2019 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

PollyWollyDoodle · 7 February 2019 at 4:02PM

I am self-employed and I work from home, so at the moment I am wearing jeans and a red polo neck, both from charity shops.
My winter gear tends to be bought, summer clothes are more handmade - I'm not up to making my own jeans (yet). I was working earlier today, I need to look ultra smart for that and so I was wearing a black jacket and trousers, with a multicoloured top which is from a CS and court shoes.

I used to work in an office, and jeans would definitely not have been allowed. In my view, business dress requires a jacket or at least a smart cardigan.

thriftwizard · 7 February 2019 at 5:01PM

I'm somewhat limited on the wardrobe choices by sporting a temporary "loop ileostomy" - sorry if TMI. Which is placed much higher up than, say, a colostomy, so rather gets in the way of one's clothing; it's just south of my waist on the RHS. If I wore my everyday high-waisted jeans I'd be in danger of stopping my digestion in it's tracks, which has happened once already with the drugs, resulting in a 5 day hospital stay, and is definitely not to be recommended! And if I wore low-waisted ones they'd just fall down - I'm not very "hippy"! So today I'm wearing black ankle-boots, black leggings tucked under my "temporary digestive arrangement" & short black stretchy skirt over it, with a cotton polo-neck and one of my lovely vintage 100% wool jumpers; this one is early 90s, cream with a pattern in pink, purple and green, and is long enough to cover any peculiar bulges! Practical attire for everyday household tasks, a bit of light weaving and a trot up to the supermarket.

Having once worked on some medieval wall-paintings, it's really quite a "medieval peasant" look. Probably far-from-stylish on a lady of my age & shape, alas, and most of the peasants depicted looking like this were definitely of the masculine persuasion! Somewhat "all legs with a round, brightly coloured lollipop on top!" But easy to wear given current circumstance.

CapricornLass · 7 February 2019 at 5:26PM

What I am wearing right now? Black sweatpants, a long sleeved white t-shirt which is over 25 years old, a grey cashmere jumper which has got badly attacked by moths. But then I have been doing a lot of dusting and cleaning, including our bedroom and the bathroom, so hence the attire!

I am now retired, so I wear a lot of the clothes that I would have worn to work for going out. I don't want to descend into bag-ladyism quite yet! WRT work, the dress code depends on the company ethos, and where you are and what you are doing. One company I worked for had a very relaxed attitude, but I think this was a) they were a charity and relied a lot on volunteers, especially in the early days, b) they were dealing with a lot of people who had mental health issues, and a casual look helped to make staff look less threatening. There were a lot of dogs around the place for the same reason - people would confide things to the dog that they didn't feel able to tell the therapist. I did spend a lot of my time in jeans there. My next job was working for the local County council. Clothing was more formal there, but even so, because we worked in a satellite office, rather than the main building, there was a more relaxed feel to clothing in the office.

My own policy was that if I was dealing with members of the public/senior people/more formal situations, then I dressed more formally, otherwise it was smart trousers and jumpers. It seemed to work!

CapricornLass · 7 February 2019 at 5:38PM

One piece of advice that was passed to me was - always dress for the level above the grade you are in. Shows that you are keen on looking more professional ( and probably, you end up behaving more professionally too?)

At the moment I am wearing black sweat pants, a long-sleeved white T-shirt that is over 25 years old, and a grey cashmere jumper that has been badly savaged by moth. i consider this is perfectly acceptable attire for cleaning the bathroom and doing a deep clean of our bedroom. I wear the clothes I would have worn to work for going out in now that I am retired, even if it is just going to the local shop for a bottle of milk.

WRT to work dress codes, it will depend on the company ethos, the work you are doing, and whether you are in the main/head office or in a satellite building and hence can get away with a more casual look. I worked for a charity which had a very relaxed attitude to dress, partly because they were heavily reliant on volunteers, but also because they worked with a lot of people with mental health issues, and dress-down made the staff less threatening. I believe the NHS have the same policy for staff working in the mental health wards - certainly my sister wore normal clothing rather than her uniform, and that was over 30 years ago. The banks insisted on suits and formal attire, even if you were working in the back offices.
My own personal dress code - if it involved meeting people from outside the company, senior staff and formal meetings, then I dressed up in a suit. Otherwise I stuck to smart trousers, jumpers and jacket. Seemd to work!

Laura_Elsewhere · 7 February 2019 at 6:43PM

thriftwizard wrote: »

Probably far-from-stylish

It sounds utterly fab to me! I can picture it from your description and it sounds really lovely - and if it's comfortable and practical as well as looking fab, then hurrah!

Good luck with the innards...

Laura_Elsewhere · 7 February 2019 at 6:51PM

PipneyJane wrote: »

Afternoon All

Out of sheer curiosity, what are you wearing today?

Your suit looks wonderful! Definitely worth the coupons...

I wore my new green cotton skirt lined with the spotty cotton, with a striped jumper and long boots. Here is a pic from last week when I happened to be wearing the same - only I have a nice green and cream checked hair-ribbon in the end of my pigtail today too

Sorry about the background - Sainsbury's undies aisle has the only full-length mirror around here!

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PipneyJane · 7 February 2019 at 7:17PM

Thanks everyone for the feedback. The building I was in today houses the CEO’s office, so dressing to look professional IS on the cards for the men. Plenty of suits and ties. I have no idea why the women don’t do the same.

Laura_Elsewhere wrote: »

Your suit looks wonderful! Definitely worth the coupons...

Thank you. I hope to get a lot of wear out of it.

Laura_Elsewhere wrote: »

I wore my new green cotton skirt lined with the spotty cotton, with a striped jumper and long boots. Here is a pic from last week when I happened to be wearing the same - only I have a nice green and cream checked hair-ribbon in the end of my pigtail today too

Sorry about the background - Sainsbury's undies aisle has the only full-length mirror around here!

That skirt goes beautifully with your cardigan. There’s just enough grey in the green of the skirt - or green in the grey of the cardigan - for it to both contrast and blend.

You look very stylish.

CAFCGirl · 8 February 2019 at 10:20AM

Absolutely love both your looks Pipney Jane and Laura_EW

I particularly love that skirt Laura! What a clever egg you are.

Today I will mostly be wearing denim dungarees, and a long sleeve jumper/dress which is too short in my mind to wear as a dress so I just consider it a long line jumper. I consider it completely acceptable as a home maker/home educator/soap making artisan/creative type for what I spend my days doing LOL

I am spending a few minutes this morning finishing off my very first pair of loom knitted socks, using wool I already had in my stash.
Then since its a wet and dreary day and my DS is out for the day, I plan on knitting myself a new slouchie beanie hat. I made one for my cousin and it came out sooooo nice I was almost reluctant to give it to him, but I've found some wool that suits my colouring much more and that should be done by the end of today.
Next up after that is an attempt in leg warmers - wish me luck!

PipneyJane · 8 February 2019 at 5:52PM

CAFCGirl wrote: »

Absolutely love both your looks Pipney Jane and Laura_EW

I particularly love that skirt Laura! What a clever egg you are.

Today I will mostly be wearing denim dungarees, and a long sleeve jumper/dress which is too short in my mind to wear as a dress so I just consider it a long line jumper. I consider it completely acceptable as a home maker/home educator/soap making artisan/creative type for what I spend my days doing LOL

I am spending a few minutes this morning finishing off my very first pair of loom knitted socks, using wool I already had in my stash.
Then since its a wet and dreary day and my DS is out for the day, I plan on knitting myself a new slouchie beanie hat. I made one for my cousin and it came out sooooo nice I was almost reluctant to give it to him, but I've found some wool that suits my colouring much more and that should be done by the end of today.
Next up after that is an attempt in leg warmers - wish me luck!

You sound perfectly dressed for a creative day at home. (I’m working from home today, so am dressed in my regulation jeans-and-a-jumper.)

I’m in awe that you’re knitting socks on a loom! How do you do the heels and toes?

- Pip

PollyWollyDoodle · 8 February 2019 at 11:21PM

I didn't realise there were pictures in your post Pip, you look very smart and that's the sort of thing I'd have worn to work when I was in Central London. Laura, I love your look – that's really creative. Especially since I know you made and lined the skirt yourself. I've said before that you seem to have a really specific style, and you know what it is.

Thriftwizard, you are describing one of my favourite outfits, boots, leggings and a short (just on the knee) skirt. I wouldn't normally wear a short skirt, and I don't like showing my legs because of my varicose veins, but with boots and thick tights I feel really confident in this outfit. It's what I wear to go and see clients, or sometimes just for going out with friends.

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2019 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

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