Clothing is something that is not considered often enough in planning for Y2K. You'll find many chat room and discussion board references to food, water, housing, etc., but very few references to clothes. Yet finding suitable clothing will be a very real concern in a Y2K social breakdown if the worst case scenario turns out to be the one we're facing.

Clothes wear out or your kids grow out of them. In these normal times, you just drive to the mall or Walmart or wherever and buy what you need. There's always plenty available. This will not be true in 2000 and beyond. It takes factories to make clothes; it takes international trade, a reliable banking system, dependable distribution systems, accurate billing systems, sophisticated telecommunications, the power grid, computers, computers, computers! Even in a less than worst case scenario, there will definitely be Y2K problems in some or all of these areas. If you want to have clothes for your family in 2000 and 2001 or later, you will need to get them now.

If you have children, this will take some thought. Will the clothes your oldest child wears become too small before they can be worn out, which means they can be handed down to younger siblings, or has your oldest essentially finished growing? Do you have boys or girls or both? Boys tend to wear out their clothes sooner than girls. Do you live in a cool northern area or a warmer southern one? The best way to figure out your family's clothing needs is to pretend they have nothing whatsoever to wear and you have been given the job of outfitting the entire family from underwear to topcoat. Actually you have been given this job, just not all at once. Y2K changes all that as it changes so many things. The bright side is that you can forget about getting them what's fashionable this year. No one will have the slightest interest in fashion in 2000; we'll all be too concerned with getting enough food and keeping warm.

We don't know how long the really nasty times will be. I'm planning on at least two years of chaos followed by five years of rebuilding. This seems reasonable to me based on what I've learned about Y2K. If you agree with this estimate, you'll need to have at least two full years of clothes for your family. I'm thinking in terms of three years of clothes just to be sure. Since you already have clothes for everyone, you have part of this job done. You may have three years worth of clothes for your family in your house right now. The only really tricky part is allowing for growth if you have children.

Make a list with each family member on it and write down what each one needs, beginning with the oldest child. If the oldest still has some growing to do, figure that there will be hand-me-downs available to younger siblings. Allow at least five long sleeve and five short sleeve shirts per child and five pairs of pants also. The oldest male can always hand down his outgrown shirts and pants to both younger brothers and sisters. Five pairs of underpants and undershirts, five pairs of socks, two sweaters, a jacket and a heavy coat per child should be the minimum. A few dresses and skirts for the girls would be nice. As I said, you already have most of this. The only difference from your normal clothing concerns is the fact that you will need to buy clothes for growing children now instead of next year and the year after.

There may not be much joy in your children's lives for a few years--things will be so terribly different from what they're used to--so have a few nice things tucked away for them, particularly for daughters. Kids are still kids and they love an attractive surprise. There may be some local social events in your area they'd like to look nice for so plan ahead for this, which means don't take them Y2K clothes shopping with you.

Shoes may be the worst clothing problem we have. Unless there is a cobbler in your area, which is very rare these days, there will be no way to repair shoes or resole them when they're worn out. If you're looking for a good Y2K occupation, learn how to do shoe repair; you'll get along just fine. The shoe purchase procedure is the same as with your other clothing concerns: figure out what each child will need for two or three years, allowing for growth, buy it now and put it away. Each child will need several pairs of everyday shoes to play in (or work in if things get really bad), plus a pair of nicer shoes for church or whatever social occasions may occur and some sturdy boots for winter snows.

Buy in a similar manner for you and your spouse or any other adults in the family. You don't have to buy everything new for adults or children; go to thrift shops or yard sales and stock up. If you find a good source of inexpensive clothes, buy lots of things in all the average sizes. Remember that most people will not be at all prepared for Y2K so any clothes you don't need will be excellent barter items.