FEWER CLOTHES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 238, 21 July 1941, Page 8

FEWER CLOTHES.

RATIONING IN BRITAIN.

LONDON, June 17

Clothes rationing in England will have the effect of putting all civilians into battle dress—clothes that will be bought for their wearing qualities rather than their cut and style. Its introduction took the country by surprise, although a last-minute rush of buying indicated that the secret was beginning to leak out. .It has caused more comment than food rationing, which was universally anticipated and introduced gradua 1 lv. Generally speaking, women will be more directly affected than men, for the simple reason that women have always, thought more about their clothes and their fashions, which have changed constantly. Again, millions of men throughout the country are now wearing one or other of the forces’ uniforms and many more will do so as the war proceeds. Special ration books are to be issued for clothing within a month #or two, and each person will be allowed GG coupons a year.

At the most, a woman will be able to buy no more than six dresses a year, and to do this she would have to forgo all other items of clothes or shoes. A man can buy two suits, one shirt, five collars and a necktie. If he wants'boots sock's and underwear he will have to forgo one of Tiis suits and use the coupons for these other articles.

A woman can buy two dresses, one woollen, one silk (18 coupons),, a skirt and a, jumper (12 coupons), a pair of pyjamas (8 coupons) and have 28 coupons left for a year’s underclothes, stockings and shoes. Coupons. will be required for fur coats, the same as ordinary coats. Trafficking in coupons is forbidden. It will be illegal to buy or sell them although a wife using her husband’s book can shop for him. Purchasers will not be confined to any one retailer, and the coupons may be used at any shop. No coupons will be needed for infants’ sizes of clothes—approximately up to the fourth birthday—but babies will need a certain number of coupons for knitting wool and footwear, and these will be obtainable in the new clothing cards. Children's sizes of garments, similar to those exempt from the purchase tax, can be purchased with the reduced number of coupons shown in the table. For children who are too big to wear those sizes extra coupons l will be ussed with the new cards.

AYhen buying cloth for dressmaking or other purposes the number of coupons required will depend on the width of the doth and the nature of the mutual. For example, one yard of woollen cloth 3Gin wide would require three coupons, and one yard of cotton cloth 36in wide two coupons. When flic scale shows a fraction of a coupon, the purchase should be rounded up to the nearest whole coupon.