mending as a metaphor for community care and repair

embracing imperfection, care, and repair in our closets as a means to understand how to build healthy community irl (and vice versa)

our current culture has primed us to become quick to discard - whether it be clothes, aesthetics, people in our lives, community, home decor, etc - i could go on and on forever with examples of this, but i hope you get my point here. if not, feel free to ask clarifying questions in the comments.

and i was thinking - is how we treat the clothes in our closet as a result of the fast fashion model a reflection of the deterioration of 3rd spaces and community care and repair?

what can slow fashion and mending teach us about how we can build healthier community irl?

the more i thought about it, the more i thought i thought i might be onto something hence this essay

and before i delve further i do want to say there are obviously situations where you need to let go of people who aren’t good for you or are incapable of respecting your boundaries , or remove yourself or take breaks from community spaces that are detrimental to your mental health, or mindfully rehome clothing that no longer fit or serve you.

this is much more to address an overall theme of discarding people, community and clothes over a single misstep, flaw, or tiny hole  that could be repaired with communication and a conversation, or a patch and some thread

and again, there are situations where people aren’t owed an explanation or repair just as there are some clothes so tattered that they are beyond repair and need to be recycled

now that we’ve throughly addressed the element of nuance - let’s dive into the mending pile

would you throw away a friend over being late once? or would you have a conversation with them to find out why they were late, and how you both could better accommodate both of your needs for timeliness and tendency to run late?

would you throw away a valuable community space over one poorly run event? or would you communicate with leadership to see how things could be improved to avoid the same situation from happening?

would you never go to a coffee shop ever again over one drink with burnt espresso? or would you give them a second chance after noticing the drink was made by a new barista in training?

there’s no right answer to these questions- it obviously depends on the overall pattern of behavior, the willingness of both parties involved to address the issue and repair the relationship, and if the new barista learns how to pull a deliciously smooth shot of espresso with more experience and training

i think a similar mindset could be applied to our clothes, and how we think about our clothes could be applied to building community in a world that has primed us to be karens (read my friend edgard’s essay to explore this concept)

do you have a probelmatic garment in your closet? instead of immediately donating it to your local thrift that may or may not keep the item in circulation (1) think about how it could be fixed, repurposed, rehomed, and etc.

small hole - learn how to patch it! or pay or trade a crafty friend to mend it for you!

too small or too big? rehome the item with a friend who would love it. can’t find a friend who would love it? find a local clothing swap

simply just sick of it and it needs some pizazz? add an iron on embellishment, get it embellished, go ham with some fabric paint or markers and ✨get creative✨

but beryl, how does this tie back to building community irl? what if i can’t afford the supplies, don’t know how to do these things, don’t have interest in learning these things?

how can slow fashion, mending, upcycling and crafts help us build deeper ties in our own community?

slow fashion and community building go hand in hand! and just like community your approach to slow fashion should not demand perfection, because ultimately to engage with slow fashion or build community it needs to be sustainable long term for it to stick!

have additional thoughts or questions on this ramble? feel free to comment below. :)

looking to find some fun sustainabl(ish) pieces for your closet? check out my depop!

sources:

(1) https://theroundup.org/textile-waste-statistics/

congrats for making it to the end! as a reward, here is a photo of my cat, olive 💕