Wagga women repairing textile waste, one stitch at a time

In the early colonial period, clothes were not only rare commodities, but an important marker of class among convicts, settlers, and British officers.

Things have dramatically changed since then. In the 2018/19 financial year, Australians bought an average of 56 articles of clothing each - 383,000 tonnes worth in total.

The average amount spent on a single garment in the same period was about $6.50.

"Fast fashion" has driven this change, with companies producing more garments more cheaply than ever before.

But for some people, garments still have a value beyond their price and scarcity.

Wagga's Adrienne de Bruyn from The Stitchery makes alterations and repairs to clothes every day. She thinks it's worthwhile to help preserve a favourite shirt or pair of pants, no matter what they cost.

"People [bring in] their favourite shirt, their favourite pants, their favourite anything, and we'll fix it for them so there's more life left in it," she said.

"It's nice to see in he world of fast fashion, people giving their clothes a few more years and not having them ending up part of the fabric waste of the world.

"I just love it. We love it so much we'll even sew on the weekends."

Programs like The War on Waste have brought the issue of textile waste into public view over the past few years, but this has not fundamentally changed Australia's relationship with clothing.

Australians still throw out about 10kg of textiles each year. About 70 per cent of this is made from synthetic materials that fragment into microplastics or microfibres.

Almost a third of the ocean's microplastics are thought to come from textile waste.

The Australian Fashion Council (AFC) have argued stricter regulations are needed on the imported textiles that makes up nearly 99 per cent of the clothing.

In the Australian Fashion Council's clothing data report covering the from 2021, authors Peter Allan and Jill Allan said there was an urgent need to address textile waste.

"The textiles industry relies mostly on non-renewable resources - 98 million tonnes in total per year - including oil to produce synthetic fibres, fertilisers to grow cotton, and chemicals to produce, dye, and finish fibres and textiles," they said.

"Only 13 per cent of the total material input is in some way recycled after clothing use. Most of this recycling consists of cascading to other industries and use in lower-value applications.

"If the industry continues its current path, it is estimated that by 2050, it could use more than 26 per cent of the carbon budget associated with a 2°C pathway."

Second hand clothes shopping has boomed as the rising cost of everything has reduced people's shopping budgets.

This comes with it's own range of challenges. It may be hard to find something that is a perfect fit. Pre-loved clothes may also be worn, reducing their lifespan.

But unlike many newer clothes, they are relatively cheap and easy to repair.

Cloth on High Street dressmaker Rosalie Cameron said she'd observed the quality of clothing decline over the course of her career.

Although she still does a brisk trade in repairing and altering vintage clothing, she said there's really not much she can do with most new clothes.

"The attitude towards clothing has changed a lot. Now with access to buying online from overseas, it's become very popular, but the quality isn't as good as it could be," she said.

"A lot of the fabrics aren't of the best quality and the making isn't always of the best quality either.

"When you get on the inside, it can be very untidy, lots of threads so it's not as easy to alter. Whereas the high quality garments ... are much easier to alter and you get a much more professional finish."