You Break It, You Re-Buy It.
Tragedy strikes. Your favorite socks, sweater, or jeans sprouts a hole. A button pops off your best blazer. What would you do?
If you were born circa 1985 or later, your answer to this unfortunate situation might be simple: you hop on your phone, open an app of choice, and buy a replacement. Retailers everywhere are cheering hearing this, happy to hear a solution that puts more money in their pockets. However, in a world of overconsumption and rising prices, there’s a better solution: mending.
Mending is truly a lost art. Countless home economics classes and well-meaning grandmothers have tried to impart the importance of basic hand-sewing skills onto today’s younger generations, and yet the majority of people under 50 don’t know how to fix even the simplest mishaps on their clothes. It’s shocking that in this digital age, with so much information at our fingertips, more people don’t think to research how to repair their clothing so it can be reworn.
Part of the issue, in my opinion, is the attitude surrounding mending. Some stigma is disappearing in recent years, but mending sometimes has been seen as lowly. I remember cartoon characters with patches on their clothes being portrayed as dirty or poor, and repairing clothing at best was seen as penny-pinching or overly frugal. These views as well as the loss of skill seem to have led to a drought of mending and a strong attitude shift away from repair and towards the idea of disposable goods. After all, why learn to mend? You can always just buy a replacement on Amazon.
I urge you to think differently. By repairing and keeping an article of clothing rather than instantly buying a replacement you will create a relationship with this object. By taking pride in and loving the things that you have, you can break the cycle of wanting more, more, more and begin to be content with what you have. Mending plays a huge role in this mindset shift, as it allows you to keep clothing longer and appreciate the old friends sitting in your dresser. (Not to mention that it’s more sustainable, and it will help you save money!)
While mending can be a very personal art that anyone can do at home, it’s also quickly becoming a business opportunity as more people begin to value sustainability. Mend, a service started by fashion students Nisha and Olivia, connects experienced menders with customers through an online platform. Customers are able to send in worn clothing to be mended or completely reworked into a new garment. Businesses like Mend are able to make mending more accessible to those who need it, and in turn reduces clothing waste and encourages sustainability.
Other artists furthering the mending movement are unapologetic about their repairs. Instead of trying to mend surreptitiously and create invisible stitches, many are embracing the unique look of mending to add to their designs. Drawing inspiration from ancient mending styles such as Japanese sashiko, decorative stitches can be used to both add visual appeal as well as reinforce or fix wear and tear. Lily Fulop, creator of @mindful_mending, writes that mending can be both a pushback against fast fashion and overconsumption as well as a personal artistic statement through clothing. Her work (seen below) uses colorful thread in a variety of stitches to add flair to clothing while also fixing holes or other imperfections.
“Whether by action, flaw, or entropy, it is in a garment’s nature to come apart.”
If you’re looking for some resources to get started, check out Clothing Alterations on Youtube for some basic mending and tailoring principles. Or, Better Homes and Gardens has a great guide on how to use visible mending to not only fix but customize clothing. Happy mending!