Mended garments carry a story of care. They reflect the triumph of imperfection over pretension while the act of mending itself brings transformation in both mender and mended.
By embracing repair as a valid and useful act we, the menders, are stitching new life-energy into something others step over in the scrabble onwards and upwards. To pause, apply creative problem-solving and add a mark of care to our clothes, we extend their life and bring meaning to our own.
The clothes we wear are a statement of values. We may go through stages of searching for newer, sharper images and think clothes, like makeup and leopard spots, can camouflage and attract the right sort of attention. Alas, the pipe dream.
By letting go of the idea of perfection and embracing clothes as skin friends that need loving care occasionally, we come home to our true self. Our clothes become conversation starters with others who believe in planetary health by taking slow-clothing actions: think, quality, natural, local, few, care, make, revive, adapt and salvage.
Jane Milburn of Textile Beat hosts a clothing repair café at Reverse Garbage Queensland in Brisbane every second month. Swing by next time and spend time with others who care. Embrace post-materialism and wear your heart on your sleeve, it’s much simpler than seeking a perfection that doesn’t exist.
The photos below are from last night’s gathering ahead of Fashion Revolution Week April 24-30. Read more about the repair cafe movement in this sustainable style article by Clare Press.
