The Social Experiment

This blog is about understanding and exploring what my Grandmothers experienced by living on the home front during World War II. I am going to be living, as best as I can, to the US rationing standards of 1945. This is a social experiment, not only to connect to my families past, but to explore new way to live environmentally and socially responsible. I hope to show, that by living as our grandparents did, we can reduce the amount of waste that our society throws out and live healthier and more simple lives.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

When I dont want to Ration...

I must apologize at the long time that has passed since I have last posted. I can tell you that a lot has happened … which has given me a good honest look at rationing.

The biggest thing that has happened is that my little brother surprised me and my whole family with the announcement that he is getting married, oh… and the wedding is this coming Friday. My brother also surprised me at asking me to make the wedding dress – and I surprised myself by say yes!

So when I am not at work- I have been crafting a wedding dress.

If I was following WWII Rations – I would use very little fabric, and possibly cut down someone else’s wedding dress and remake it or to use the families linen table cloth for fabric. I couldn’t convince my soon-to-be sister-in-law to agree to that… So I did not follow rations for her dress. This is good because it is 100% silk – which was mostly used for parashoots.

There truly is something amazing at making your own clothes… especially something that is so special. I had a lot of time to think about their wedding, and pray for their new life together. And I know this sounds very cheesy – but each stitch (there was a lot of hand hemming and beading) holds my love for them and my hopes for their happiness.

I understand how wonderful (and to be very honest – how extremely stressful) it would have been for mothers and daughters to get together and sew the wedding dress. I also see how it was easier to wear your best outfit when getting quickly married while someone is on leave (which is what my grandmother did). I had a month to make the dress and it was very close to getting it done…

This wedding also opened up a new aspect of rationing for me – I sooo want to wear a new dress to the wedding!!!! I actually went shopping for one. It was my first time in a department store since August…And each dress I tried on – was nice… but I didn’t want to waste my one new outfit on these clothes. I did end up buying a pair of jeans that I needed… but couldn’t buy a dress. I then went home and dug through my fabric boxes for material for a dress – but I ran out of time to make a dress. So completely frustrated… I dug through the back of my closet and found that I have a perfect dress for the wedding in my closet. I figured out I can wear one of my old jackets with it and it makes it super cute – kind of bohemian. Add some great shoes in bold colors – and Presto! I had the perfect outfit already in my closet.

This makes me wonder – how many times do I buy things… just because I want something new, or I am board…? Whereas, if I used a bit of creativity- I have perfect outfits already in the closet.

This month I discovered that it is more special to make a dress or discover new options instead of buying new ones.
(Stay tuned for updates on how a Rationed Christmas went… as well as trying new types of meat and a look at what truly is the taste of Christmas? All of this will be posted after the wedding :)

1 comment:

  1. fellow green/thrifty living personDecember 29, 2011 at 8:45 AM

    this social experiment that you are doing is so cool. I will be following you blog and maybe even trying some of your thrifty ideas myself : )

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