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  What do you do with your unwanted clothes?
Post Date : 2024-06-13


Ask your current disposal habits when it comes to your worn, unwanted, or out-of-style clothes--do you dispose your unwanted clothes as general waste, give them to friends/family members, donate to charitable organizations such as Salvation Army, sell to others or to used clothing stores? Consumption and disposal of textiles are on the rise worldwide due to the emergence of "fast fashion" business model among retailers where the turnover for fashion trends and products are rapid. As a result, youths purchase clothes more often to pursue fashion trends (Martin & Bush, 2000) as they discontinue wearing or disposing their out-of-style clothes (Lang, Armstrong & Brannon, 2013).

Thanks to fashion retail labels, the toll that the fashion industry takes on the environment is exacerbated (Birtwistle & Morgan, 2009). As products are priced lower, there is a high demand for cheap fashion products (Ibid). Most reducing, reusing, and recycling efforts are mainly focused on common recyclables such as paper, glass, plastic and metal. In promoting clothes repurposing, i.e. the recycling, and the reusing of unwanted clothes through modification, this self-initiated effort is to promote awareness when handling our unwanted clothes by exploring options of repurposing them before disposal. Started in 2014 as a way to de-stress, it has slowly become a hobby and in the long run, I hope that I can raise awareness about post-consumer textile waste by expanding this hobby to include larger and more important stakeholders. Please contact me if you are interested to collaborate.

Shown here was one of the sleeves protector created from a pair of denim jeans which can be worn to protect one's hands from the hot sun while driving or simply as a long sleeve shirt protecter. It was salvaged from a pair of jeans that had a bad rip.

References:
- Birtwistle, G. & Morgan, L. (2009). An investigation of young fashion consumers' disposal habits. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 33(2), 190-198.|
- Lang, C., Armstrong, C. M., & Brannon, L. A. (2013). Drivers of clothing disposal in the US: An exploration of the role of personal attribute and behaviours in frequent disposal. International Journal of Consumer Studies, (6), 706.
- Martin C. A., & Bush, A. J. (2000). Do role models influence teenagers' purchase intentions and behavior? Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17(5), 441-454.





Don't stash it, Repurpose it - What to do with your the loose collar on your T-shirt?
Post Date : 2015-05-26


T-shirts are more than a cheap piece of clothing. Each wearer declares his/her views through a surface which acts as billboard for innovative graphics. Thanks in part to the efforts of then teen idols such as Marlon Brando and James, T-shirts were once associated as a rebellious form of attire and depending on our age, sex and mood of the day, T-shirts play a part in capturing the spirit of the wearer.

This T-shirt from Taiwan with an embroidered carp on the lower right side has a loose collar. Most of the graphics are still intact and has retained its basic shape, considering that it was purchased in 2006 in Taipei.





Don't stash it, Repurpose it - What to do with your the loose collar on your T-shirt?
Post Date : 2015-05-26


To repurpose it, a piece of fabric from Japan with matching colors was used to coil around the collar with the seams from both sides joined to form a circular "wreath" around the collar of the T-shirt. The fabric is loosely stitched around the out of shape collar of the T-shirt and once this is complete, the fabric is folded inward and stitched so that the inside of the fabric is covered up.





What do you do with your unwanted clothes?
Post Date : 2015-05-23


The finished product, now with the ugly loose round collar completely covered up and the T-shirt is now ready to match a jacket, or just worn casually without a jacket.





What do you do with your unwanted clothes?
Post Date : 2015-05-26


Shown here is an old T-shirt I purchased from a trip in Thailand in 2007 and the patch in the shape of a bubbly elephant has amazingly stayed in tact and as the black-dyed cotton T-shirt continues disintegrate, I decided to transfer the patch to a jacket that I purchased recently in March 2015. The 1st step in removing the patch is by carefully cutting around the shape by leaving a margin of 1/4" around the patch.

A piece of fabric support was ironed onto the back of the patch to add a bit of structure as well as preventing the cotton margin to wrinkle easily. A zig-zag pattern was selected in the sewing machine to hold them together. In this way, the cotton edges will no longer come off easily as loose threads.





What do you do with your unwanted clothes?
Post Date : 2015-04-30


Once the patch is ready,it can be easily re-positioned until a suitable position is chosen, either in the front or the back.





What do you do with your unwanted clothes?
Post Date : 2015-04-30


Once the patch is ready,it can be easily re-positioned until a suitable position is chosen, either in the front or the back.





What do you do with your unwanted clothes?
Post Date : 2015-05-23


A branded hoodie is much loved for its ability to keep me warm but there are three holes in the marked areas on the back that if left untreated will continue to enlarge so a decision is made to find a piece of matching graphics to patch up the area. The same technique was used to reinforce the artwork from a T-shirt which was then hand-stitched to the back of the hoodie after a suitable position is identified.





What do you do with your unwanted clothes?
Post Date : 2015-04-30


You'll notice that the shoe string in the graphics is white which doesn't stand out in comparison to the hoodie's grey fabric.





What do you do with your unwanted clothes?
Post Date : 2015-05-11


Using a zig-zagged pattern found on the many options of the sewing machine, I added a strip of black lines to the outer shape of the shoes which adds a strong outline to the outer shape of the shoe.

For more ideas about what to do with your unwanted clothes, click here.




Don't stash it, Repurpose it - What to do with your unwanted T-shirts
Post Date : 2019-08-01


The grey sweater shown here is one of my favorites. The big orange pocket is an overstatement which makes the sweater a favorite but I dislike the combination of different fabric which it was made out of, resulting in a itchy feeling every time the sweater was worn.

The T-shirt below was from a trip to Amsterdam in 2009 made from extremely comfortable cotton. However, the T-shirt was so worn and I would feel sinful to discard it. This is truly a love-hate relationship that has become difficult to reconcile!





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