You literally cannot mess this up
February 19, 2019 9:19 AM   Subscribe

How we Lost our Ability to Mend [clothes] from Die, Workwear!, "A semi-daily blog about classic men's tailoring and semi-casual attire."
posted by soelo (100 comments total) 93 users marked this as a favorite
 
I literally can mess this up, and blood doesn't wash out of everything.
posted by darksasami at 9:33 AM on February 19, 2019 [10 favorites]


This inspires me. I have a sweater I love, which has been in my closet unworn due to holes in the elbows, for years. Maybe I will use these tips to mend it.
posted by elizilla at 9:44 AM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]


I had a roommate once who would pay me five dollars per button to sew buttons back on his shirts for him. I tried to tell him not to pay me because it was such a simple task but he insisted.

Okay, fair enough.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:51 AM on February 19, 2019 [31 favorites]


Just this weekend I mended two fairly large tears in our duvet cover. Our beastly cats like to play in the crinkles and lumps of a weighted blanket & a down comforter. Conversely, a good friend of mine buys comforter sets in bulk, because her pets (admittedly, two adorable pitties do more damage than three demon cats) are destructive as well. I just don't have it in me. Maybe it's because I _can_ sew, but I just can't bring myself to spend money on something new, knowing it faces destruction. I'll get a new duvet cover at some point. Maybe.

(But now I feel super guilty about the three bras I have in my mending pile. I should really deal with them instead of rewashing the same black one over and over again...)
posted by librarianamy at 9:54 AM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]


yes, yes yes

I've been following a few similar threads

Jordan Blackburn, nature photographer, on "Menditations" (instagram login required). "I believe repair is a positive and inherently political act."

Fellow mefight Libraritarian and their friends use the #VisibleMending

For christams I was given the book Mending Matters . I do not like this book. It makes everything look so easy, so effortless, so basic and obvious. It doesn't get into the issues of "What happens after you mend something and you can't get your leg into the pants any more? What happens when your mend breaks during a meeting at work?" It presents mending as haute couture, in a way that I feel is inaccessible for those who already worry about looking professional enough to be taken seriously.

Finally, mended is the new ripped. Check out this selection of denim from Abercrombie and Fitch (a)(b)
posted by rebent at 9:59 AM on February 19, 2019 [10 favorites]


Is the subtext of this saying that soon we will see subtle or not so subtle "repairs" on brand new clothing?

My pet peeve when it comes to clothes wearing out is sock heals. I have calluses like razor knives and bony heals so I saw through socks and shoes pretty quick With the tight knit of socks I don't understand how darning could possible work. I need some kind of ready made tough tightly woven sock heals that could be sewed on.

On a related note, it costs more to resole a pair of work boots then to just buy new ones.
posted by Pembquist at 10:03 AM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]


Thanks for this post.

As a guy that mends his own, and my wife's clothes for that matter (though she handles larger tasks like hemming curtains while I just keep the Singer 99 trucking along in the meantime), clothes this is great to hear and I'll just say/agree that

A) Clothes today, even many expensive flavors, are garbage that isn't meant to be repaired. Good selvage jeans are an exception. I'm happy to be told of others.
B) Our experience is that women's clothes are worse in this regard. Blame it on fashion or male privilege or whatever, they're oftentimes made so poorly and of such silly materials that the idea of attempting repair is laughable.
C) Not to mention that standards / expectations for women's wear are so insane that a patch on a women's outfit seems unthinkable while, if it was cleanly done which I do struggle with from time to time, it would be much more tolerable on something of mine.
D) I have a decently stocked sewing box/setup and I NEVER HAVE THE EXACT RIGHT SIZE REPLACEMENT BUTTON. NEVER. Lose a waist button? Good luck with one that is either a good bit too small or really tight to button again forever or stylistically silly. First world problems and all that but jesus christ...
E) Technical fabrics are neat but once they wear out, well, they aren't BIFL purchases I'll say that much.
F) Darning socks was easier than I thought it'd be (see old school lightbulb/curved needle method for reference) but I don't know if I'd trust myself to mend a sweater or something in a similar fashion.
posted by RolandOfEld at 10:04 AM on February 19, 2019 [22 favorites]


Repair and maintenance of products already manufactured is one of the best things you can do to combat global warming.

Also, repair and maintenance will become much more popular once the trade war with China begins.
posted by M-x shell at 10:05 AM on February 19, 2019 [8 favorites]


My mending pile is starting to overflow its bin. Something to do over the next few days as I recover from oral surgery.
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:06 AM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]


I have asked my local library to run a button-sewing clinic.
posted by MonkeyToes at 10:06 AM on February 19, 2019 [14 favorites]


There are two ways these arguments always annoy me:

(1) They romanticize the process, based on a relative ignorance of its difficulty. Sewing on buttons, literally a child can do. "Finer garments, such as merino knits and woven shirts, are typically thrown away at the sight of their first hole..." Even if you know how to graft, as I do, it is quite challenging to do with a fine knit. Take a look at one of your fine merino sweaters. See how tiny each individual "v" of a stitch is? To graft you'll need to be going through each one and lining it up with its counterpart across the hole. For a sweater that is both very nice and dark in color (because it will leave something of a pucker at that gauge, no matter what you do), I might pay to have a pro darn it. For a $22 sweater from Uniqlo? No. I'd have to pay practically that much to the seamstress.

(2) They act like it's all working class and ignore the fact that you need to be pretty comfortable (and, ideally, white, male, and thin) to stroll around on a regular basis in visibly mended clothing without suffering social repercussions. I just patched a torn down coat with Tenacious Tape and that's not particularly noticeable, but I don't spend my life in sportswear.
posted by praemunire at 10:08 AM on February 19, 2019 [38 favorites]


I am endlessly touched by men’s sentimental attachment to old clothes

If they're like me, it's because they hate clothes shopping.

Is the subtext of this saying that soon we will see subtle or not so subtle "repairs" on brand new clothing?

I remember walking through some department store in the 90's, and seeing a lot of new jeans with early-70's hippie-style decorations pre-supplied. I wasn't shocked, as I knew all the physical trappings and dreams of the hippie movement had already been commodified years ago, but I did roll my eyes a little.

Also:

Metafilter: Spare buttons are just aspirational
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:12 AM on February 19, 2019 [4 favorites]


I have my more expensive stuff mended and repaired, and generally sew up my own seam splits and buttons. But I would like (generally) to second this:

Our experience is that women's clothes are worse in this regard. Blame it on fashion or male privilege or whatever, they're oftentimes made so poorly and of such silly materials that the idea of attempting repair is laughable.

I have so many shirts that fit well and are generally lovely, but they are so tissue-thin that just the act of being worn with a zipped jacket leads to stress holes. And they're simply not repairable -- any stitching or patching would be incredibly obvious, more obvious than the tiny holes.

And I have taken shoes to a cobbler for repair only to be told they "belonged in the trash! with the other garbage!" (This cobbler might have been more surly than average.)
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:14 AM on February 19, 2019 [10 favorites]


I would patch more things, especially cozy basics like sweatpants and blankets, if I could more easily acquire stuff to patch them with. All the fabric stores have gone out of business or are a long public transit ride away. Anybody have reputable non-Amazon clothing repair sources?
posted by bagel at 10:14 AM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]


This cobbler might have been more surly than average.

Nearly every cobbler I've ever used was surly. I think it's a job requirement.

Speaking of cobblers, identifying a reliable source to get my climbing shoes resoled is a constant struggle. It's such a specialty gig, but so necessary: new shoes run over $120, and it's nuts to throw them out just when you've broken them in. But I chew through the toes pretty quickly, and I really want to get at least 3 resoles on any given pair of shoes.
posted by suelac at 10:24 AM on February 19, 2019 [4 favorites]


Anybody have reputable non-Amazon clothing repair sources?

Honestly the easiest way to get small quantities of material is probably to go to Goodwill / SalvArmy / your local salvage store of choice and get some clothing that's similar. Use a seam ripper to take it apart. Then you will have both the material, and also what's effectively a pattern if you want to make something similar. (Knowing how a garment is constructed also makes it easier to repair, especially if you bust a seam or something.)

Because of the crazy economics of the clothing industry, often buying clothes is the easiest way to buy material. Or some other finished product; e.g. there are a lot of sewing projects around that start off with Ikea curtains or similar, just because they're a ready source of fabric and cheaper than going to a fabric store and buying it by the yard. Bonkers, but that's globalization for you.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:28 AM on February 19, 2019 [24 favorites]


Looking at this article, I like the boro-style mends shown. They seem decorative but also not too difficult.

Women's clothes are a lot harder to mend, both because they're more cheaply made and because they're more likely to be slightly dressy cotton knits where invisible mending is almost impossible. If you want to mend a casual t-shirt, well, you're probably wearing it in a casual setting. But some kind of thin modal-cotton dressy top is going to be impossible to mend invisibly and you won't be wearing it in a situation where a visible mend will be okay.
posted by Frowner at 10:36 AM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]


Use a seam ripper to take it apart.

Pro (or is there such a thing as amateur tip?) tip: If you find yourself ripping out individual stitches as opposed to the whole seam at once, which happens from time to time, just pick out every third or fourth stitch and cut it with the seam ripper then you can often pull the seam apart in a non-destructive fashion. This saves about, well exactly I suppose, 2/3 or 3/4 of the time you'd have taken busting every stitch individually.

posted by RolandOfEld at 10:45 AM on February 19, 2019 [12 favorites]


Look, most of my sweaters were injured in the Great Moth War of 2018, and they have not all been mended yet. (They sit in a pile on my desk, staring at me.) I am somewhat clever with a needle, but some repairs are just going to be more obvious than others--due to the fineness of the knit, the size of the hole, the placement of the hole, and the difficulty of matching colors. And these sweaters are going to be fine for weekends and knocking about home, but they can no longer be worn to work. I just don't have that kind of social capital.
posted by Hypatia at 10:45 AM on February 19, 2019 [5 favorites]


Yesterday i saw, in a very elegant restaurant, a very elegant lady wearing a jumper with wholes intentionally set in to the knit. Some of them darned, as a fashion statement.
I have noticed this trend of faux mending in more than one night couture recent collections.
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 10:45 AM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]


So, I started reading the article itself, and apparently it's all second-wave feminism's fault that "we" (read: women) don't know how to sew buttons any more.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:47 AM on February 19, 2019 [11 favorites]


Related, from the Guardian: 'Don't feed the monster!' The people who have stopped buying new clothes Mending and refashioning meet thrifting.
posted by MonkeyToes at 10:50 AM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]


Some versions of this article have a lot of misogyny, but this one ain't bad on that front:
This all changed in the 1960s. For good reasons, second-wave feminists fought back against the rigid gender stereotypes of the previous decade and felt that mandatory home economic classes were pushing women into the confinement of housewifery (Gloria Steinem called this type of education a “cultural ghetto” in a Washington Post op-ed). Around the same time, the US government pulled federal funding that had been previously earmarked for these types of classes for decades. If schools wanted to keep their home economics programs, they had to fund them through a larger pool of money reserved for “vocational education.”

The two biggest blows came in the 1990s. The first was the shift in the US economy from manufacturing to knowledge-intensive services (a shift that has been in the making for a long time, but came to a head during the information technology revolution). . . . The second blow came with the advent of fast fashion, which has made sewing and mending all but pointless.
posted by joyceanmachine at 10:51 AM on February 19, 2019 [4 favorites]


apparently it's all second-wave feminism's fault that "we" (read: women) don't know how to sew buttons any more.

I'm guessing this is the phrasing you are referencing here?

For good reasons, second-wave feminists fought back against the rigid gender stereotypes of the previous decade and felt that mandatory home economic classes were pushing women into the confinement of housewifery (Gloria Steinem called this type of education a “cultural ghetto” in a Washington Post op-ed).

If so, and honestly I'm open to correction if I'm misreading this since I tend to be not as nuanced as many folks on metafilter are, then that seems like a bit of an uncharitable reading to me if you're saying the author somehow made it 'all' about that, or even phrased it as a bad thing. It sounds really different to my ear at least.
posted by RolandOfEld at 10:52 AM on February 19, 2019 [4 favorites]


On lack of preview, what joyceanmachine said, yes, that.
posted by RolandOfEld at 10:52 AM on February 19, 2019


I love mending. But I don't consider "re-sewing a button" to be "mending". Re-sewing a button is more on par with re-lacing your shoes. There are complicated methods of "properly" attaching a button, but--you know--just poking it with a needle and thread from the drugstore will suffice. I am always surprised that people are hesitant to try it. But everyone I've ever lived with--roommate, partner, or spouse--has always asked me to do it for them!

It's weird that I love mending because I'm so disinclined to do the hand-sewing required when a garment is almost but not quite finished. But mending is soothing. Of course, it feels low stakes because most mended garments are now not suitable for days I have to really look professional or my comfort level in most social situations. During the great moth apocalypse, I did a lot of minor mending--replacing cuffs that had a hole, for instance. But non-visible repair on knits is ridiculously hard and not everything can be patched without your being judged in professional contexts and some social contexts.

Also, I've been organizing my sewing room and so I've been collecting remnants that would work for adding cuffs and a hem to my beloved winter coat that has started to show wear in those spots. And once, when I was getting dressed to go to a friends' wedding, I suddenly took it upon myself to repair a rip in the lining of an opera coat. I need to replace the whole lining but that's a project. That sort of mending? That's a very valuable skill. I'm glad I have it. I wish I were better at it. And when it's something I can't handle, I'm glad I have a very good tailor.

Anyway. I think there are a lot of domestic skills which it is a shame people are not learning. But there are a lot of reasons--as pointed out in the article, largely related to how clothing is made, sold, and worn now--mending is no longer practical
posted by crush at 10:53 AM on February 19, 2019 [6 favorites]


I've had good luck using embroidery floss to mend small holes in fine-gauge sweaters; the color selection is excellent. Sometimes there will be a mercerized cotton (same craft store section) in a close-enough shade to avoid the excessive shininess of the floss. With a small hole, not matching the material content of the sweater hasn't been a problem.

Also, don't pull the thread tight when you sew on a button, you fools! Put a needle as a spacer between button and fabric while you sew so there's some room for the other side of the placket in there. Take a few turns around the slack thread for durability, or if you're haute couture you can weave between them. I'm pretty annoyed that my (spendy!) new flannel shirt has placket bulges around the buttons.
posted by momus_window at 10:58 AM on February 19, 2019 [12 favorites]


One of the things I like most about the leather bag that I use as a briefcase and laptop bag is that, since I made it from scratch, I can also repair just about anything that happens to it. Apart from three pieces of robust, non-moving hardware that could be replaced if necessary, it's just leather and thread. I've redone most of the stitching on it once over its lifetime so far, usually with a bit of spare thread and a needle I keep in the bag. It's a replica of a Roman soldier's bag and unlikely to be mistaken for a high-fashion piece, but it makes up for it with a simple, robust, easily repaired design.
posted by jedicus at 11:02 AM on February 19, 2019 [9 favorites]


Clothes today, even many expensive flavors, are garbage that isn't meant to be repaired.

This, for sure. With the exception of some nice pairs of over-the-calf socks, almost all the clothing I have that's worth mending is too complicated or expensive to mend myself. If the seam starts to let go in a pair of bespoke pants or if the lining starts to come away at the shoulder of a blazer, I'm sending that out to someone who has the skill and equipment to do the work at a higher level than I could ever manage. I could hand-sew replacement buttons on shirts, but I'm just as happy to have the laundry around the corner where I have them cleaned do that for me (granted, as a resident of Manhattan I am privileged by the ubiquity and relative affordability of this sort of thing). My preferences lean towards things that are made to last (and thus more expensive), so I do tend to have my garments mended and professionally maintained to the extent needed. But if a cheap t-shirt, thin pair of jeans or lightweight casual button-down develops a hole, it transforms into a rag and that's that. There's no use mending something that wasn't meant to last in the first place and, in my experience, no sooner will that one hole be mended than another springs up.
posted by slkinsey at 11:03 AM on February 19, 2019 [2 favorites]


Put a needle as a spacer between button and fabric while you sew so there's some room for the other side of the placket in there.

Or pin or masking-tape a stretch of the other side of the placket under the edge of the button, so your thread shank can be *exactly* the right length. This isn't just for looks, you're avoiding strain on the underlying placket from a too-short shank or twisting and flopping from a too-long one.
posted by clew at 11:07 AM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]


On a related note, it costs more to resole a pair of work boots then to just buy new ones.

For most work boots, this is 100% true, because most work boots are low-quality crap. The only realistic reason people are going to resole shoes/boots of any kind is if the value of the footware is more than the cost of resoling. Which is to say, north of $100 at the least. The issue with this, for most people, is that there is significant sticker shock for footware at a quality that makes economic sense to resole several times. A high quality leather boot with a Goodyear welt may cost 300 bucks and it may need to be resoled every two years or so at a cost of around a hundred bucks each time. That boot is also likely to last around a decade (in actuality they could last 20 years if properly maintained). So the overall cost for a decade of wear is about $700 bucks, or $70 per year. Meanwhile, you might get a pair of $50 boots with a cemented sole that will need to be replaced every six months. Total cost for ten years is about $950, or $95 per year and, of course, the boots aren't nearly as nice. But it's hard to overlook the $250 up-front difference in price, and of course a lot of people don't have $250 burning a hole in their pockets. It's one of the subtle ways that the wealthy get wealthier.
posted by slkinsey at 11:21 AM on February 19, 2019 [8 favorites]


I'm definitely a hoarder of buttons and other things. I also have a few holey merino sweaters that I really have no idea what to do with beyond perhaps sticking a patch or two on the inside. They're too good to give up! I also have plenty of pairs of blown-out jeans that I just need to patch. One of these years...

On the flip side, I also have three Filson waxed canvas jackets, which are not only very hard wearing to begin with, but the company repairs them for free if you bring them in; the resulting stitching is very conspicuous but well done and strong.

They also collect old and "ruined" gear and recycle it into fabulous (and very expensive) bags. I'm aware Filson long ago crossed over to bougie brand, but their core tin cloth products are still great and they maintain the repair service because I think they would be fed to the orcas here in their native Seattle if it were terminated.

But I totally agree with the thesis that we have left these skills behind and that it would be better for us to have them available even if we don't use them all the time — like someone above said, I'm not going to spend hours re-stitching the shoulder of a $20 shirt from Uniqlo. But knowing I could save a favorite work jacket or what have you beyond reattaching a button would be a nice feeling.

On preview - above, " It's one of the subtle ways that the wealthy get wealthier..." In case this is tickling something in anyone's brain, it's the Vimes Boots theory of economic injustice.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 11:24 AM on February 19, 2019 [7 favorites]


It has been a loooong time but the mention of resoling climbing shoes and difficulty in finding somebody to do it makes me have to pipe up. Does nobody resole their own shoes anymore? It used to be a thing you could do pretty easily all you needed was an oven or a heat gun a tube of Barges cement a belt sander and of course the rubber. 5.10 used to sell the rubber, re randing was something you either improvised or sent out but the basic half sole resole was well within the capacity of DIY.
posted by Pembquist at 11:29 AM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]


Love the article picture of Prince Charles (who is a sharp dresser and certainly has the means to simply discard any clothing that might need mending) in a suit with an obviously patched area on the jacket.
posted by slkinsey at 11:30 AM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]


I'm 33 and will never forget the first time I offered to mend my husband's favorite sweater, which split at a seam. "You could do that?!" he said. "Like a wife?" I just replaced some buttons on my favorite shirt a couple weeks ago. I don't have a sewing machine but anything small enough to do by hand I'm always game to do. My mother and grandmother taught me to do it when I was a little girl (also taught me to sew from a pattern with a machine, but I don't really remember how). Though agree with the comment above that finding good matches for buttons is almost impossible; I don't have a convenient yardage or hobby store so I end up ordering a bunch of buttons online and hoping they work. A lot of the time they end up being "good enough" rather than actually good matches.

I don't know how people get through having kids without being able to mend simple rips and splits. I got the "doctor you're a miracle worker" treatment the first time I mended an injured stuffed animal.
posted by potrzebie at 11:35 AM on February 19, 2019 [4 favorites]


With the tight knit of socks I don't understand how darning could possible work.

I didn't either until I watched this video on how to repair a hole in a sock with darning, which made things much clearer.
posted by Lexica at 11:36 AM on February 19, 2019 [10 favorites]


I think Miss Manners wrote a while ago that for the tippy-top classes in Europe good mending was a high-class norm because conventual schools taught it.

Also, for those with fine-ish merino clothes that suffered in a Moth Ravage -- were the moths especially bad in the last two years everywhere? -- I just mended a couple sweaters and two of them have gone back to work-clothes despite having a lot of holes. I don't even graft in new stitches, I just pick up the loops top and bottom to prevent future ravelling and draw the hole together as gently as I can, working on the inside. The sweater with lots of small holes under the arms, where it doesn't pull when worn, looks fine. The one with a big hole exactly where one might drip from a good burrito has descended to comfort wear.

Although possibly I should keep it aside to use a panel from the back as a decorative inset to cover the front of the *next* fine merino I drip burrito on. Honestly, one of the ways I know how to mend is from reading 19th c women's writing; fiction and letters are full of cunning mending and reworking plans. And they didn't have podcasts to amuse them while they did it!
posted by clew at 11:41 AM on February 19, 2019 [4 favorites]


I mend, but I come from a long tradition of Southern women with well-worn darning eggs and I've been poor off and on throughout my life, so I'd rather fix than buy.
posted by sonascope at 11:44 AM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]


This comment should probably be on the green but is re-lining a tweed sport coat really impossible hard? Like the pattern but not enough to spend and would not be upset at a failure. Have an old White sewing machine. Thinking a dark purple.
posted by sammyo at 11:44 AM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]


And whoa, YouTube is a boon for this.

Button trick from Lillian Gilbreth: if your best replacement is only pretty good and you're replacing a very visible button, can you move an original from someplace obscure and put the replacement in the obscure spot?

She advised putting a child's odd button at the top of the shirt where it would always be covered by his tie. I should think the bottom of the shirt would be the thing now. Or get a *really* colorful odd button and put it at the top.
posted by clew at 11:45 AM on February 19, 2019 [7 favorites]


sammyo, there is at least one Threads magazine article on relining coats and jackets, there's probably some handwork reattaching around the collar and facings but it's hidden stitching. I think they recommend taking out the old lining, pressing it, and using it as the pattern for the replacement.
posted by clew at 11:47 AM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]


I've been meaning to make a post about the whole channel, but I think this thread would appreciate this astonishing jean repair.
posted by lucidium at 11:48 AM on February 19, 2019 [24 favorites]


is re-lining a tweed sport coat really impossible hard?

This is highly skilled work, IMO.
posted by slkinsey at 11:49 AM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]


I absolutely can mend but what kills me is that even medium-nice to very nice merino sweaters do not come with the little envelope of matching yarn anymore and without that you can't do an invisible repair. I live in a medium-big city with multiple fabric stores but not something like MOOD, and I can't get a perfect match in gauge, fiber and color. Dye lots vary so it really has to come with the sweater and manufacturers just stopped doing this because people just throw the little envelope of yarn away.
posted by slow graffiti at 11:49 AM on February 19, 2019 [8 favorites]


I mend, alter, and make a fair amount of my clothes. I've given up on darning socks, unless they are thick wool. Cheap acrylic socks seem to wear too thin to take a darn.

I also mend and alter my friends' clothes fairly often, since I am known as the person who can hem things and fix zippers and so on. It seems to be a wizard-level skill for where I live.

However, I have friends who live in a relatively remote village that are all my age or younger, who certainly didn't have home ec in school. All of them, the men included, can and do patch sweaters, sew on buttons, and fix ripped seams in their clothing, as they do not have the option to buy cheap replacements easily. So perhaps if clothing gets a lot more expensive we will see a societal uptick in mending skills. Or everyone will just start going to tailors more.
posted by ananci at 11:51 AM on February 19, 2019


I have been loosely experimenting with repairing modern socks by felting wool around the synthetic loose-knit structure that gets exposed when they're pretty worn but not literally torn. All my lazy first attempts got lumpy though.
posted by clew at 11:59 AM on February 19, 2019


I've been meaning to make a post about the whole channel, but I think this thread would appreciate this astonishing jean repair.

Oh man, I have a pair of super-comfy jeans that keep tearing at the crotch. I'm gonna try my hand at this method. Anyone know what kind of fabric that white cloth is that he's using?
posted by runcibleshaw at 12:02 PM on February 19, 2019


I don't find re-lining to be harder than sewing a new jacket from beginning to end. I fully recognize my perspective may be skewed. It's more time-consuming than making a new jacket and I usually pay a tailor to do it. But if you can't/won't wear the jacket until the lining is repaired, there's no reason not to try, right?

This is a reasonable tutorial. Threads has a good tutorial on just replacing the sleeve in a lining, but you need a log in. Again, my perspective my be skewed.

But you can certainly pay someone to do it. A drycleaner that advertises repairs. Or someone who does wedding dress alteration.
posted by crush at 12:08 PM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]


I rarely buy new clothing and I have the time, inclination, and knowledge to look for quality used things. I'll happily spend as much getting a nice pair of wool slacks tailored to a more modern cut as I would just buying a new pair of lesser slacks.

DC thrift stores are full of quality dress shoes, and if you're a dude many styles are evergreen - a pair of black Allen Edmonds Park Avenues is going to look great for ten-twenty years, and can be resoled and polished over and over again if you take care of them.

I can sew buttons and mend seams and fix zippers, but I'm lucky enough to live in a big metro area where there are plenty of people willing to do that sort of thing at volume for comparatively little money (compared to the Bay Area, especially).

Socks are the hard one for me - no one wants to repair them and I'm just not willing to darn them myself. So they turn into rags and I get new socks. I have found that for slightly more $$$ you can get socks that last significantly longer, in addition to being much more pleasing to wear.
posted by aspersioncast at 12:14 PM on February 19, 2019


I have two pairs of shorts I bought at Banana Republic in 2005. I have been patching and repairing them forever, because I like them. They are perfect causal shorts, but are so worn at the hems that they are not any good for non-casual wear. I've unstitched and patched the pockets repeatedly to fix holes where my change/keys would otherwise fall out.

Would it be cheaper to buy new shorts? Trick question. I have bought new shorts. But I still wear the old ones a lot because I like them.

Sewing isn't hard. Especially not if you aren't super concerned about the visibility of the repair. I think that the Japanese approach of a visible repair is quite nice. It doesn't need to look new, it needs to be functional. The repair is part of the charm.
posted by caution live frogs at 12:18 PM on February 19, 2019


Obligatory mention about how gender has gotten very fragile in this area. My grandfather's early biography reads like an adventure story: semi-migrant labor, a year of college paid for by shoveling coal, joined the army where he was a veterinary assistant, and then spent the first year of WWII in Alaska. He cooked, cleaned, sewed, and mended because that's what guys of his class did for themselves in a largely segregated life, and he continued doing that for most of his life.

Sadly, my current employer prohibits clothes that are obviously worn or patched.
posted by GenderNullPointerException at 12:20 PM on February 19, 2019 [7 favorites]


What I'm most taking from this post is that we need to form a Mefi support group for post-moth stress disorder. I just moved and I pray every day that my eradication efforts were such that I left those fuckers behind.
posted by praemunire at 12:26 PM on February 19, 2019 [11 favorites]


Clothes today, even many expensive flavors, are garbage that isn't meant to be repaired.

Exactly this. I have replaced buttons, fixed ripped seams, patched jeans, darned or patched sweaters, replaced worn pockets, etc, etc, etc (although I am limited in certain things by my lack of a sewing machine). I have jeans that are more patch than original, a coat that will get some new buttons soon, a favorite sweater that has had both arm seams repaired, a favorite shirt where once the elbows got so worn they were not patchable in an attractive way, I just turned it into a short-sleeve shirt...

But.

I cannot be bothered to darn the holes in super cheap socks, considering I have sandpaper heels and it's just gonna turn into a hole again. I've tossed pajama bottoms that had a split seam, because based on how thin the cloth was, I knew it was just going to rip again. And so on. My time has value, too.
posted by sailoreagle at 12:27 PM on February 19, 2019 [4 favorites]


What I'm most taking from this post is that we need to form a Mefi support group for post-moth stress disorder. I just moved and I pray every day that my eradication efforts were such that I left those fuckers behind.

Anyone else have a few casualties from carpet beetles? Yes, I was stupid and storing winter clothes on the ground, in a couple of milk crates. Bye-bye gorgeous cashmere turtleneck, so long oatmeal-colored wool cardigan.
posted by eclectist at 12:39 PM on February 19, 2019 [2 favorites]


Anyone know what kind of fabric that white cloth is that he's using?
posted by runcibleshaw at 2:02 PM on February 19 [+] [!]


it's called interfacing, which comes in several thicknesses and two flavors: 'fusible' which has a heat sensitive glue on one side that he is ironing on, same as an iron on patch, and regular non-fusible which has to be tacked/sewed on. its purpose is to just give body and stiffness to another layer of fabric. the only difference between interfacing and fabric is that interfacing is stiffer, more like halfway between paper and fabric in texture, and has no warp or weft so it doesn't have the directional weakness of woven fabric. its sort of equally strong in all directions with zero stretch or give. the glue on it is what is securing the loose white threads he is saving from around the tear/worn part of the original fabric layer.
posted by slow graffiti at 12:55 PM on February 19, 2019 [6 favorites]


I consider mending an essential parenting skill. The kids get super upset if we try to toss out a favorite pair of sweats that have huge holes. I collect a bunch of patches — Barcelona FC, Pikachu, Etc — and they’re good to go. My mom gave me her old sewing machine and it’s been the most useful thing ever, saving us a fortune on socks alone. I’m all self taught so I’ll probably never sew a Halloween costume but lately I’ve really gotten in to extending the life of my old jeans. I could certainly afford new jeans, but there’s something so cool about a pair of jeans that bears the scars of life having been lived.

I've been meaning to make a post about the whole channel, but I think this thread would appreciate this astonishing jean repair .

Like I said, so cool.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:55 PM on February 19, 2019


Because of the crazy economics of the clothing industry, often buying clothes is the easiest way to buy material. Or some other finished product; e.g. there are a lot of sewing projects around that start off with Ikea curtains or similar, just because they're a ready source of fabric and cheaper than going to a fabric store and buying it by the yard.

I once costumed the whole ladies' chorus of a production of Ruddigore in matching Regency-era bridesmaid gowns, using bedsheets from dollar-a-bag day at the Methodist rummage sale and three boxes of RIT dye.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:02 PM on February 19, 2019 [13 favorites]


More than once, as an adult, I've mused that my quality of life would have been much better if I'd taken stereotypically home economics classes in middle and high school--sewing/mending, cooking, home budgeting--rather than shop classes, which took quite a bit of time and effort to teach me how not to permanently mutilate myself in the process of creating a simple cutting board, using tools that I would never own myself.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:05 PM on February 19, 2019 [7 favorites]


My grandfather taught me how to crochet, knit and sew. He learned while in the Army. One of the best skills ever - normal life, survival skills, what have you.
posted by bradth27 at 1:14 PM on February 19, 2019 [5 favorites]


We had to take both home ec ("Family Studies") and shop classes in junior high. At the time I definitely enjoyed family studies more but now would love to take a shop class.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:21 PM on February 19, 2019 [2 favorites]


You know who hasn't "Lost our Ability to Mend"? Patagonia!

They'll fix all their stuff, for free, forever. They even have a couple trucks-with-trailers driving around that bring the mending right to your town. They'll even fix other people's stuff at their Worn Wear events.

It's great. I've had everything from repairs I should just learn to do myself (like replacing buttons), all the way to replacing panels on shorts.
posted by sideshow at 1:28 PM on February 19, 2019 [7 favorites]


I had a roommate once who would pay me five dollars per button to sew buttons back on his shirts for him. I tried to tell him not to pay me because it was such a simple task but he insisted.

Yeah, I'd be insulted if someone tried to offer me less than half minimum wage like that.
posted by straight at 1:54 PM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]


Half my day job is pretty much repairing jewellery, and a fully restored ring is a beautiful thing. So I should have been inclined to repair things all along, but I've only recently started thinking about it.

In my quest to be more zero-waste-y, I have started mending things. Some of it has been really easy and I've been rolling my eyes at myself for having just thrown all these things in a pile for 4 years instead of spending like 12 minutes it takes to mend something. And - my grey canvas purse looks really cute with it's green embroidery floss mending.

But a lot of what I own is too.. garbage to be repaired. Like, a cat clawed a little hole in the sleeve of my VERY SPENDY aritzia cardigan the other day, and the material is just such shit I'm not even sure what to do about it. But, on the other hand, since I've started mending things I've also gotten a bit better at assessing if something I'm buying is going to possible to mend, so I'm probably buying a better quality of clothes now. Learning from your mistakes and all.

Good article, and that jeans repair is awesome!
posted by euphoria066 at 2:37 PM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]


Related to lucidium's jeans repair link, there is also this wizardry done with an old Singer darning machine, which I'm pretty sure I've posted in a past comment thread but deserves to be re-seen.
posted by deadbilly at 3:00 PM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]


My internet friend Kelly (who does sew-a-longs and is an excellent tailor) made my favorite pair of jeans two years ago and here is a (facebook) video of her replacing the waistband on them this week. It is fun to watch - she is excellent at her craft.
posted by jillithd at 3:33 PM on February 19, 2019


Yeah, I'd be insulted if someone tried to offer me less than half minimum wage like that.

It takes you an hour to sew on a button?
posted by tavella at 4:55 PM on February 19, 2019 [11 favorites]


Pro tip for repairing the fine gauge sweaters you can’t bear to part with: needlefelting. I’ve done it with a single needle and a broken stitch or two, and I’ve also covered larger holes up from behind with fiber or yarn and felted into them. Plus you get to stab things, which is fun.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 5:10 PM on February 19, 2019 [7 favorites]


I have shirts that have lost more buttons than replacement buttons that came with it. I keep them because I feel like there should be an easier fix for that replacing all the buttons but I haven't gotten around to googling what to do when you run out of replacement buttons.
posted by brandnewday989 at 5:48 PM on February 19, 2019


Are they unique buttons? Most decent sewing kits come with a baggie of generic dress shirt buttons in 2 or 3 sizes.
posted by soelo at 6:15 PM on February 19, 2019


Am I the only one who thinks modern day Ralph Lauren in the article looks like Joe Lieberman?
posted by aurelian at 6:36 PM on February 19, 2019 [2 favorites]


Disclaimer: years of quilting, sometimes using "found fabrics."
Don't carefully undo seams. Cut the fabric you want away and toss the seams.
The seam area has undergone a great deal of stress, the stitching now makes the area like perforated notebook paper, the visible cloth may have faded, etc.
Less effort, less waste in the long run.

Seconding that thrift stores and garage sales are your new friends when it comes to incidental fabrics and notions.
For large consistent amounts of cloth, think outside the box -- curtains, bed sheets, etc. Be aware that colors may vary slightly, so try to get as much material as you need at once.
Wash and dry before you cut fabric.

"Missing button syndrome" is a thing on new garments. Stick a toothpick between the button and the fabric and sew a few extra stitches through the holes (a couple of stitches is plenty). Match cotton thread with cotton garments, synthetic thread with synthetics. Use black, white or gray thread (sometimes red, but colors are optional). Tie off thread in the back and remove the toothpick. Job done.

Darning socks... nope. The sock monster gets the matches, what remains is used for polishing, painting, sorting cargo straps, etc.
posted by TrishaU at 6:47 PM on February 19, 2019 [6 favorites]


I sew and mend - badly - but I'm a camper, adventurer and poor.

One of the super hero ladies at the food bank gave me a pair of very nicely mended and super awesome wool boot socks. I was stunned and flabbergasted. My immediate words were essentially "are you fucking kidding me!?" which made her laugh. And this thread is just making me appreciate her gift and effort a whole lot more.
posted by loquacious at 7:55 PM on February 19, 2019


During post-college first-job and grad school (living at home/ paying rent //salary/ grant/ grant-ran-out-still-renting), crap industrial postdoc and startup, I've had brief islands of liquidity where I'd refresh my wardrobe; in retrospect I probably spent too much time mending clothes (rather than pick up a second part time job) (and using a handheld laser to laser my leg hair).

Over the years, I've learnt to buy "better" rather than cheaper on the assumption that I'd be able to fix them up good enough. In the early days of the startup I had a couple of G-star Raw pants in heavy rotation that were probably 1/5th patch (that I put in) - but (I'd like to think that) I made those patches look good.

Thank grod for "shabby chic."


I dunno where I'm coming from, but - oddly - Cub Scouts started me down the path of sewing, and I took a shine to it in highschool, but I also found myself in the position to alter a lot of trans-clothing (thrifted or otherwise, for general fit and for me-specific fit) for myself.

Over the years I've also found lots of gems in thrift stores - alterations aren't hard, but they either take time or a lot of practice, but I've gotten enough practice that the time to do new stuff isn't too bad, especially after picking up a decent sewing machine off Craigslist (from a 15 yo girl, as it turned out, who had saved enough to upgrade).


As a result, I feel terrible about throwing out clothes that are "good enough" and/ but "nobody else is going to want to wear that." I'm perfectly able to afford a new (expensive!) leather jacket, but I don't feel right throwing away my current one in the trash even though the lining is super beat up and it was never a fancy jacket in the first place. There are tons of homeless people around where I live, but... awkward.

(And yes, I have another leather jacket I bought in '00 [which is kinda-sorta fancy; old school quality rather than brand] that I want to have reconditioned, but reconditioning it is going to cost the original price and the place I have in mind for restoring it is an hours+ drive both ways x2).
posted by porpoise at 8:49 PM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]


What serendipity. I literally just mended a kids Lands End jacket. I replaced the zipper pull which had simply come apart. Rubbish! I went downstairs to dig up some old kit that had been outgrown and liberated three pulls. I didn’t bother matching brands on the premise that it’s standardized widget type thing and who’s heard of Ideal Zipper? Non of the comparably sized YKK zippers would zip but another random brand DID! The jacket is back in usable condition. Except I noticed all the velcro used in cover for the zipper is disintegrating. Kid couldn’t have busted that.

Once I get some color matched thread the jacket will get decent Velcro. But it just boggles my mind that this thing is failing in such minor ways. The fabric and liner, pockets, cuffs and seat have all held up remarkably well. It seems well insulated. It’s still capable and functional but they got these cheap components and without work it’s garbage. 1% of the thing has failed and that could easily result in the whole object getting binned. So wasteful.
posted by zenon at 9:37 PM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]


I know zenon- fixed stuff ends up being even better than the original thing!
posted by porpoise at 9:52 PM on February 19, 2019


MetaFilter: Plus you get to stab things, which is fun.
posted by asperity at 10:48 PM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]


Hi sammyo, relining is more difficult than you would think because the shape of the lining contributes quite a lot of the shape of the main garment. If you get it wrong you can end up with puckered bits that hang weirdly or sleeves of different lengths. Ask me how I know! If there's a pattern available try to afford it.
posted by glasseyes at 12:00 AM on February 20, 2019


Okay, the Japanese jeans repair guy, what is that basting thread he's using? Does it come like that or did he wrap it around a square of cardboard and cut both ends? Which would be easy enough to do, I guess. I have a favourite pair of olive drab cargo pants with a blown crotch that've been sitting on top of the dryer for six months now, I think I can duplicate this with embroidery floss...
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:17 AM on February 20, 2019


I'll mend what I can, but my skill set is pretty limited. If I like the item, I'll ask my wife if she wants to try mending it, or if I should just take it to a tailor. She is pretty handy with a sewing machine, but she passed on the lining for the leather jacket. The tailor took a look, agreed that the jacket itself was too nice to give up on, but the entire lining would have to be replaced. $300. Worth it. Also figured out from that experience it is better to fix things when the flaws are small!
posted by coppertop at 5:28 AM on February 20, 2019


I'm (re)teaching myself how to sew, but not for mending (when my stuff goes, it goes catastrophically but that's the dharma of the fat guy). At least, not originally.

See, I have had for a while this idea of a bag I want. Pockets, pen straps, maybe one of those grid-its integral for holding small things. A place for things and they don't shift around. Computer, tablet, lifelinebag (my blood sugar testing kit and insulin storage), batteries, cables, all of it. I have not yet found that bag, so I want to design it and make it and know how it came together and how I can fix it if part of it fails.
posted by mephron at 7:53 AM on February 20, 2019 [3 favorites]


OK, I'm inspired to patch up old clothes, particularly those I love and have refused to throwout even though they're not currently in a condition to wear. Sometimes, the mending and patches can even make things look better.
posted by asnider at 8:53 AM on February 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


TWinbrook8: "Okay, the Japanese jeans repair guy, what is that basting thread he's using? Does it come like that or did he wrap it around a square of cardboard and cut both ends? Which would be easy enough to do, I guess. I have a favourite pair of olive drab cargo pants with a blown crotch that've been sitting on top of the dryer for six months now, I think I can duplicate this with embroidery floss..."

If you don't care about it coming out like in that video, you can pin a thin scrap of fabric behind the hole, and then use a zig-zag stitch on a machine with thread that is a reasonable match for the main fabric to cover up the hole. you can also skip the fabric if it's just a slit or the warp threads are mostly still there.

I did that to my ratty yardwork cargo shorts this fall. I wasn't about to spend money to replace something that was just going to get used to mow lawn/rake leaves/change oil/etc.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 9:41 AM on February 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


sammyo, looks like you can get the whole Threads tutorial as part of a free trial here, with a particularly the illustration of making a pattern from the old ripped pieces. It also discusses a couple ways of reinstalling, but the craftsy tutorial linked above is better. The Threads one shows a lining much much nicer than the original -- new pockets! decorative flat piping! This is possibly Too Much for a first try.

(I didn't actually download the trial tutorial, I found my old paper copy, but IIRC you get a PDF of the actual magazine layout.)
posted by clew at 12:19 PM on February 20, 2019


Oo, here is one scrap of repair wisdom I learned in a different context: do NOT assume you should make a repair with something stronger than the original. Sometimes that will rip out of the surrounding original material, or move the failure to someplace harder to survive or repair.

In clothing, e.g.: button thread breaking is better than ripping through the underlying fabric, and hold up a worn patch you're repairing to see how far the translucent weak spot goes, and darn into the strong material past that. Or have a lightweight darn that only closes a rip, doesn't add weight to a delicate spot.
posted by clew at 12:23 PM on February 20, 2019 [5 favorites]


Don't carefully undo seams. Cut the fabric you want away and toss the seams.
The seam area has undergone a great deal of stress


Only undo the seams if you're going to stitch near them and the already-stressed area is going to be your new seam allowance, which doesn't need to have much structural integrity; it just needs to be there. This is likely only relevant for patterns - if you want to use the rose as a patch, and it's a quarter-inch from the seam, undo the seams to get an extra 3/8" for the seam allowance. Or, as mentioned, if you're using the original as a pattern.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 1:54 PM on February 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


I've always regretted tossing a pair of Carhartts just because they wear through somewhere between mid-thigh and the knee. I don't mind holes in jeans and can get away with that at my job (within reason) but eventually it spreads and then wide swaths of my nekkid leg are exposed. Nobody wants to see that. I've been afraid to try fixing these which is insane because the alternative is to throw them away anyway. I resolve to do better.

Leather is another story. I have a motorcycle jacket I bought in the early 90s that is still awesome. The few scratched up bits from dumping the motorcycle a few years ago add some authenticity. I just sanded them smooth and applied some dye. Proper conditioning keeps the leather in good shape. In the last decade I've purchased two pairs of boots that are worn nearly daily. Proper leather care and resoling every couple of years make for a comfortable, well-used boot that tells a story. I'm lucky to have found a leatherworker who does great work at a reasonable price. I wish I could find one that wasn't such a fascist reactionary.
posted by Fezboy! at 2:42 PM on February 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


My favorite mending project has been an old leather motorcycle jacket, purchased for ten cents at a rummage sale. Nobody wanted it because the zippers had come loose, and there were a few tears in the lining....but my little daughter wanted a motorcycle jacket, and I know how to use a needle. After a bunch of awkward and difficult mending, and a few good coats of leather conditioner, it looks like a well-loved piece again, and I am proud of myself for rescuing it from the dead. It's not perfect, but it's enough to make a kid happy, so I consider it a win.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:13 PM on February 20, 2019 [5 favorites]


Currently staring at a pair of jeans I just took apart at the seams to repair a hole in the crotch. I have no idea if I have the skills to sew them back together though. Worst case scenario I have a lot of material to patch other jeans.
posted by runcibleshaw at 3:40 PM on February 20, 2019 [5 favorites]


It takes you an hour to sew on a button?

Only if I don't screw it up too badly.
posted by straight at 10:59 PM on February 20, 2019


I have no idea if I have the skills to sew them back together though. Worst case scenario I have a lot of material to patch other jeans.

I like the cut of your jib.
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:10 PM on February 21, 2019 [1 favorite]


Fezboy!: "I've always regretted tossing a pair of Carhartts just because they wear through somewhere between mid-thigh and the knee.

I did a machine darn on some of those too this winter, since they were wearing thin where the end of my phone usually sits. Just had to make sure the pocket was out of the way!
posted by ArgentCorvid at 1:59 PM on February 21, 2019


I like the cut of your jib.

Which part of the jeans is the jib?

Seriously though, the jeans are back together. I'm wearing them right now. The patch job looks absolutely atrocious and I cannot sew a straight line to save my life. But, both the patch and seams are holding so I'm going to call it a success. I think I want to move on to making my own from a pattern now.
posted by runcibleshaw at 2:10 PM on February 21, 2019 [1 favorite]


This thread reminded me that I actually used to mend black tights. When you're a tall lady, a pair that fits well ain't exactly cheap, so I hated to consign them to the ragbag after they got snags or holes in both legs. (If just one leg is damaged, you can hang on to them until you have a second pair with one damaged leg, cut the bad legs off both pairs, and have one pair of Frankenhose. Yes, this is easier than finding affordable dress pants when you have long legs and a high waist.)

Then, about ten years ago, I spent what felt to me like a chunk of cash on a pair of men's seamed ballet tights. They fit my legs (which had muscles back then) beautifully, never ride down, have never had a snag or run, have seen me through a weight gain, and look good as new years later. I'm sure I've saved money and work in the long run.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:02 PM on February 21, 2019 [1 favorite]


Which part of the jeans is the jib?

It's probably the triangles that finish the crotch curve.
posted by clew at 7:31 PM on February 21, 2019


Maybe the jib is the part that goes over your giblets.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:24 PM on February 21, 2019 [2 favorites]


Patagonia has been a big leader on this front in the outdoor industry. They have tutorials on repairs and will also repair gear forever for a reasonable price. They've been great at re-stitching wetsuits, which I have a hard time doing well. They also resell used gear. Other outdoor gear manufacturers have started doing the same.
posted by craven_morhead at 8:29 AM on February 22, 2019


I've become quite a fan of a kintsugi approach, where I don't try to make my repairs invisible, but rather do them in red thread so that I can celebrate the pleasure of making things last with a little visible scar tissue. I do the same with my mechanical repairs, which is why my motorcycle has a few little red spots where I've painted my repairs to show that the vehicle has a history of use, wear, and renewal.
posted by sonascope at 8:56 AM on February 22, 2019 [3 favorites]


It's pretty great to turn ruined things into nice things. Patched some pant knees, overlocked a fraying towel, darned claw-holes in a t-shirt, reinforced sleeve end seams. I like my sewing machine, it's got features.
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:59 AM on February 22, 2019 [1 favorite]


> Which part of the jeans is the jib?
It's probably the triangles that finish the crotch curve.
posted by clew


Eponysterical.
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:16 PM on February 22, 2019 [1 favorite]


So the overall cost for a decade of wear is about $700 bucks, or $70 per year. Meanwhile, you might get a pair of $50 boots with a cemented sole that will need to be replaced every six months. Total cost for ten years is about $950, or $95 per year and, of course, the boots aren't nearly as nice. But it's hard to overlook the $250 up-front difference in price, and of course a lot of people don't have $250 burning a hole in their pockets. It's one of the subtle ways that the wealthy get wealthier.

You also need something to wear while your expensive boots are being resoled which is a hidden expense.
posted by srboisvert at 6:06 AM on February 27, 2019


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