Why Mending Matters — Plus 10 Accounts to Follow for Clothing Repair Inspo!
By Stella Hertantyo
When I think about mending, the first thing that comes to my mind is my grandmother. Growing up, if I fell and ripped my jeans, one of the buttons on my shirt came off, or my pants were just a little too long, she would be there with her sewing kit, ready to lovingly mend my clothes back to life.
Clothes were valued very differently by older generations.
Clothing used to be priced in a way that reflected its true value, garments were designed to last, and the person who bought the garment was implicit in this longevity. My grandmother never suggested that we toss out my jeans and buy a new pair, just because they had a little tear. Mending was the obvious choice, but this is no longer the case.
We need to bring it back, because a just fashion future depends on the revival of collective practices that brings us closer to our clothes and slow down how much we consume.
What is mending?
Mending is the act of repairing clothes with imperfections from being well-worn. These imperfections include holes, stains, tears, and missing buttons. Most often, it involves some kind of sewing.
Mending is about embracing the beauty of imperfection, making small repairs to clothing you already own, so that you can wear it for longer, rejecting the idea that newer is better, and adding a bit of character while you're at it.
Repairing clothing is an ancient practice. In an interview with Nylon, Kate Sekules, fashion historian, mending instructor, and author, shared that, “The earliest humans wore garments pieced from an assortment of animal skins, ancient Egyptians would repair a textile three or four times before laying it to rest as embalming cloth in someone’s tomb, and Edo-era Japanese used “little stabs” of embroidery to bolster the strength of their homespun fabrics.”
There are two common types of mending: visible mending and invisible mending.
Visible mending is a repair technique that deliberately aims to make the mended area a statement in and of itself, using brightly colored threads or added patches. If you take a look at the #visiblemending, it feels like you are browsing through an art gallery. There are many different ways of visibly mending and it adds a new layer of storytelling to the garment
Invisible mending is a repair technique that is used when you don’t want the mended area to stand out – the less obvious, the better. The aim is for the garment to look as close to its original condition as possible. This often means choosing a thread color that matches the garment, using small stitches and trying to hide the stitches behind already existing hems and seams.
The importance of mending our clothes
These days, we are wearing our clothes less than ever before. It is estimated that the number of times a garment is worn before disposal has decreased by a worldwide average of 36% within the last two decades. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, one garbage truck of textiles is discarded every second – and a lot of this waste is still completely wearable.
The simplest – and yet seemingly complex – solution to the issue of fast fashion is to reduce consumption.
This is exactly why mending matters. Mending is a slow fashion practice that focuses on care and rewear, instead of consumption.
If your goal is to work towards a more sustainable wardrobe, mending is one of the best ways to do this, because you are working with what you already have. By mending and repairing your clothing, you are making sure that you can wear it for longer, which means you are slowing down how much you consume and making sure that less goes to waste.
In her new book, ‘Loved Clothes Last’, the co-founder of Fashion Revolution, Orsola de Castro, writes, “We aren’t repurposing and mending clothes because we can’t afford to buy something new – we are doing it because we can’t afford to throw something away.”
Fundamentally, mending is a radical act of care in a fast fashion system that thrives on carelessness.
The cherry on top is that mending is a practice of mindfulness – some say mendfulness – because working with our hands allows us to slow down, focus on the stitches, and take us away from our screens.
Why is mending not mainstream?
If I think about how many young people I know that practice mending, the number is sadly very small. The loss of this generational skill speaks to the dominance of the culture of disposability which is upheld by the fast fashion system. This system produces artificially cheap clothes and encourages disposability over care.
As Josephine Philips, founder of Sojo, explains in a Conscious Style Podcast episode, while many brands are latching onto the idea of circular fashion, very few brands have mending services. This is because mending has nothing to do with consumption and it is an investment in longevity, instead of an encouragement of consumption
Ultimately, mending is not mainstream, because caring for what you wear does not align with the capitalist system’s consumption agenda. This is what makes mending a radical act.
Mending and privilege in the slow fashion movement
Historically, mending has been used by working-class and lower-income communities to make clothes last longer out of necessity. But, more recently, with the rise of the slow fashion movement, mending has become a political act that takes a stance against the dominance of the fast fashion system.
Many low-income countries still have a relatively high rate of clothing utilization, meaning the average number of times a garment is worn before it is disposed of. There are still plenty of people in the world who mend and rewear their clothing, not because they are thinking about making a political statement or an aesthetic choice, but because it is a necessity. So, many people who come from this kind of background may not aspire to wear clothing with marks of visible mending.
Mending can also consume a lot of time. Not everyone has the privilege of time to learn how to mend and apply that to their wardrobes. Luckily, for those that may be short on time, there are a growing number of businesses that are offering tailoring, mending, repairing, and altering services.
Mending, repairing, and rewearing should always be encouraged and celebrated, but I also think that it is important to take these nuances into account, instead of sustainability shaming.
On the other hand, mending is an element of slow fashion that makes the movement more accessible, because it doesn’t focus on consumption. Mending requires nothing more than a needle, threat, and the will to repair.
A few places to learn how to mend
Beginning a mending journey can feel daunting. But, there are so many undaunting resources to remind us of why mending is so important, and that share some useful tutorials for how to get going. Here are just a few:
Upcycling and mending and sewing creators to follow
It is always good to gather some inspiration before you get going. Whether it be ideas for patterns you can incorporate in your visible mending, ways to creatively rework your clothing, or paying homage to the ancient art ofJapanese Sashiko, these creators have got you covered:
@bookhou
Mender, maker, teacher, and author
@christijay
Textile revival with plants and thread
@ciscosews
Sewing and upcycling creator
@theconsistencyproject
Reworking and upcycling community and brand
@martin_emily_mae
Natural dying, quilting, and repair
@mindful_mending
Ideas for rewearing, repairing, and reworking
@tammy_silver
Quirky and bold sewing styles for the sustainable sewista
@sashikostory
A duo of Sashiko artisans
@visiblemend
Visible mender, author, and academic
@wardrobeschool
Sewing, upcycling, and remaking
We need to reclaim our connection to our clothes and believe that we are capable of more than just consumption.
We are creators, curators, and designers too. Mending teaches us this by allowing us to use our hands and minds to add to rework clothing we already own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Stella Hertantyo is based in Cape Town, South Africa, and is currently completing her PGDip in Sustainable Development to accompany her undergraduate in Multimedia journalism. She is a slow-living enthusiast and a lover of low-impact fashion.
She is passionate about encouraging an approach to sustainability that is inclusive, accessible, and fun as we try to figure out how to create a more sustainable and just world, together.
When Stella is not in front of her laptop doing uni work, you'll probably find her reading, writing, illustrating, or baking/cooking. A dip in the ocean, or a walk in the mountains, are the two things that bring her the most peace.
