I'm looking at repair for my Masters project and as part of this I have been looking to the past, when society seemed more inclined to repair rather than buy new. I recently purchased Make Do and Mend from the Imperial War Museum bookshop, which is a lovey re-issue of the 1943 version given out during the war by the Ministry of Information. I will admit that it was done out of necessity but they have lovely ideas on repairing and re-appropriating textiles.
I came across a really interesting website called Selfpassage and stumbled across an article on repair which examines why, in a contemporary context, fixing garments is not encouraged. It also suggests why it is such a unique and beautiful thing:
'Old and carefully repaired clothes inherit another form of promise than fashion; that of continuous attention, of lasting affection, of careful handling and sincerity. It reveals modesty and virtue. The fabric may be broken, but the repair shows that the affection is unbroken. As the hole is repaired, new attention is added. Hope is fused into the material and form. Self-reliance and trust emanates from repair. A beautiful patching is a manifestation of careful love, a caress of time, a gentle kiss of compassion. Such thing fashion has, so far, never been able to commit to.'
I think this is probably the most beautifully intricate text I have ever read on the subject of repair. It captures all the things that I love about textiles and why I think we should value them much higher than we do currently.
