (What? I hear you say. She only just posted!)… 2 x 50g skeins of King Cole 4-ply Merino Blend yarn in shade 25 French Navy. I have nearly finished the cardigan I’m knitting in this yarn and, at some point, decided I’d make a matching jumper and turn it into a twin-set. Before I started knitting, I had 12 skeins (purchased in 2013). I’ve just started the button bands and I have 4.5 skeins left; not enough to make a short sleeved jumper, even if I sacrifice my swatch. Having checked Ravelry, to see if anyone was selling this shade from their stash, I bit the bullet and bought it from a retailer.

Two more coupons spent, takes my total to 55.5, leaving me with 25.

• Pip (off to update my signature)

PS: Sewing Bee is back! Tuesday 14th July. Just saw an ad on the BBC.

MrsCD

I'll look out for you on the telly on Sunday, @PipneyJane! Smashing t-shirt! 😆