Wait, is my Sweater Shaver actually Boosting My Mood?

& repair as an act of resistance 🧵

Our brains are hardwired to get a quick little dopamine hit from buying something new — we all know this. And Big Corporations have invested heavily into consumer psychology and marketing tactics that keep us chasing the dopamine high— after all, it keeps us buying from them!

(There’s even a Netflix documentary coming out about this.)

But, do you think we could ever retrain our brains to get the same rush of joy from *repairing* something we already own, instead?

Because this has been a really bad week, but I tell you what, I’m finding de-bobbling my sweaters verrrrry soothing right now….😌

@emilymstochlsurrendering the state of my fragile mental health to my little sweater shaver, and honestly, she’s rising to the challenge 😅 🏷️🏷️: #slowfashion #thriftedfashion #nonewclothes #clothingcare #thriftedthis #fashionwriter #fashionpodcast

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I joked about this over on Threads, saying: I’m surrendering the state of my fragile mental health to my little sweater shaver and she’s like “bzzzzz, I’m up to the challenge!”

And you all FELT that! 😅

So many people wrote back saying they’re turning to mending and repair as an act of care in these challenging times.

Pre-Loved readers said they’re:

• Customizing things they haven’t worn in a while

• Swapping out old buttons for a fresh new look

• Handwashing their sweaters (“it’s a guaranteed 10 minutes where I can’t doomscroll!”)

• Darning holes in their socks

• And making a seasonal ritual of cleaning their leather shoes (I personally use the Jason Markk leather and suede kits for mine!)

I couldn’t help but wonder… is there even more to mending than chasing my little dopamine hit? Is the active choice to fix something up — to love it for longer! — is that decision actually a radical act in our materialistic society?

I’ve covered slow fashion for the last 6+ years, and I've interviewed *hundreds* of people about their 'quitting fast fashion' story on Pre-Loved Podcast.

And what I can tell you is, the loneliness epidemic 🤝 fashion’s overproduction business model are absolutely intertwined in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The systems we live in drive us into isolation: we work long hours, spending more time on our laptops and phones than we are with *people* in communities.

Then, while we're feeling isolated and low, Big Corporations leverage those very real emotions to keep us spending. They pretend to be the solution for the very sadness they helped create. And round-and-round, it fuels the beast.

You’ve been there, you know the feeling: in the beginning, it's *very* hard to step back from that cycle... but when you do it feels powerful.

In fact, decentralizing yourself from the power of those Big Corporations, and finding joy in what you have has always been a radical act. Let’s look to history:

In Mend! A Refashioning Manual and Manifesto, Kate Sekules documents how mending links with community building and solidarity — particularly for women.