Make, mend and befriend: geographies of austerity, crafting and friendship in contemporary cultures of dressmaking in the UK

Abstract

Dressmaking is a practice infused with historical significance which in the contemporary context of austerity has renewed social, cultural, economic, political and moral importance. Drawing on writing from across the social sciences we advance a geographical understanding of dressmaking by focusing on the themes of feminism and crafting practices, austerity, fashion and consumption, and friendship and encounters in order to theorise the everyday spatialities of contemporary crafting cultures. In doing so we argue that the recent return to dressmaking cannot be understood as an extension or repetition of historic practices but that contemporary dressmakers are claiming a history and geography of their own. To conclude, we argue that dressmaking and other related fabricultures have much to offer our understanding of austerity, feminism and friendship and thus merit further theoretical and empirical investigation.

Maintenance and repair beyond the perimeter of the plant: linking industrial labour and the home

“…An exploration of how industrial repair and maintenance skills and cultures cut across the bounds between the paid workplace and the home raises questions around how different kinds of restorative work come to be understood as gendered. Repair and maintenance work may be configured as a profession or occupation, as a skill, talent or disposition, as a responsibility or chore, or even as an enjoyable pastime, depending on where requisite activities take place, who does them and, subsequently, how they are valued (Hall and Jayne ). As feminist scholars have consistently argued, home is a key site where gendered subjectivities are constituted, particularly around work and labour (Cox ; McDowell ).…”

“…Cox ; Gregson et al . ; Hall and Jayne ; Pickering ), there are also differences to account for: the skills being deployed by workers at home often require a high level of training, alongside professional experience. That is, they can't be performed by enthusiast laypersons or DIY operators – electrical work is one prominent example.…”

Planting the seeds of a quiet activism

“…In a different context, the quietly politicised character of creative practice is explored in Hackney's (, 169) discussion of ‘quiet activism’, which examines amateur crafting as a medium for ‘socially engaged’ activist praxis. Recent interest in craft within geography has seen researchers studying dressmaking (Hall and Jayne ) and knitting (Mann ; Price ) to micro‐breweries (Thurnell Read ). Insight derived from this work illuminates the affective, emotional and embodied dimensions of ‘making’ as it intersects with social, environmental and political action and critique.…”

Everyday Ethics of Consumption in the Austere City

“…The past five years in particular have also seen the increasing popularity of consumer cultures and practices associated with the austerity of the 1930s to 1950s, including crafting, cooking, and cultivation. These activities have come to represent a successful historic response to economic crisis and austerity during and following the first and second world wars (Hall and Jayne ), commending the ability of consumers to mend or re‐appropriate goods (Bramall ), and if not to be thrifty in their consumption choices (Evans ). Less is known, however, about how these practices complement or contradict other purchase‐led consumption practices in times of austerity.…”