The Mended Aesthetic Goes Mainstream

Is it a good thing for the visibly mended look to become popular?

When I first started to think seriously about waste and consuming less, my wardrobe was an obvious place to make a change. For me, that meant trying harder to take care of the clothes I already owned, which included more mindful laundering and taking up mending. (How I’ve cut back on consuming new clothing is a newsletter for another day.) 

I soon discovered textile artist Katrina Rodabaugh’s work. I loved Katrina’s message of “slow fashion” and her visible mending particularly inspired me–in part because I loved the way it looked. So when my favorite pair of jeans gave out in the knee, I decided to try my hand at Katrina’s style of sashiko stitching to repair denim. I remember being nervous the first time I wore my mended pants out, but for the most part, no one noticed or cared. However, one of those early times when wearing my visibly hand-mended garment, a woman I didn’t know at a party asked if she could take a picture of my pants. She worked in fashion and said she was inspired by the stitches: I was tickled.

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Soon I was in a constant cycle of stitching up holes–for myself and my family. I usually stitch by hand and can either chat with my husband or listen to a podcast while I mend. The in and out of the running stitch is simple and meditative—and it’s so satisfying to watch the progression of stitches across the fabric.

Once my son was growing slowly enough that pants lasted more than a month or two, the knees in his pants started to need repair too, which I wrote about for Scary Mommy a while back. In that piece I wrote about wanting my son to see a mended object and think it was cool or beautiful, but I worried there would come a day when some other child will make fun of his repaired clothes.

But maybe that day will never arrive because it seems: The mending aesthetic has gone mainstream. Here’s what I mean…