Canyouexplainthe‘makedoand
mend’philosophyandhowit relatesin
a contemporarysense?
‘Makedoandmend’wastheterm
famouslyusedduringWorldWarII forthe
pushto encourageandteachsewingand
mending.Inadditionto makinggood
economicsense,thiswasa necessitydue
to rationsandscarcityof materialsat the
time.Usedsilkparachutesbecame
weddingdresses,andsuitsleftbehindby
soldiersbecamejacketsandskirts.People
adaptedcleverlyandputskillsto use,and
everyonesewed,includingmenand
children. Many of these garments are stillSEW
SUSTAINABLE
uthorandhumanrights
advocate Tara Moss is
currentlyundertakinga
PhDat TheUniversity
of Sydney, looking at
the intersection of the
sustainability,feminism
andpoliticalengagement.Shehasa par-
ticularinterestinthesalvagingofvintage
clothesandthetakingupof1940s‘make
doandmend’skills,andis alsothecur-
rent patron for the Australian Sewing
Guild,promotingmending,sewingand
craftforsustainability,bodypositivity and
style with a vintage focus.THEWORLDHASSEENalarmingphoto-
graphs of the hugenumbers attemptingto
climbMountEverestrecently(1200people
passedthroughbasecampduringthe 2019
seasonalone),butwhatis trulystaggeringis
theamountofwastetheyleavebehind.
SwissluxuryhouseBallysponsoreda majorclean-upmissionthisyear,whichremoved
twotonnesofrubbish,morethanhalfofwhichwascollectedfromthe‘deathzone’(the
periloussummitareaabove 8000 metres,wheretheoxygenlevelis extremelylow).The
expeditionwasledbyDawaStevenSherpaanda teamof nativeNepaleseSherpaclimbers,
whichincludedJamlingTenzingNorgay,thesonof SherpaTenzingNorgay,whoreached
Everest’ssummitalongsideSirEdmundHillaryin 1953 —wearingBallyboots,noless.
“WhenI firststartedclimbingin2007,I wasshockedandsaddenedbytheamountof
wasteabandonedinthismagnificentlandscape,”saysDawaStevenSherpa,whois leader
oftheEcoEverestExpeditionsandCEOofAsianTrekking.“ThefollowingyearI made
it mygoaltopioneera clean-upmission.Reachingthesummitof Everestrequiressignif-
icantresources,soI wasdelightedwhenBallycametoourcause,aidingandsupporting
thefirstorganisedclean-upofEverest’ssummit.”
TocelebratethelaunchofBallyPeakOutlook,thebrandhasintroducedanexclusive
capsulecollection, 100 percentofthenetprofitsofwhichwillfundfutureclean-up
expeditions.“Peopleforgetthatthebeautyliesnotinthemountainsbutintheculture,”
Norgaysays.“WeSherpasbelievethatmountainsarea sacredplace.Wedon’tclimb
mountains for leisure or sport. We climb because it’s a way of living.”– Kirstie ClementsWhyBallyispioneering
theclean-upofEverestPEAK
CONDITION
in excellentconditiontoday, 75 yearslater.
Today,‘makedoandmend’hasgreatvalue
onceagainas wegrapplewiththeurgent
climatecrisisandtheneedformore
sustainablepractices.If youbuyto last,
youmustmendeventually.Including
futuremendingin yourplanfor
everythingyoubuychangesyour
relationshipto garmentsandobjects.Can
thisitembefixed?Is it madeof materials
thatwilllastmorethana fewwears?You
lookat everygarmentdifferently.Manyofuscan’tsew.Is learningtosew
ontherise?Whydidyoustartsewing?
UnfortunatelyI spentmuchof mylife
avoidingsewingandother‘feminised
skills’,andI eventuallycameto realisethat
wasnonsenseandI neededto become
moreself-sufficient.I amnotthebest
sewistandtimeis scarce,as it is formany
of us,butI nowresewbuttonsandtake
downhemsmyself,andI evenmakesome
of myownwardrobe,thoughsalvaging
vintageis whatI findmostrewarding.
Somejobsaretooadvancedformyskills,
so I amnotafraidto takea pieceto an
expertif I finda beautifulgownin anop
shopandknowit needsa finerhandthan
mineto bringit backto life.
I hosteda littleYouTubeseries[Sewing
VintagewithTaraMoss] fora year
promotingmendingandsewingskillsas
a newbie,andI amthepatronof the
AustralianSewingGuild.I thinkit is
importantto valuetheseskillsandhonour
thosewhopassthemdown.
Anotherbenefitof learningto sewat any
level is that you better appreciate garmentsandthetimeandworkthatgoesintotheir
designandconstruction,andyoucan
moreaccuratelyspotquality.Canwehavea fabulouswardrobe
withouteverbuyingsomethingnew?
Anyonecanhavea fabulouswardrobe
withoutbuyingnew.Theworld—
particularlytheWesternworld—is awash
withexcessgarmentsandtextiles,second-
handclothingandobjects.Thereare
literallywarehousesfullof gorgeous
clothesouttherecollectingdust.I dostill
havenewmakesin mycloset,butI tryto
buymostthingssecond-handandvintage.
Aninterestin stylingthatis nottrend-
influencedis alsohelpfulbecausefinding
whatworksforyouis moresustainable
thanchangingyourlookwithtrends.
Knowingyourlookor,if youareinto
vintage,knowingyour‘era’helpswiththis.
Thereis noneedto sacrificepersonalstyle
to besustainable—buyless,buyit to last
andmendit andcareforit, orbuy
second-handorvintage.
Focusingonneveragainaddingto my
wardrobeis notsomethingI have
prioritised,becausesecond-handand
vintageclothing,whichhasalreadyseena
life,workswonderfullyforgarmentswaps
withmyfriendsorcanbetakento a
retailerif a pieceis nolongerworkingoris
simplyreadyforanotherlifewithsomeone
else.Onceyougetpasttheideathatthe
onlygoodthingsarenewlyproduced,
thereis a wholeworldof excitingfashion
outthere.Buyingthemsupportsan
importantindustryforthosewhosalvage
and mend beautiful items from the past.Thewartime‘makedoand
mend’ethoshasnew
resonanceinthiseraoffast
fashion, says Tara MossCOURTESY OF BALLY; TARA MOSS: BERNDT SELLHEIM. INTERVIEW BY KIRSTIE CLEMENTSBallyPeakOutlookonMount
Everest in May 2019.58 HARPERSBAZAAR.COM.AU December 2019