Why the 'SLOW' Clothes Swap - Let's take a moment.
I’m getting focussed for our big event on Sunday 29th Sept 2024 – have you got your tickets yet btw!
11am Film screening of River Blue which puts the spotlight on the denim industry – CHECK!
2-4pm The DOLLY SLOW Clothes Swap – CHECK!
River Blue is a documentary film all about the denim industry, and we at DOLLY mend jeans more than any other garment – we all love our jeans so much! Crotch blowout, worn out knees, shortening.
I wear my fave pair ALL the time. I bought them in the ‘90s and they make me feel great! I’ve mended them several times and the more I patch them the more I love them and yes, I’ll be wearing them on Sunday with fresh sashiko stitching! Denim is such a perfect canvas for mending, stitching, patching – if only I could do sashiko stitching all day long!
In short, we have a connection to our fave jeans and they make us feel good – connection and feel good factor with our clobber! That is the clothing holy grail that will save our planet from the climate crisis that the fast fashion industry is presently causing.
And another thing! ‘There are enough garments in the world to dress six generations. Yet the number of clothes being produced in the global north is soaring’ Really?! Look we need clothes that’s for sure! But that many?!!
Our SLOW Clothes Swap is an opportunity to embrace a degrowth economy. The planet can not sustain the over production of poorly made clothing and us humans must not sustain the exploitation of the people who make them. And none of this feels good – even though the fashion industry try to kid us into thinking more cheap clothes will make us feel happy, it’s temporary. This is a toxic cycle but there’s an alternative clothing cycle that feels good for all the right reasons. Let’s change our mindset to circular fashion, re-usuing, swapping, mending – let’s take a moment.
Clothes help us to feel good – warm, cool, comfortable, protected, attractive. Our fave clobber can make you feel like YOU! Believe me, I see it every single day at DOLLY – happy customers whose clothes are just right after we’ve cast our sewing spell. It is so worth the investment and time spent consciously considering the mend or tweak needed to make that loved garment just right for you instead of just right for someone else, the bin or a beach in Ghana where millions of our cast offs are currently ending up.
Our Clothes Swaps to date have had a tiny whiff of - ‘these clothes aren’t just cheap, they’re FREE’! - and our learned behaviour of always needing more - thank you fast fashion! – makes the vibe a bit hectic to say the least! So let’s flip it, no-rush, there’s plenty and consider each swap as something to treasure.
So whilst you’re picking through your wardrobe why not make 3 piles…
1. Keep it!
2. Swap it!
3. Mend/tweak it!
Our SLOW clothes swap is an opportunity to share not just clothes but our clothing stories and hopes for a greener fashion future.
I’m always surprised how few customers make the most of our alteration services at DOLLY post Clothes Swap. So, in the slowness of this event, we’ll have time to discuss the tweaks and embellishments to make that swap perfect for you and your feel-good factor!
