From The Sunday Times August 8, 2009
Every item of my clothing has either been made from scratch or significantly modified and repaired, reveals book author
I’m sitting on the Northern Line, in the middle of rush hour, in a carriage crowded with people dressed in smart clothes with expensive accessories. I used to be just like them and wore the same kind of clothes.
Not any more. These days I tend to wear home-made. Today every item of my clothing has either been made from scratch or significantly modified and repaired. If they look normal — well, my wife wouldn’t let me out otherwise.
I can’t begin to count the number of people who influenced my decision to dress like this. But the main one is Gandhi. He predicted that if Indians spun and wove cloth and used it to make their own clothes, they would destroy the British cotton industry and overthrow the empire. “Be the change you want to see in the world,” he said. And he did it, too, wearing homespun clothes and taking his spinning wheel to political meetings.
I don’t have a spinning wheel — yet. But I do have a crochet hook. And some yarn, hidden in my pocket. Do I dare to take them out and “be the change”?
Read more here http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article6788643.ece
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