About the Recipe
We should think of our clothes as our friends. They are there when we need support and comfort.
They create joy, hold memories and develop our identity. They travel with us on our bodies, helping us experience the world. But our clothing also experiences the world too.
Let’s imagine that our clothes are our friends and a world where our clothes come to life!
Participatory Learning
Learning Through Doing
Critical and Creative Thinking
Learning Goals
Increasing physical and emotional compassion and care for our clothing.
Encouraging and increasing emotional durability and longevity of our clothing.
Nurturing practices of care and compassion towards our clothing as an extension of the self.
Further Explanation
We should think of the clothing in our wardrobes as our friends.
They are there when we need support and comfort, they facilitate movement, create joy, harbour memories, enrich identity and cultivate change. They travel with us on our bodies, through space and time, experiencing the world as we experience it.
Through personifying our clothing and viewing them as our friends, this recipe encourages a thoughtful exploration about the significance of our clothing to us, enhancing our connection to and compassion for our clothing.
This activity asks us to envision a world where our clothes come to life.
Ingredients
A (favourite) item of clothing from the players’ wardrobe.
Alternatively, you can provide players with a range of clothing for them to choose a Fashion Friend from.
Paper/notepad
Drawing tools (pens, pencils, crayons etc.)
Activity 2 Only: Additional clothing/shoes/accessories.
Designed Resources
You can use these resources digitally or printed:
Fashion Friends Reflect, Explore & Draw Activity Sheet
Fashion Friends Story Building Activity Sheet
EXTRA: Repair and Care Resources
Recipe Prep & Play-Space Set Up
RECIPE PREP
The designed resources can be printed or used digitally/online. Or the instructions and questions can be copied on players’ own paper or notebook.
The clothing needed can be provided by you or the young people. If you provide clothing, you can source them from thrift/charity stores
or from your wardrobe or friends.
PLAY-SPACE SET UP
You can arrange the Play-Space so you are all seated or standing in a circle with clothing in front of you.
Players will also need to write and draw. Ensure there is enough room for everyone to move around and experiment with the clothing.
Don’t forget, as an adult, you will be playing too! Let’s explore our (fashion) friends!
Method
ACTIVITY 1 – REFLECT, EXPLORE & DRAW - Approx. 30 mins.
1. Introduce the recipe. See the ‘About’ section.
2. Players choose one of their favourite items of clothing.
They will be exploring how this item of clothing is their friend.
Alternatively, if you are providing items of clothing, players can choose an item that they want to explore as if it were their fashion friend.
3. Ask the players to place the clothing item physically in front of them.
4. Players need to complete the Fashion Friends Reflect, Draw and Explore Activity Sheet. Encourage players to interact with the clothing item (Fashion Friend) while they complete the activity sheet.
ACTIVITY 2 - THE THEATRE OF YOUR CLOTHES - Approx. 1 hour
Acting as our (Fashion) Friends!
In Activity 1, players explored who their fashion friend might be if they were a person or character.
Players will now create stories and performances, exploring what it might be like to be their fashion friend!
1. Arrange the group of players either in pairs or small groups. It is recommended there are no more than 5 people in one group.
2. Players complete the Story Building Activity Sheet to further develop their Fashion Friend character and the story they will be acting out.
Each player will perform a different role as their Fashion Friend character in the story/performance.
All players need to complete a sheet but ensure they complete them together as a group to build their story.
3. Each player will be acting as their Fashion Friend character.
Ask the players to dress-up as their Fashion Friend.
Players need to wear their Fashion Friend (the chosen clothing item they explored to create this character).
Players need to dress-up in other clothing they think their Fashion Friend Character would wear. They can either use their own clothing brought in, or the provided clothing.
4. Once the players have each completed the Story Building Activity Sheet and have dressed-up as their Fashion Friend Character, their task is to perform their story.
Players can practice their performance. You could set a time frame for players to practice, before showcasing the final performances.
Players can act out their final performance in front of the wider group.
Performances can be any length of time of your choosing, but it’s easier to aim for 2-5 minutes.
5. Encourage a group discussion at the end of each performance regarding the different stories!
Optional: Use the Repair & Care Resource.
EXTRA: REPAIR & CARE DISCUSSION & RESOURCE
This resource can be used to facilitate a conversation among the players. Use the following script as a suggestion:
Looking after our Fashion Friends
How do you treat your friends? You probably treat them with kindness, care for them and have fun with them!
But how do you treat your clothes? Looking after our clothing is a careful, compassionate and mindful act.
You treat your friends with kindness. We need to do the same with our clothes, aka, our Fashion Friends.
Your clothes probably have stains, holes, rips and tears on them.
That is perfectly normal! Your clothing is meant to be and should be worn over and over again. The longer you wear and keep your clothing the better!
However, it is important we repair (fix) any issues so we can keep wearing and loving our clothing for longer. We can:
Wash our clothes, only when they need it.
Clean & remove stains.
Repair & mend holes or tears.
If you see a stain, hole, rip, tear or any other issues, as an adult to help you fix it together!
Tell your adult about the ‘Fixing Fashion’ website + ‘Fixing Fashion Academy’. https://fixing.fashion/
[If possible, show them the Fixing Fashion resource online.
Keep this resource in mind for the future.]
Here, you and your adult can learn together how to best care, repair and upgrade your clothing.
They also have lots of fun and creative activities to customise your clothes!