I didn’t buy any clothes for a year and repaired everything instead. Here’s what I learned
Beyond the world of luxury, performance marks like Patagonia and North Face have internal repair services, while the Trainer Veja brand even offers to repair shoes from other brands of many of its stores, y understood in London. In addition to being the right thing to do from the point of view of sustainability, except the co-founder of your Hasna Kourda wardrobe-whose monitoring platform connects a global network of approved repair service providers to Brands like Loro Piana and Maje Paris – indicates that when “customers feel that they can repair their articles via the brand, this strengthens fidelity and confidence. »»
At the start of my self-imposed challenge, the objective of repairing and restoring my wardrobe was like an unexplored territory. I was not even confident in my ability to sew on a button or sewing an hem – I have since learned to do both, but in general, once banal skills have not been transmitted . For many of us, it just seems easier to buy new ones.
An initial audit of my wardrobe revealed a surprising number of articles that I had forgotten, no longer suited me, or that I had let it repair. These have totaled more than 20 articles, including four pairs of pants with torn hems and a beige dress with two bulk buttons. In addition, there were countless tiny holes and butterfly eaters requiring invisible repair by my tailor.
I also sent four pairs of shoes to the specialized service of 60 years, including a pair of Chanel ballets that have been cleaned and redesigned, chanel suede boots which need clean and new toe and satin and satin and Aeyde ankle boots it required heating. Then there were my very appreciated Jimmy Choo boots. The cost of repairing the interior lining (organized via the brand tracking service) was 26,000 ₹, due to the nature of the damage and the need to deactivate them, but with a retail price of 1 40 729 ₹, 10 years of wear lasts, and I hope that more to come, it seemed right. I do not think twice before paying dry cleaning, so I decided to consider these repair costs as a kind of fashion mode.
Regarding the modifications, I rediscovered my tree tweed Stella McCartney, which I had bought eight years before, but it was too long for me, and I changed it. Another objective was several of the Richard James costumes of my late father, which I had never planned to wear. They were seated mainly in my wardrobe as nostalgic reminders of him; I occasionally draped one of the Blazers on my shoulders, because it made me feel close to him. As part of this challenge, I decided to modify the pants, which was several too large sizes, to wear the whole as a costume. My usual tailor of my local dry cleaners (tip, they are often very good) have changed the pants for much less than the cost of a new costume Richard James. And although I often wear the jacket in itself, when I wear the complete costume, it looks like a memory experienced.
In many ways, determine how to extend the lifespan of a preexisting article in our wardrobe requires more imagination than buying something new. The initiate of the Tiffanie Darke industry, who is committed to buying only five new clothes per year, also found the joy of repairing old pieces in his wardrobe. “Being more intentional about what we buy and how we take care of our clothes can be incredibly creative,” she told me by phone, recalling how she sent a pair of torn jeans to repair via Save Your Wardrobe, using the Japanese technical embroidery Sashiko.
