Mending things is good.
But things are getting cheaper.
Time is getting shorter.
And mending skills are undervalued.
So we throw things away.
Kintsugi
Kintsugi is a Japanese art form in which breaks and repairs are treated as part of the object’s history.
Broken ceramics are carefully mended by artisans with a lacquer resin mixed with powdered gold, silver or platinum.
The repairs are visible — and beautiful.
Kintsugi means “golden joinery” in Japanese.
In. Not Out.
I think valuable things wear in.
Not out.
Clothing I mean mainly.
But other things too.
I tend to buy less and buy better.
I know what I like so I don’t really want loads of things.
Just a few, excellent things!
And if they bend or break or bruise I like repairing them or having them repaired.
In fact, at Always Wear Red we have a Forever Repair Service.
AWR customers choose to have black knitted pieces repaired with black thread, or red thread.
Visible mend.
Or invisible mend.
In time, I’ll let you know what people plump for.
And in the meantime I hope that you, with regards to clothing, plump for a “Wear It, Share it, Repair it” approach.
It must be the right thing to do.
It rhymes.
3 Comments
I wear all my scars with pride. They are the patina of my life, and each comes with a story – usually funny, or painful at the time, but now funny when viewed through the lens of time. And usually, it is my own stupidity that sits at the root of the humour. If I got through life unscathed, then I’d feel like I hadn’t really lived.
I keep all the dings on my motorcycle too. They remind me of roads travelled, of tracks, of corners, of times, places and people.
Buy the stuff you really love, that is made with craft and care and look after it. If it breaks, fix it. Amen to that.
My Son thinks I’m crazy when I try to mend things, but I have got him to do the same now !
Last year I had cancer surgery and for months couldn’t look at my 9 inch scar, and then my brain kicked in and said it is just a repair mark and here you are still alive, the biggest mend !
Hello Janet.
My friend had breast cancer a few years ago. And she too has scars from her journey.
Completely unrelated, she also has a tattoo on her arm. Of a bee. From years ago.
Anyhow, she’s going have more tattoos of bees (they have a nice positive meaning for her) on her chest area. Later this year I think.
We’ve even got a name for them…
Boo-bees.
Looking on the bright side is important, I think.
Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Michael.