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Frugal Fashion
Make do and Mend
There is something decidedly cool about my grandmother's ability to make anything out of anything. Frugal to her, when she was dirt poor and ludicrously rich was simply being a genius with what she had. She learned 'make do and mend' in war and recession and lived off the back of it ever since.
Whether it's a war, a recession or whether it's youth and situation that limits the bank balance, lack of finances can either be a road block or a catalyst for a level of creativity that would never normally be tapped into.
There are people who have money and people who are rich.
Coco Chanel
'Make do and mend' did not just produce a genius grandmother. It's a trait that has produced some of the greatest creativity in history. A tight spot on a battle-field or a challenging day in the pantry cast a shadow of creativity through history.
My great-grandmother used to say “Look after the the pennies...the pounds will look after themselves”.
It's true with everything. Look after what you have and everything else will take care of itself. As with great-gran's pennies, an eye for fashion, starts small. Every great fashion designer made couture with curtains.
So we are back in one of those spots where we need to make do on less and make less do more. Will it be our road-block or our invitation to creativity? Making a little go a long long way is an art-form all by itself. But making it fabulous is rather triumphant we think.
Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not.
Coco Chanel.
So where does that leave us wannabe fashionistas in the middle of recession that sometimes feels like war-time in the closet?
I'm currently contemplating my wardrobe. Partly because I'm moving house and partly because I'm moving house to a house without one, a wardrobe that is. My closet is stuffed full of clothes, yet so many times I stand in front of my full-length mirror without a stitch to wear. Amongst the bobbling sweaters and shrunken faded t-shirts, there are a few finds that, bless them, get over-worn or over-looked. All the time I gaze beseechingly at the pages of Vogue as if, if I stare long enough, the clothes would leap off the page and onto by back.
As the catwalks have asserted over the past two years, recession does not determine how we dress. Fashion has been defiant in it's resistance to mourning dress. I applaud their obstinate resistance to dress-depressed. If ever there was a need for cheering-up it's now and the fashion houses have been committed to doing just that. It's just, we can't afford the price tags.
Fashionista style on a Recessionista Budget
The recession has finally caught up with me and now trips to the mall are further away than they have ever been. So what to do? Well if there is one thing I learned from Gone with the Wind, you can always dress like a million dollars if you are creative enough with a good pair of drapes. If there's one thing young Scarlet teaches us, it's that war and recession are not the time to dress down if we are going to make it back up again. So it's not curtains to dressing well, recession is an invitation to dressing creatively. Maybe, just maybe, we will learn again how to be fabulous, frugal and ecological all at the same time.
So what to do with a wardrobe full of tired threads? Well firstly realize that there are raw materials bursting out of every draw and falling off of every hanger. It's not that I have nothing to wear, I just have nothing wonderful to wear. So I can make do with it by re-styling it, mend it, swap it, trade it, rearrange it and use it. It's the powerful people that harness a raw material and make it work for them. Which is why I am excited, but none to surprised, to find that eco-warrior-dressing has become as fashionable as it is green in these thrifty times.
We've done a little leg work around the cyber world of make do and mend fashion. Check out these web-spots or get yourself an old sewing machine, a couple of swap parties and start wearing your own label...
Elegance does not consist in putting on a new dress.
Coco Chanel.
Normal people
High end
So can we make 'make do and mend' a positive choice, rather than a necessary evil? The extent of our creativity and individuality would grow and the planet would breathe a sigh of relief if we learned to steward something.
Make do and mend may actually save the world...
Thanks Gran.
Sarah Bainbridge is a vital part of the Living Generously team. She liaises with Charities, writes articles and develops the project! Sarah has spent time in India working with communities impacted by the Tsunami and is passionate about social justice. Currently living in California, Sarah loves life, lakes and coffee...not necessarily in that order!
