Sashiko may be a word for “mending” for them. Boro may be the “Art” for them. They may say it is a “freedom” to call it as they want. Sure, their interpretation should be respected. However, please do not ignore the voice of people behind the word when “you” hear it. In this “free” world, I can only ask you to listen to the voice. Asking you to listen to is the only & the best way to pass down the culture when anyone can twist it however they want.
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None of the Sashiko artisans in my memories practiced “mending” in their Sashiko work (profession). I started enjoying “Sashiko & Mending on my own denim” in the early 00’s as an alternation of “boring Sashiko (back then I felt Sashiko was extremely boring)”. It is funny that the more I add stitches & patches, the more the artisans worried about their paycheck – they thought that the company was not making enough profit (so that Atsushi cannot replace his denim).
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This is a funny story based on the difference between the perception by generations. My generations enjoy the mending as choice, and the artisans’ generation (more than a half century above) associate mending to something “poor”. Funny, but there is a key message here – the real voice. Sashiko/Boro may be a fancy word to make one’s work more unique. However, there were people who had no choice but to do it. Sashiko existed in the ordinary. Please be the one who listens to the (silent) voices in this “whatever” trend.
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「服はもう買わない」と宣言してから3年。収入がなかった移住直後は服を買うのも躊躇っていたので、本格的に服を買わなくなって5年以上の年月が経った事になります（下着類は買いますし、頂くものは有り難く使っています）。案外、なんとかなるなぁというのが感想です。一番の大敵は、服がボロボロになることじゃなくて、体重の増加です（笑）。刺し子糸でびっしり刺した布をデニムに補強すると、それなりの期間使えるようになります。補強をすると、他の箇所が弱くなるので、一度補強を始めると終わりがなくなるのですが、それでも補強をすれば問題なく使えます。でも不思議じゃないんです。こうやって、昔の人は一つの服や布を補強し使い続けた訳ですから。10年、100年と補強し続けられた技術が、数年の実験に耐えられない訳がない。この「時間軸」。刺し子は別としても、襤褸を語る時には必ず必要になってくると思うのですが、流行が続く英語圏で目にする襤褸の表現は、「技術」なんですよね。極論、襤褸を作るのに特別な技術は必要ないんだと思っています。ただ、途方も無い時間軸を意識する必要があるだけです。
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2020-12-20 10:49:08
The perception of material and value does shift, doesn’t it? Even denim began as poor man’s clothes. And paying thousands of dollars for pre-ripped denim would have been insane.
ジーンズに刺し子は刺すのが大変だといつも思います
すごいです
襤褸を作る技術かぁ。昔は殆どの女性が出来たものに、そこまで技術が必要だったとは思えないです。
Gracias 😊desdec🇦🇷 muy interesante sabio tu defensa de ka tradición. Guardaré
Thanks for sharing this! I find sashiko to be exquisite when is it not mending something, but also super useful when it is. And I see beauty in both. But I do get that side that associates mending with poverty, however today mending should be seen as the way to go, environmentally friendly, helping circular economy and ultimately our earth. Don’t throw out, mend 😍
素晴らしい生き方ですね^_^👍
Beautiful! ❤️
It is interesting that mending was for the poor at first (who might have used sashiko stitching to do the mending, depending on where they lived and what they knew) and then the entire world went on to buying disposable clothes (centuries ago, people who died left their clothes to those left behind, even mentioned in wills here in Europe sometimes), leaving the mending skills to dwindle as they became unneccessary and besides, we had to spend the time we might have spent mending on earning money to buy new stuff…
and now having the time to create by hand, and taking the time to mend rather than buy new, is becoming a thing to appreciate once again, but in a different way – it is better for the planet to reduce/reuse/recycle. and Sashiko is a way to facilitate that 🙂
I will not allow anyone to dismiss anything that I produce.
Thank you.
Thank jou for sharing. This is new to me and I am grateful for the wisdom of people 🙏
Thank you for sharing this your work. I found sashiko because I wanted to fix my jeans. I’m getting really interested in it now because it’s a really great way fix lots of things, buy less and save money. Like ordinary people💗…. I hear you and your voice. I hope others listen more as well.