Should You Buy Separates Or Matching Uniforms? The debate about sets, post 465


White gloves and a scarf making a set. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Gloves And Scarf Set

At St Luke's in a one pound box I found two white gloves attached to each other, then a scarf which looked like it matched the gloves. I didn't need the scarf as I had already sewn a scarf and hat together to make a hood.  But gloves and scarf set appealed.

 In St Luke's I rummanged in another one pound box I found the top and bottom halves of a pair of pyjamas. They were not attached by a string, nor a label saying not to be sold separately. I was lucky to match them up. I presumed they had originally been a pair but had somehow come apart.

Again, when I presented the items at the till, I was told I had two items so the charge was two pounds, not one pound.

I was surprised and annoyed at being charged for each half separately, one pound for each half when the container marked the contents as one pound for one item. Isn't a pair of pyjamas one item? 

It was still a good price. But I started thinking about sets and separates.

I got home and matched up my pyjamas with a dressing gown featuring one of the colours. The idea of sets still bothered me.

A piar of pyjamas making a set. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Asian utfits

In Asia, india, Malaysia, and other countries, you buy clothes as sets. In Pakistan and India swimsuits come with matching leggings and hoods.Dresses have matching leggings and scaves. Sarees have matching boleros and scarves.

Swimwear and Bikinis

When I was young in the Sixties a bikini was always sold as two matching pieces.

But now many swimwear companies show two piece swimsuits and the price quoted turns out to be just the top or just the other half.

Half Dresses

Another way to give you less for more money is to charge extra for the fashionable one shoulder dress. Then there are backless dresses. Mini-skirts. 

Underwear Separates

Matching sets with the two halves priced separately. For those who don't wear a bra? And those who don't wear knickers? For those who don't buy either, no sales? Nope. Vests with built in cups - costing extra, of course.  

To provide less but charge more, thongs at higher prices than granny knickers, and bras without nipple areas

Jeans and Holes

What a clever cost-saving, fabric saving, marketing ploy, holes and tears. Grunge. Ripped jeans costing more. 

Broderie anglaise - charging you more for the holes. 

An extreme form of selling of holes is lace. All holes. Very pricey. Tears easily, creating more holes.

Underwear Sold as Separates

Oddly, instead of coverall pants with coverall bras, or thongs with hanky bras, we are offered odd sets. Huge knickers with tiny bras. Huge bras with teeny panties. I know that many women are pear-shaped. Big bottoms. Others are big busted. Even so. 

Odd Socks

You can now buy odd socks. And odd ear-rings. What next? Left and right shoes sold separately and priced separately? 

Odd Gloves

Odd gloves? Higher prices for the right hand fingerless glove for operating a phone?

Odd Ear-rings

 Yes, odd ear-rings. Or one ear ring. Handy for those with hair over one eye. And only one ear showing.

Togetherness - Sets

I hunt for sets. We used to have twin sets. They were jumpers with matching cardigans. A layering option. Remove the cardigan in hot weather or indoors, or mid-season.Look co-rodinated, organized. Not as if you grabbed items at random from a pile on the floor.

Hat sets

I like winter outfit sets. For example, threesomes, a knitted beanie hat with a matching scarf and gloves.

Jewellery Sets

I asked my family to buy me a set of jewellery, a brooch and bracelet, if they could not afford or could not find a necklace, a bracelet and a ring.

I like a brooch which has a metal loop at the back so it can be worn as a pendant. This gives you another option, and is safer when travelling.

Anti-Sets

Some people don't lie sets. It reminds them of a school or work uniform. Boring. Stuck with one colour. Overwhelmed by a colour which they don't like. The danger of upsetting somebody. 'Matchy-matchy'.

Simple Colour Schemes

If you stick to black in winter and white in summer its easy to keep all your accessories co-ordinated. It's simplest to buy a matching item at the same time as every purchase. If you buy a black bag, try to find black gloves to match it in the same shop or department store. Easier to do it while you are in the make up your mind mood. In the Far East in a small owner-run shop you can ask for a reduction on buying two or three items.

Buy two, in different colours, and when one wears out you can wear the other, and if you lose a button, you still have a spare. Buy two sizes. If the smaller one fits better, after your diet, turn the second, larger dress into a jacket to go over the first dress. Remove the sleeves of the smaller dress and turn the sleeves into an infinity scarf. 

One shop had a lovely skirt but no top to match it. They had two identical skirts. I negotiated a lower price for two. My intention was to turn the material of the second skirt into a top, or cape, to match the first skirt.

Sets, sets, sets, I love sets. I feel so organised, so in control, so elegant, so confident, wearing sets.

Useful Websites

Mix and Match socks

https://socksnob.co.uk/product/spox-sox-novelty-cotton-socks-winter-activities

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