O tsuku roi: Repair

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I spent one of my sunday noon repairing my old pair of jeans. I have it since I was in Junior high school, it is about 10 years ago. I love this jeans, but I cannot wear it now. There is a hole in the knee! I am dying~ It is my favorite pair. Actually, TBH, I already planning to mend the hole with an old scrap of jeans and some embroidery threads. But, I procrastinate a lot. It is almost 3 months since I start this project. 3 MONTHS! It is the longest time I ever procrastinate a project.

I have no pants left, not in my wardrobe nor in my laundry. I need to do something. I made it and finished the project with proud and pride. You know how it feels when you finish something you think you will never finish? That is how I feel. I randomly stitched some embroidery thread, yellow (my least favorite colors), burgundy, and blues. I have no black thread left, so I need to work this color out.

I posted on my Instagram stories, and my friend told me it is called o tsuku roi in Japanese which means repair. Repairing is not that common today, especially when it comes to clothing. Fast fashion to blame? Or the way we live? When it comes to clothing, I do not own many clothings right now (even the word not many cannot guarantee I only have ten pieces of wardrobe). It is one of way to live conscious life. I know it is far from less waste or zero waste lifestyle. But it is my effort to be more conscious about what I left behind.

Clothes, who does not tricked by the fast fashion and how cheap you can get to style yourself, right? You can follow the latest trend and own a fashionable clothes only for hundred thousand rupiahs even less in some store.

According to Merriam Webster,

“Fast fashion is an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers”

The term quickly and cheaply will be the highlight to this meaning. I have watch a documentary about how fast a fashion industry today. Even, in one of famous fast fashion brand, they could change the whole wardrobe in their etalage every three weeks if I am not mistaken. When we buy something/ clothes, have we ever think how many times we use it? How long it will last in our wardrobe? I have seen many clothing items have been thrown out, and the sad thing is we cannot easily recycle it. I am not trying to judge you or everyone who into the fast fashion, I guilty as well, I bought stuff from those brands. I just wondering, how can we change the way we consume something. How it will be impacting our lives?

Personal Photo

I want to learn and be more grateful for what I have. Repairing a pair of jeans that I wear almost half of my age now is a kind of respect on how it is ended up in my closet. A labour that spend his lifetime making those jeans, from cutting the fabric, dye the jeans, and pack it up. Also, a journey way before that material came into the fabric. I guess, repairing one pair of jeans will not harm me at all. It is helping healing myself at the same time.

A pair of jeans that come to live and stay with me for another years.