UPCYCLE AND LOVE YOUR OLD SOCKS!

Ay, ay captain! We will obey your order and start upcycling

Will a pair of socks always be a pair of socks regardless of what you create out of it? Even when you upcycle your socks into something completely new? Will a jacket made out of stockings always be "The jacket made out of stockings" or will it eventually transform into "The jacket"/ "A jacket "?

These socks are made for walking...

A rose is a rose is a rose.... This words by the famous Gertrud Stein comes from a poem talking about identity and how things are what they are regardless what they are called. Can we say the same about a sock? A sock is a sock is a sock?

Jacket made out of six stockings!

I've been thinking a lot about socks and the identity of socks lately. The post yesterday talked about socks and socks will also be the subject of today as old socks is such an important subject and it consider all of us !

I know that I re-use the photots from yesterday but they are so good, they really deserves to be shown again and again. I got the photos from my friend Ricky who works in a museum. He told me they have more, they have lots of old magazines with upcycling-photos so I guess I have to give Ricky a call soon and I promise I will show you all the marvels!

The 1940s was the golden age of upcycling!

Recycling/upcycling was a necessity in the forties when the borders were closed and it was difficult to get new material to make clothes from. Our time is reminiscent of the 1940s in termes of textiles. But it is not because the borders are closed, it is rather the contrary; the borders are too open! We throw away our old textiles and then the textiles are sent somewhere else, to another country far, far away... What you don't see - you don't have to think about.

Dresses made from worn-out socks.

The landfills are overflooded with un-loved textiles. Do you think it's normal?

We shouldn't throw away our pre-loved socks and clothes like we do today, we have to give them a new life. I know, everybody can't upcycle their old socks and clothes but we have to work together to find a new solution. We all have to think differently about our old clothes. Like they wrote in one of the old magazines from the 1940's;

"As we have mentioned before; a ripped up sock is just like any other piece of fabric. If you view your ex-socks in that way, you will soon find so many other garments that they can be transformed into."

I love those words, they are like my mantra for TrashionPattern. Don't you also think they are the most beautiful and magical words you can imagine when it comes to upcycling?

When will we start to consider a ripped up sock just like any other fabric? When will we see beyond the limit that a sock is a sock is a sock?

According to Gertrud Stein the sentence "a rose is a rose is a rose" means that simply using the name of a thing already invokes the imagery and emotions associated with it. So we can all use our imagination and try to say for instance:

A sock, is a dress, is a pillow...

Dream! Sew! Love!