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 (www.localwisdom.info).

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.