'Visible Mending' is the stylish and sustainable way to fix your favourite clothes

One of the greatest banes of a vintage clothes sellers life is the common household moth. Capable of destroying thousands of pounds worth of stock in a few weeks, and nigh on impossible to get rid of, moths are the one living thing I take some joy in destroying.

Just last week I found my beautiful new cashmere scarf - only purchased this winter, had been munched on by the silvery backed pests. I did what I usually do - went on a spraying spree across the house, hoovering, dusting and packed my scarf into the freezer to murder any little eggs that might be alive in my now holy neck piece. 

Valentina Karellas design

Up until now, I have been trying to fix any salvageable items by invisibly mending them - that is, trying to disguise the damage done by the moths. Depending on the extent of the damage and the material affected, this can work out fine if the item belongs to me, but if it's stock that I'm selling it's not so ok - moth eaten stock is essentially destroyed. Who wants to buy moth eaten clothes - even if they've been mended?

That is, until I came across visible mending. Visible mending isn't just for moth eaten cashmere - it can work for worn out jeans, threadbare jumpers and holy socks.

We’re all buying secondhand and upcycled clothes now, from charity shops, ebay, and Vinted or Depop. Visible mending feels like the natural extension of this. It not only makes clothes last longer, but also gives them a whole new lease of life.

The concept is simple. It’s essentially fixing up all those unforgiving stains or wear-and-tear wounds with a visible stitch here or a fabric patch there. Visible mending is a way to celebrate the life of the garment. 

Visible mending is said to have is roots in the Japanese art of sashiko. What sets it apart from typical clothing repairs is that – as the term suggests – the mends are intentionally visible. People are encouraged to salvage their clothes in creative ways by using contrasting coloured stitches, embroidered motifs, and patchwork patterned fabrics.

Darning tools courtesy of Repair Shop

So, instead of trying to subtly conceal damages with colour-matched thread, the purpose of visible mending is to embrace the scars of your garments by turning them into something colourful, eye-catching and beautiful.

It’s a way of treasuring a piece of clothing, by inscribing your movements and memories through creative mends. 

Visible mending is making traction beyond the sustainable fashion movement and has even found itself on the (for now, digital) pages of Vogue.

Yes, it’s a way to counteract fast fashion. “The most sustainable garment is the one already in your wardrobe,” as Fashion Revolution’s co-founder, Orsola De Castro, always says.

Valentina Karellas design

And it’s definitely a motivation for knitwear and visible mending specialist Valentina Karellas.

Karellas explains: “With tonnes of garments being dumped into landfill due to multiple reasons, we all need to do our part in saving our garments. So many garments can be saved by simple solutions.”

But, she insists it’s also a way to express creativity and can be incredibly therapeutic:

"Visible mending is essentially highlighting the damaged area that needs repair, whether it is with a contrast colour, using a variety of sewing techniques. By repairing your clothes, it is a great past time, you learn a soothing technique which is calming and is proven to make you feel good on the inside. Mending is also a great way to salvage and upgrade your clothes, saving tonnes going to landfill. Reuse, recycle and repair."

An example of Jessica Marquez mending on denim

Since the world was plunged into lockdown two years ago, the rise in a return to more natural, economical and more sustainable practices has increased massively. Think of the return to baking - bread-making went through the roof at the beginning of the first lockdown, to the extent that the country out of flour. In the same vane, with the closing of tailors and bricks and mortar stores, the door for mending and up-cycling your clothing swung open. And just like baking, mending can be seen as a nurturing art. Hand skills are incredibly powerful and the meditative nature of baking or sewing - essentially creating - adds an element of being psychologically uplifting.

London based textile artist, Celia Pym, says of the art of visible mending, “hand skills are an incredibly powerful thing to be able to do because it is something that you can share with others, and also you don’t need a lot. The power rests with you and your fingers.”

Equally important is the sustainability factor. According to Jessica Marquez, a visible mending teacher, maker and author, the act of mending “becomes a means of self-expression.” In mending an item of clothing in a highly visible style, she can fashion a rip into a personal piece of art. Rather than trying to hide a garment’s flaws, she says, “it’s just something that becomes uniquely mine.”

In this way, visible mending is the antidote to fast fashion. Instead of seeing clothes as disposable, visible mending values sustainability and suggests a different way of relating to our clothes. 

Is Amber Heard copying Johnny Depp's courthouse wardrobe in an attempt to psyche the actor out?

Did Amber copy Johnny's scarf AND wave?? Shocking!

 As Johnny Depp’s defamation trial against Amber Heard continues, social media fashion police are accusing Depp’s former spouse of employing an unorthodox courtroom strategy: copying her ex’s outfits, and even hairstyles to try and get inside of his head. The Twittersphere is aflame with this alleged sartorial war on wardrobes.

The trial, which is still underway in Virginia, is attempting to determine if a 2018 Washington Post essay written by Heard, in which she accused the actor of domestic abuse, defamed Depp.

Depp, who has vehemently denied the allegations, is seeking at least $50 million in compensation. He is also after $350,000 in punitive damages, as well attorneys’ fees and court costs, according to the Daily Mail.

Maybe this one's a bit of a stretch

Every aspect of the trial has been heavily covered by the media and compulsively analysed by thousands of fans around the world - including what the two warring actors have worn each day.

Some people are convinced that Heard is purposely picking outfits that look similar to ones that Depp has previously worn during the trial, in an attempt to 'play mind games' on him. 

“Amber Heard is playing mind games with Johnny Depp by copying his outfits in court,” one observer alleged on Twitter.

With every aspect of the trial under a microscope, social media sleuths couldn’t help but notice that Heard’s courtroom attire seemed eerily similar to that of the “Sleepy Hollow” actor.

“I’ve been watching the Johnny Depp trial and noticed that Amber Heard is mirroring him through outfits,” wrote one eagle-eyed Twitter juror of the “Aquaman” alum’s “creepy” copycat couture. “When Johnny wore a gray suit…the next day she wore the same thing. Then he wore a Gucci ensemble and then she wore it the next day.”

They were referring to when Depp showed up to the first day of the trial on April 11 in a grey suit and Gucci tie with a bee lapel. The following day, Heard was seen wearing a nearly identically coloured ensemble to the courthouse, and on April 13, she entered court wearing a similar tie and bee bauble.

Amber appears to copy Johnny's ponytail hairstyle one day after he wears it in court.

On April 19, Heard moved away from clothes and onto hair in a supposed attempt to unsettle her ex-lover, mimicking the ponytail hairstyle Depp had worn the day before.

Online fashion sleuths have even uploaded TikTok videos comparing and contrasting the warring pairs outfits in a series of stills.

“Yesterday was the day that Twitter went nuts over Johnny Depp’s pony tail,” said user @delloliod in a TikTok video from two days ago, which boasts more than 10 million views. “She walked into court today with this ponytail on her head.”

The Twitter peanut gallery agreed that Heard’s getups were no coincidence.

Grey suit worn by Johnny one day, is aped by Amber the next

“Is anyone gonna address why Amber is mimicking Johnny’s outfits every day,” wrote one disgusted user. “This woman is SICK in the head.”

Another eagle eyed observer wrote: “I know this was days ago now, but can we talk about the fact that Amber Heard intentionally recreated Johnny Depp’s court outfits multiple times… Does that not scream psychological abuse to you? Like the man is literally in court and she’s still mocking him.”

The case of the bumblebee tie pin

One armchair attorney claimed that Heard was “mirroring all of johnny depp’s outfits in a continued attempt to torment her victim,” adding that they “didn’t think she could be more vile.”

I know this was days ago now, but can we talk about the fact that Amber Heard intentionally recreated Johnny Depp's court outfits multiple times… Does that not scream psychological abuse to you? Like the man is literally in court and she's still mocking him.

Some found Heard’s fashion choices particularly enraging, as the “Justice League” actress had reportedly mocked Depp’s sense of style, as heard in the  court testimony by his sister Christi Dombrowski.

“Johnny told Amber that I had just had a meeting with Dior and they were interested in him,” the sibling had stated, “Her reaction to that was she was in disbelief and sort of disgust because she said, ‘Dior — why would Dior want to do business with you? They are about class and they are about style and you don’t have style.'”

However, according to Dr Curry, the psychologist who interviewed Amber Heard and has studied Amber’s medical records, mental health treatments, footage, audio, and case documents as well as having met with the Aquaman star twice in 2021, Amber could be imitating the way Johnny Depp dresses due to borderline personality disorder.

Black suit and white shirt

Taking the stand, the psychologist suggested the star may suffer from borderline personality disorder which could cause her to: "take on the identity of the people they are spending time with because it's comforting."

She explained that: “When somebody with this disorder is going through that initial enmeshment phase they often will take on the identities of those people."

The medical expert went on to claim that those who suffer with such a disorder could "mimic the way they dress, their interests" and "the way they talk."

A somewhat gangster looking all-black get-up

Dr Curry also told the court and jury that she diagnosed Heard with Histrionic personality disorder, saying: “These are really two sides of the same coin,” and added that the disorders as "dramatic, erratic, and emotional,” and: “unpredictable."

The trial is due to rumble on for several more weeks.