Informal Alteration and Modification

What?

Users adjust and modify products themselves, for themselves and near relations. This is self-driven and un-systematised.

Why?

To prolong product lifespan and to adapt a product to its own changing needs.

Challenges

• It relies partly on the product’s emotional value.
• Many users do not have the necessary skills to make alterations and modifications.

Examples

• In the project, Local Wisdom, British scholar Kate Fletcher, has documented ways in which users adjust and modify garments over time.
• Blogging and Youtubing about DIY is a growing phenomenon. See e.g. www.stylemotivation.com/24-stylish-diy-clothing-tutorials or https://changingyourclothes.wordpress.com.

Further Reading

Fletcher (2016). Craft of Use. Routledge.

Gwilt (Ed.) (2015). Fashion Design for Living. Routledge.