According to this challenge you can only purchase clothes this year up to the value of your 66 "clothing coupons" using the updated Womenswear Rationing Chart
I had already used 54 of my 66 coupons before starting this challenge and now I have use 5 more for a total of 59. Yikes, I only have 7 left for the end of the year.
I did find a lovely dressy casual sleeveless top at a consignment shop and as secondhand clothes are points free that doesn't count. However I had to buy a loose fitting button shirt to wear to my upcoming cataract surgery as that is required and I don't own one. I tried on one of hubby's shirts but is was a lot looser than I think they are looking for even though he is quite slim! I tried hard to find a shirt that was inexpensive, loose enough especially in the sleeves (have to push up to put on the blood pressure cuff) and a color I would like to wear. I managed to fit the first two criteria and not the last. Unfortunately this is not an occasion you can ask to borrow something for except from hubby and I chose not to do that. I suppose that during the war I indeed would have borrowed a shirt and crossed my fingers hoping that it wasn't damaged or worn my hubby's.
I've shortened my clothing shopping list but I need to find more secondhand wonders to finish my shopping for Spring/Summer:
- Black sandals
- 4 pairs of shorts or casual skirts & 2 everyday sleeveless tops
- Dressy casual skirt or a dressy casual sundress for summer wedding
- 4 pairs of shorts or casual skirts & 2 everyday sleeveless tops
- Dressy casual skirt or a dressy casual sundress for summer wedding
- Dressy casual dress in dark color other than black (so can wear to funerals if needed)
- Summer PJs/nightgown
- Summer PJs/nightgown
With my remaining points I could buy new a pair of shoes OR a pair of shorts OR a nightgown. It must have been very challenging to live with this rationing but at least everyone was in the same boat.
I have checked out three consignment/thrift stores and have decided the 2 nearest me have possibilities if I check them frequently. I'm really hoping to find a nice skirt to go with the top I just bought and wear that to the mid-July dressy casual wedding at Lake Tahoe.
I asked my Mom about clothes rationing in the US during the war and she said she doesn't remember it being much of a problem for her even though she was in her late teens/ early 20s at the time. She remembers having 2 dresses for work and a pair of pants and a blouse but probably had more. She remembers quite vividly though getting a new pair of red high heeled sandals to wear dancing! The dry cleaners was on the same block (they lived in an apartment over their store) and she just had her clothing dry cleaned frequently. Given that she lived in Illinois with hot, humid summers and no air conditioning I be it was frequent.
Hi, Nik of Little House in Town and I came up with this Wartime Wardrobe Challenge so I am interested to read about your experience, and was particularly glad to hear you asked your mum about her wartime experience. My mother unfortunately passed a way a few years ago as I would have loved to have asked her about all manner of things, not least of all how to remain fresh and dainty with few clothes and a weekly laundry day.
ReplyDeleteIf you came to the challenge late, don't feel you have to count all your previous purchases. You could just run it for yourself from April 2013 to March 2014. The intention was always to encourage a process of enquiry, reflection and a dialogue rather than a rigid challenge...
Thanks for commenting and appreciate your suggestions! Trust me I'm just having fun with this challenge and think it is interesting. Rationing wasn't as strict in the US during the war and my Mom doesn't remember much about how they coped with it so I guess it wasn't as hard on them. It didn't last as long either. She mostly remembers using her points to buy high heeled sandals to go dancing! It was interesting that she simply took her clothes to the dry cleaners on the block (her family lived above their business at the time) and did that frequently.
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