2019 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

Laura_Elsewhere · 10 February 2019 at 11:26AM

BabyStepper wrote: »

These coupons do not seem to be lasting long at all!

I know! Doesn't it make you really think about how people managed in the past? It's so recent that clothes have become so cheap that we can buy so many of them.

I know there are police reports I've read from just before the war (and in fact Agatha Christie's 'Mrs McGinty's Dead' has a similar bit) where a middle-aged woman's possessions are listed and she typically has her Sunday best skirt and jacket, and her everyday one (which would most likely have been her Sunday best a few years back), and possibly an old skirt and jacket kept for eg gardening, odd dirty jobs. Then perhaps 3 or 4 blouses, which would each be worn for a couple of days, so there's your weeks' washing, and a jumper and cardigan, 2 or 3 pairs of shoes, undies and that's the lot.

Imagine having just two outfits... well, my chap does, I suppose. He has four pairs of identical work trousers, 8 or so very similar work shirts; a couple of pairs of linen trousers for summer weekends, and borrows one of my big jumpers for cold weather. A lightweight jacket and a heavy jacket. Two pairs of identical leather work shoes, two pairs of walking-trainers. Undies and handkerchieves. That's the lot.
How many coupons does he spend per annum? Er, none at all last year, I think...

I've got a dozen big skirts, half a dozen pairs of trousers, 30 or so tops in different colours, 20 or so camisoles in different colours, a dozen or more jumpers and cardigans in different colours, and let's just leave my Imelda Marcos shoe collection out of it

How many coupons did I spend last year? Ahem, more than mine and his combined!

I need more of the clothes that go with more than one thing, that work harder - I have lazy clothes, that's what it is

Although also - modern women's clothes don't last properly. I bought Sainsbury's pyjamas from their men's dept in November and the trousers still haven't worn thin on the inner thighs, let alone worn through. I hadn't realised til I found myself marvelling, that I have simply become accustomed to buying women's PJ-bottoms and expecting them to last only 2-3 months.

So not only do I want my clothes to be more versatile in use, I damn well want them to be decent quality and last!!!!

vintagegal · 10 February 2019 at 7:47PM

Hello

Everything you have all posted today - so true! Quality is poor, we think we need much more than we really do, we don’t treasure things and we think we need a new outfit for every occasion. One thing I hope to get from this challenge is being happy to buy less but better. As well as appreciating all that I have already.

Today I went to fix my pinafore dress. I am so silly. It actually has two sets of buttons, and if I cross the straps at the back it actually fits me without needing any alterations...will wear it to work one day this week.

How are you adding photos to your posts?

Vintagegal x

diminua · 10 February 2019 at 9:33PM

Hi,
I'd like to join if that's OK. I normally kid myself I don't buy that many clothes, but quite a lot of what I have was bought in the last year, and I know it's largely because what I have doesn't last.

Part of that is because I'm not great at looking after clothes. If I have missing buttons or hems coming down I think 'I'll sort that later' - but don't.
So this evening I was inspired to (finally) fix the hem on my grey trousers, sew some missing buttons on my raincoat, and shift some buttons over on my winter coat (it's meant to have 4 functioning buttons and 3 that do nothing except make it more symmetrical. Since I'm missing quite a few I took off all the ones that are just decorative and moved them over so I can do it up - the buttons weren't sewn on that well and unpicked easily with no mark on the fabric).
All three jobs took less than an hour to do and the garments look much better now. However I don't think the trousers (St Michael's finest nylon) will last to next December, which is another issue - clothes that don't last or lose buttons because they weren't well made to start with. I'm hoping this challenge will make me consider not just how something will look for a month or two, but whether it has durability (and also check if buttons are tacked on badly, and if they are reinforce them with a few pre-emptive stitches before they're lost forever).

So far this year I've bought a rust coloured jumper (cotton/acrylic) so that's 5 out of my 66 coupons.

Thanks,

Diminua

Laura_Elsewhere · 10 February 2019 at 9:37PM

When I type my post, there's a row of buttons above the box, to do bold or italic or underline, etc., and one of them is a little picture of mountains and the sun, and it's "image" - I can't upload an image but if it's already online somewhere, I can go to that website and right-click/ cmd-click and one of the options I get is "copy image address" - then back to here and I just click the "image" picture and paste in the image address and then it comes up.

Well done on the straps!

I think my irritation at the quality of clothing was around before, as a general sort of thing but doing this challenge last year and this has really sharpened it up.

I used to just fel a bit miffed if I bought something and it didn't last - so I'd buy two, or three, knowing it wouldn't last, and then try to make each one last anyway...

But now if I buy something and it doesn't last I feel cheated - oi you, those were MY COUPONS you conned me out of!!!!!
I feel outraged and indignant and cross when some item of clothing lasts weeks, not even months.

So it's really changed how I view the throwaway cheap shoddy stuff - it's gone from inconvenient to a real sense of howling outrage and personal indignation!

How stupid do they think we are?!?!

Oh.

Really?

THAT stupid?

Woah. Well, yeah, based on the national evidence, I guess we are that dumb... just a couple of weeks ago I bought two items sold as "tops" which are literally too thin to wear as tops. And no, they weren't meant to be enticingly transparent, either, just really cheap shoddy mega-thin jersey-knit t-shirt fabric...
So even though I know cheap stuff is rubbish, I still fall for it when it's reduced...

I'm getting there though!!!

(Currently learning to crochet filet-lace insertions so I can make some really pretty camisoles to wear under little blouses and cardigans so I can eventually stop wearing the wretched long-sleeve jersey-knit tops!)

PipneyJane · 10 February 2019 at 10:02PM

CAFCGirl wrote: »

Not sure if this works, and the kindle camera is awful but this is my hat https://pin.it/wkj6axq277madl

The hat is lovely! Looks a lot like crochet.

- Pip

PipneyJane · 10 February 2019 at 10:26PM

diminua wrote: »

Hi,
I'd like to join if that's OK. I normally kid myself I don't buy that many clothes, but quite a lot of what I have was bought in the last year, and I know it's largely because what I have doesn't last.

Part of that is because I'm not great at looking after clothes. If I have missing buttons or hems coming down I think 'I'll sort that later' - but don't.
So this evening I was inspired to (finally) fix the hem on my grey trousers, sew some missing buttons on my raincoat, and shift some buttons over on my winter coat (it's meant to have 4 functioning buttons and 3 that do nothing except make it more symmetrical. Since I'm missing quite a few I took off all the ones that are just decorative and moved them over so I can do it up - the buttons weren't sewn on that well and unpicked easily with no mark on the fabric).
All three jobs took less than an hour to do and the garments look much better now. However I don't think the trousers (St Michael's finest nylon) will last to next December, which is another issue - clothes that don't last or lose buttons because they weren't well made to start with. I'm hoping this challenge will make me consider not just how something will look for a month or two, but whether it has durability (and also check if buttons are tacked on badly, and if they are reinforce them with a few pre-emptive stitches before they're lost forever).

So far this year I've bought a rust coloured jumper (cotton/acrylic) so that's 5 out of my 66 coupons.

Thanks,

Diminua

Welcome Diminua. Yes of course you can join.

I totally agree that the quality of much of the clothing sold is terrible. It’s the t-shirt seams that unravel after a couple of months of wear, and the fabrics that seem to dissolve in the wash. I’m fussy about fabric anyway; I hate anything that feels too plasticky - polyester anyone? - it makes my skin creep. I like natural fibres: wool, cotton and silk.

Like you, the biggest enemy to my wardrobe is my own laziness. I have the skills to sew hems, buttons, etc, to re-stitch seams, to replace linings and zips and to make minor adjustments (although I could really do with a dress-form). I’m a good seamstress - I grew up in a house where sewing was normal. My mother was a trained dressmaker and my great-uncle was a tailor (he died before I was born but, when I was a teenager, I made a dress out of some flannel he’d passed to my mum). I just don’t have the “oomph”.

- Pip

PipneyJane · 10 February 2019 at 10:57PM

PipneyJane wrote: »

I’ve already purchased a new suit for 2019, so will start the year deducting that from my total coupons: a double breasted jacket (11 coupons), skirt (7 coupons) and trousers (6 coupons). That’s 24 coupons already spent, leaving me with 42 for the rest of the year.

- Pip

Make that 36 coupons. Regardless of how many pairs of jeans I have - at least 7 - I couldn’t resist this morning’s email from M&S, promoting £15 skinny jeans and a £5 money-off voucher. I’ve just ordered a pair of indigo coloured skinny jeans from their website, for £10. That’s 6 coupons spent.

What can I say? I like skinny jeans and literally had my favourite pair dissolve on my thighs last year*. They had really good front pockets, which would take my phone and other things too. I have two other pairs: the Levis that I’m wearing tonight - which can just about fit my iPhone in their front pockets - and another pair which can barely fit a tissue, so get worn under sufferance.

Can I rant about phones and pockets? No. Please stop me..... **

- Pip (I’m no paragon of virtue.)

*. Purchased August 2015 from MrT’s in Dunfermline for £25 and worn to death. I got my money’s worth out of them. I’ve kicked myself that I didn’t buy two pairs.

**. Dear Mr Apple, please don’t make the iPhone any bigger. Please make a smaller model or reinstate the SE. One of the reasons I went for an iPhone SE is because it fit into my pocket, unlike any of the larger models.

PollyWollyDoodle · 11 February 2019 at 8:57AM

I think finding a well-fitting pair of jeans is so hard ... but I was really surprised at how many pairs I found in my charity-shop round last year. However, it takes time, persistence and luck. I usually have two pairs of jeans, and wear them to death.

It's so true that we have sacrificed quality for price. Even M &S t-shirts are thin these days, they used to be good quality cotton. However now I've found that making t-shirts is so easy I'm going to be making my own this year - not that I need any, probably about 15 at the last count, plus other tops!
Like you, Pip, I can't face unpicking seams and moving waistbands - due to recent weight-loss my black work trousers are now too big, I'm managing with a belt at the moment but at some point I'm going to have to get new ones - or tackle taking these in. They're not mega-expensive so it might be a good opportunity to see if I can do it, no loss if they go wrong.

One of my favourite books is Rosamond Lehmann's 'Invitation To The Waltz'. Set in the late 1920s, it starts with the main character waking up on her 16th birthday and deciding which of her two jumpers to wear that day - the red or the fawn? Yep - she has TWO jumpers. It explains why those lovely old-fashioned wardrobes from those days now seem so small!

vintagegal · 11 February 2019 at 1:14PM

Thanks for the book recommendation PollyWollyDoodle, I have just splashed out on a 2nd hand copy for £2.20 inc postage!!

PollyWollyDoodle · 11 February 2019 at 2:03PM

Ooh I hope you love it as much as I do!

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2019 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

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