Not quite back on track yet as Coronavirus is of course dominating all our lives. Now that we are all unable to go out apart from for exercise, or to shop, obviously it is easy to not bother when at home. H and M are advertising casual wear for home working on their website! So far I’ve resisted any laziness with appearance carefully choosing clothes and doing my makeup as usual. Sadly though I haven’t been wearing my dresses as gardening and staining garden furniture doesn’t require such. Each evening I’ve been in sweats as my American daughter in law calls them. Though I have dressed up a bit more for our virtual drinks. Now my calendar is filling up with more virtual coffee mornings and drink dates, so those dresses can come out again.

It does however look as if it’s going to be easy to complete my year of not buying . Awaiting now to see if my friends son’s wedding in July is cancelled.

With no shops open and no reason to browse on line how is the fashion industry to survive ? Will it feel like an irrelevant indulgence or an excuse for frivolous spending when we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel?

Strange coincidence that Coronavirus arrived from China, the epicentre of the clothes making industry firstly to Milan and the surrounding area, one of the Fashion capitals of the world.

Slight divergence from my theme of charting the years of buying clothes, because of the unprecedented times. Last week was the last week of school, and therefore work for me for the foreseeable future. So now I’m packing away my school uniform . My generation were all taught by our parents to save some clothes for best, usually our new clothes . This was instilled into my psyche from childhood. So when I became a teacher I wore older clothes for work along with my newer day clothes for home, and I have done ever since. I vowed that I would give these older much loved clothes away when work finished for me. I do hope that’s not yet, and that by the Autumn I’ll be unpacking them again, ready for another year of painting , play dough, and other equally messy activities , hence that uniform.

In the early 90’s we returned to the Midlands and relocated to Kenilworth, Warwickshire and to family life. Obviously daily clothing was practical and casual, suitable for life with three young children, husband, and dog in semi countryside. A London friend and journalist wrote ( not in a very flattering way) about the woman of the provinces wearing those black leggings as a daily uniform. However in the evenings people were still making effort in those days. Social life centred around weekends with friends, dinner parties, and suppers as it was easier with young children, as we could rotate to different houses and transport the children with us! So we did dress up for the evenings, sharply in contrast to today when people often arrive at theatres, parties etc in casual gear.

A real and rare treat when the children were small was an art gallery, lunch and mooch in the shops while my mother in law looked after the boys. Oxford or Birmingham was often the destination and with the opening of Selfridges, Jigsaw, and Hobbs to name but a few, I was lucky enough to treat myself to a few items. I have kept some of those items from the 90’s till now . It was the whole day’s experience though, not just the item itself which was enjoyable, in contrast to our ability to source and buy an item from our armchair nowadays.