What is a reasonable lifespan for clothing? We know that food is perishable and has a shelf-life, but what about our clothes? Fashion has a contrived shelf-life of one season (or less) but what about classic and simple garments that don’t go out of date?

The variables to consider are – the quality of fabric and construction, how often you wash and wear them, whether your shape or needs change, and whether your taste and style moves on.

The act of throwing out clothing because it has literally worn out has become old-fashioned. How many know the experience of garments moving through the stiff-new beginning to become soft-with-age comfortable and rich with memories from many wears? 

Alex Martin from Seattle wore the same Little Brown Dress every day for a year and it didn’t wear out. Karl Stefanovic from Sydney wore the same suit every day on air for a year and it was none the worse for wear. We do not need the billions of new garments that are produced every year, although we may be easily convinced that we want them.

In the United Kingdom there is a concerted effort to reduce textile waste and make their clothing footprint sustainable and ethical – through activities such as Fashion Revolution Day, the Green Carpet Challenge and #Secondhandfirst Week which is an initiative of fashion reuse charity TRAID.

On the other hand, British parliamentarians via the Sydney Morning Herald are poking fun at Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s approach to climate change saying ‘conservatives are supposed to conserve, they are supposed to hand on to the next generation something better than they received themselves’.

At its simplest, the choices we make as individuals combine to create a difference in the world. Through this 365-day Sew it Again project, we are taking a second look at clothing that already exists in our wardrobes and opshops then making small changes to bring it back into service.  

Sew 325 is a floral Irish linen look which I created for myself nearly two decades ago and has served me well during that time. It still fits and I still adore the coarse-woven floral fabric which is still fully intact.  I’ve given it a second lease on life by upcycling it through a restyle – shortening the sleeves (just folded up, not cut) and taking down the hem (with the help of bias binding) for a more elongated look. There is a slight wear-line where the old hemline used to be, but I reckon that adds patina and is part of the story of this particular suit which has the potential to last me another two decades.