Wagga Art Gallery is set to host Australia’s leading advocate for the emerging ‘slow clothing’ movement in a series of talks and workshops next weekend.
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With a background in agriculture, Jane Milburn developed The Slow Clothing Project in 2016; a collection of handmade garments and stories from forty different makers who used local, natural, and sustainable practices.
“Slow clothing is a philosophy about choosing, buying, wearing, and caring for our clothes so that they bring joy, pleasure, and comfort, rather than just choosing the cheapest or the latest look,” Ms Milburn said.
“It’s about being more engaged with what we wear and thinking about the fact that clothes do for us on the outside what food does for us on the inside.”
Ms Milburn said a big part of the slow clothing movement was stopping to think about how garments were made and how much you really needed them before adding more clothes to the closet.
“90 per cent of clothes in Australia are made overseas, so most of the clothes we buy are likely to be made in factories by workers that may not have been paid very well,” she said.
“I'm encouraging people to slow down and think about what they’ve already got before just buying more for the sake of it.”
Ms Milburn will speak about her slow clothing philosophy in a public forum on Friday, May 11, starting at 6:00pm at the Wagga Art Gallery.
On Saturday, May 12, she will also host two hands-on workshops at 10:00am and 1:00pm teaching people how to ‘upcycle’ their old garments using some basic sewing skills.
She encouraged all residents to come along and learn how to get the most out of the clothes they already have.
“You don’t need sewing skills, you can just come along and learn to use a needle and thread if you haven’t had an opportunity before, because a lot of those skills have skipped a generation,” Ms Milburn said.
“It's all about being more hands-on and aware and engaged with clothing, because garments can be a lot more enjoyable when they’re a bit rustic.”
If you would like to book in for one of Ms Milburn’s sessions, you can contact the Gallery on 6926 9660.
