Weekend Review: How to Keep Your Clothes Forever

 

How to Keep Your Clothes Forever / Leah Giblin
Melbourne, Australia: Smith Street Books, c2025
223 p.

This was an interesting read! Aimed at regular consumers, not strictly sewists, it talks about things like how to maintain and care for your wardrobe, buy more sustainably, and maybe even learn some easy sewing. 

I thought it was a good read -- there is lots in it for people to learn, especially if they are newer to the idea of sustainable wardrobes. What I loved was that there is no strict minimalism or bland neutral colours on show here. It's more about being conscious of what you already own, and what you actually need to add to your wardrobe. There is a small section on thinking about WHY you buy clothes, and I think that could also apply to why we make clothes. 

The book is broken up into three main section: Buy Less, Care, and Keep. Buy Less is pretty obvious - it's here that she talks about options for buying & shares the ethical triangle ranging from "use what you have" to "buying fast fashion". Sewing our own ends up somewhere in the middle, closer to the more ethical side.  

Care covers laundering, closet maintenance, and fibre awareness. Keep goes over ways to make your wardrobe exciting again, whether by mending, refashioning, trading with friends, restyling new outfits, or deciding what's best to do when you need to dispose of something in your wardrobe. This section has some easy sewing and mending projects in it to inspire either making your clothes wearable again, or using their fabric for projects like a moth bag for your closet or a sunhat or a produce bag, etc. 

There are plentiful photos throughout the book, featuring models of diverse kinds, and lots of encouragement for the new sewist to try out some of the techniques. Many of the shopping and wardrobe maintenance tips are applicable to our own sewing as well, including fabric purchases. It was a cheerful book despite the discussions of the perils of fast fashion, and has lots of great ideas in it. There is a bit of a fresh perspective from this Australian author, too. I'm glad I came across it!