Before Japan's economy went tits up they were probably the worst of the throw away societies. A friend of mine who lived there said it was nigh on impossible to get anything repaired, in fact worse than that. The idea of having something repaired was almost alien and considered
infra dig.
'Twould seem like we've gone down the same road but current austerity measures might cause a bit of a turn around when it comes to ditching and buying new.
Earlier this week I realised that a favourite, tough linen shirt was looking sadly distressed at the collar. I took it into the local (Turkish) dry cleaners and asked the girl how much to turn the collar. She looked at me blankly. I explained what I wanted them to do and she'd never heard of it. The old boy came out from back and took a look…
"Hmmm, nicey shirt. Three quids for the turn, mate. Good as new!" Job done!
I think there'll be a bit more of this going on …