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Saturday, 9 April 2011

loose ends

wandering down Adelaide's main shopping drag
i spotted an interesting window
[at Sportsgirl]
the message surprised me

back in 1981
i worked for this company
in those days
make do and mend was never in their brief
they did have some odd practices though
every Friday, staff were made to wear clothes from the shop floor
if the manager hated you [ie me]
she would dress you in the oddest combinations
the icky bit was
at the end of the day we put all the tags and kimballs back on
and hung the clothes back on the racks
without cleaning
ew.
[i never shop at Sportsgirl for that reason - and a few others]


then a little later in the afternoon i had some stuff to give away
the Cancer Council didn't want it for wigs
even those overseas spurn it
[grey hair not required on voyage]



but lots of this felted together
perhaps with some nice strong wool such as English Leicester
would make a good mat for soaking up oil spills
at

11 comments:

  1. Velma Bolyard9 April 2011 at 00:57

    your loose ends are treasure. felt it or weave it or spin it...when i made my last tapestry i put in some of my hair, it was a surprisingly powerful thing.

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  2. Anonymous9 April 2011 at 02:14

    my hairdresser told me that one of her clients brought in their ailing mother for her very long white, grey hair to be cut so that they could knit with it.....

    and when i was in china and had my hair cut the hairdressers cleaned it up special and kept it....still curious as to where my hair may be now

    stuffed toy....mannequin head....sweater....whatever.

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  3. roz9 April 2011 at 06:14

    ooooooooh....
    those are some long loose ends !

    ReplyDelete
  4. ronnie9 April 2011 at 07:04

    I have rapunzelesque hair (it seems to suddenly be past my waist in no time...) - since i was
    a teen, every few years I have it all hacked off and up until the late 90s I used to have the plait sent off to make wigs for cancer patients.... but asian hair makes better wigs than my super fine blonde mop.....so one big hack job I sent off to an artist friend in ireland - he used some of it in a calligraphic art work and plans to use the rest made into a unique brush....
    maybe next hack job I'll keep it for myself and 'do' something? (hair presently a few inches past shoulders...)

    oh and reassuringly I never bought clothes from sportsgirl way...back....then... (ew)

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  5. Christine9 April 2011 at 07:58

    I'm sure that tail has some stories to tell!

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  6. Asa9 April 2011 at 12:40

    My hair clippings have been used to make flies for fly fishing. Don't know how successful they were but I liked the thought of my hair zipping lightly and alluringly over creeks and rivers. And can we have a pic please so we'll recognise you next time we are lucky enough to meet.

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  7. Marianne Hall10 April 2011 at 13:01

    I am stunned..........I have pics your mum would like.........really.....I am stunned.......wundering what this means......and at the same time wanting to cut my locks too! Ahhhhhh Spring......here........Bravo for letting the 'old go'......

    oxoxxoooxoxoxoxoxox

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  8. Anonymous11 April 2011 at 18:53

    I want that hair!

    Is it gone already?

    Crochet hook in hand.

    I used to work in a shop in Adelaide Mall a thousand years ago, and we did the same thing, just hung it back up.

    Recently I bought a very up market jacket that had obviously been worn by the staff.

    eww.

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  9. Ahipara Girl12 April 2011 at 22:26

    gross and unethical surely to sell brand new clothes and that once worn are actually used secondhand clothes. should at least say that they have been worn. i suspect a lot of shops do this practice. should give staff radical discounts and freebie sales incentives so that they wear their own clothes. and the hair. do u know that mine is now ALL GONE too. just a bit left on top. there's something in the water me thinks. x

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  10. Ursula Achten13 April 2011 at 16:03

    I recently started collecting some of my long grey hairs....would like to stitch with it on dark coloured linen...
    I reckon that there are are lot of very special stories around hair...

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  11. Penelope14 April 2011 at 23:10

    I've heard from various people that it's common practice for shop workers to wear things and then put them back uncleaned. That's why I always pick something from the bottom of the pile or back of the rack, and smell it first- on the rare occasion I buy retail! I saw that window myself last week, I was outraged. Make do and mend represents the polar opposite of everything Sportsgirl (indeed any fashion franchise) stands for. I was left wondering if they sell sewing kits now and will give you free classes on how to mend the clothes you buy from them. Until next year when they're out of fashion.

    ReplyDelete