I Like It because It’s been Worn Before: The Sensory Longevity of Worn Clothing

This chapter highlights that designing for extended clothing lifetimes should include a focused creative reflection on user’s multi-sensory perceptions of clothing in long-term use – introduced here as sensory longevity of clothing. As Bridgens and Lilley (2017) note, while designers are producing objects that are to be used in the future, they rarely look at that future. However, if clothes are to be worn over extended periods of time, learning to project long-term use must be at the core of the design process. The research presented here highlights that while the current fashion system is geared towards an obsession with newness and constant change, women’s relationships with clothes in their wardrobes can unfold slowly, through multi-faceted considerations and sensory perceptions that often favour familiarity acquired through long-term use over the push to look for new and supposedly better, choices.

This chapter builds on the relationship of sensory comfort and construction details to clothing longevity, as these have received little consideration in research to date. For an extended discussion of sensory experiences, and other contextual aspects of emotional durability of clothing, please compare also with Burcikova (2017, 2020, 2021). The discussion concludes with a proposition of a Reflexive framework for sensory fashion and textiles design (Table 4.1) that opens tangible pathways to implementing sensory analysis of wardrobes into design practice.The approach presented here opens new opportunities especially for the expanding segment of micro and small sustainable fashion businesses (MSEs), who are increasingly recognised as leaders in human-scale, holistic innovations within the fashion sector (Aakko, 2016; Connor-Crabb, 2017; European Commission, 2019).

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