@article{Maguire_Fahy_2023, title={Sew what for sustainability? Exploring intergenerational attitudes and practices to clothing repair in Ireland.}, volume={55}, url={https://irishgeography.ie/index.php/irishgeography/article/view/1469}, DOI={10.55650/igj.v55i1.1469}, abstractNote={<p>While a traditional practice, clothing repair has recently garnered more attention from geographers and social scientists examining potential pathways to increase sustainable consumption and contribute to a circular economy. Clothing repair is fundamentally about extending the active life of garments and is a key phase of a closed-loop system effectively reducing the need for virgin resources thus avoiding clothing obsolescence or disposal as waste. Repair as a societal phenomenon in Ireland is an under-researched topic, this paper aims to explore the potential of an experiencecentred perspective to advance understandings of current attitudes to and practices of clothing repair.<br>This research study employs innovative wardrobe studies and practice theoretical approaches to provide a snapshot of lived intergenerational practices of everyday clothing wear, care, and repair in Ireland. The findings reported in this paper relate<br>specifically to clothing repair and arise from empirical in-depth interviews which took place in participants’ own homes and in, or in close proximity to, their wardrobes. The paper highlights the complex multidimensional impact that attachment, memories,<br>and materiality play in user decisions to repair, or not to repair, a garment, and associated decisions related to clothing discard. The paper unpacks intergenerational competencies and confidences in undertaking everyday clothing repair, user-repair<br>cultures, and sewing skills. The discussion concludes with a critical consideration of findings in the context of wider debates surrounding sustainable clothing consumption and the circular economy.</p>}, number={1}, journal={Irish Geography}, author={Maguire, Helen and Fahy, Frances}, year={2023}, month={May} }