Power Dressing: Turning Two Unused Jackets Into Powerful Statements

At the end of March, we were invited by The Restart Project to attend the Parliamentary Repair Cafe. We joined a room buzzing with energy and purpose and importantly, over 90 MPs ready to listen to the benefits of repair. This wasn’t just another event. It was a call to action and a moment to shine a light on the repair community, in all of its forms.

Because as repair business owners ourselves and with the We Are Repairs directory, we see it every day: the social impact, the economic value, the quiet revolution happening in workshops and around kitchen tables across the country. Without repair, there is no circular economy and yet somehow, it still flies under the radar.

So this moment mattered.

Ally couldn’t be there in person, but Gem proudly carried the repair business baton for both of us and for the community we stand alongside and are proud to represent on this stage. Repair businesses deserve to be seen, heard and taken seriously.

This meant we wanted to make a statement and the best way to do that…wearing our message loud and clear on an upcycled slogan jacket, of course!

A Statement You Can Wear

If we were going to stand in Parliament and champion repair, we had to embody it. There was no thought of a new outfit; we knew we would find something in our wardrobes (or in Gem’s case, her brother’s wardrobe!)

We found two jackets. Ally’s had some wrinkling on the front where the lining had distorted after being washed, so it had been languishing in the back of the wardrobe. Whilst Gem’s was an old velvet dinner jacket that had lost its sparkle with a few burnished marks.

Two jackets. Forgotten, unworn but full of potential. All they needed was a new story.

From Forgotten to Unforgettable

Transformation time…we turned to our We Are Repairs directory and found Sarah from MyVos® – a sewist with vision, creativity and a fantastic eye for detail.

We approached Sarah with a loose brief about wanting to highlight the power of repair with a slogan jacket each and handed the jackets over to her capable hands.

We want to make it clear that we paid Sarah for her time and skills in creating these jackets for us – we feel very strongly that repair and alteration skills should not be expected to be free. Exposure doesn’t pay the bills.

We decided the slogans together, but gave Sarah free rein on the design and style, so we didn’t know exactly what they’d become.

We just knew they had to be powerful. Visible. Unmissable.

And boy did Sarah deliver…

Here’s Sarah telling us all about how she created the slogan jackets of our dreams:

“I was delighted when I heard Ally & Gem were invited to the House of Commons, and naturally, I couldn’t help myself and asked, ‘What are you going to wear?’”

“Clothing is our visual language, and it can be exaggerated in all sorts of ways to help showcase our values. I knew it would be something repaired, pre-loved or up-fashioned, however, this was the perfect scenario for a discussion to go a step further and literally use clothes to convey a direct message. Retro fonts and play-on-words logos are a strong trend, so I set to work transforming pre-used zips into stitched messages, appliquéd onto existing garments Ally & Gem already owned.”

“To attach the appliqué, I first had to separate the back of the jackets from the lining, so I was just sewing on the outer fabric so as not to affect the fit or make of the garment. The pre-used zips were removed from unwanted clothing before the fabric went to fibre recycling and were donated from a friend in my local community. The zip teeth are all metal, so it was essential to use a zipper-foot to stay within the cotton zip tape and to avoid any metal getting jammed under the sewing machine needle – this would result in the machine jolting and bending or even snapping the needle!”

“The message “Repair replace” & “Renew buy new” you see is not only visually powerful, but deeply symbolic too. Each used zip, which was originally designed to close something, now helps open up a wider conversation about sustainability. Taking an item that might have been overlooked or thrown away and elevating it into something expressive, purposeful, and entirely unique. It has been one of my favourite projects of creativity meeting conscience fashion, not just as decoration or style, but as storytelling, advocacy, and thoughtful design, doing exactly what it conveys, all at once.”

“Thank you so much Ally & Gem for trusting my style, alterations & garment repairs service to create unique clothes with longevity – it’s the epitome of what I do.”

We could not have been more wowed by our statement jackets.

Sarah didn’t just alter two jackets. She took two old, unworn items of clothing and turned them into the pure symbol of everything We Are Repairs means to us, and our community. We’ve been delighted to wear them and they have sparked conversations instantly. In Parliament, on the streets and everywhere we’ve worn them since.

Because that’s the magic of repair:
It doesn’t just restore an item. It transforms how we feel about it.

When you choose to repair, you’re not simply saving something from being thrown away; you’re actively rejecting throwaway culture, supporting skilled craftspeople and choosing meaning over mass production. That dopamine hit people talk about when they buy something new…try wearing an item that’s been upcycled and repaired. It takes that high to a whole new level!

And honestly, it was the best money we’ve ever spent. Supporting an independent business that is doing so much good in the world feels incredibly powerful, and it’s something we would recommend time and time again.

So over to you… Have you got something in your home you no longer love but want to feel connected to again? Repair it, renew it, reimagine it.

Because we promise you this, you won’t regret it.