How many times have you decided not to wear an outfit because it no longer fits properly? Or you’ve put on your favourite dress only to realise you’ve worn it so many times it has a hole or a broken zip? It can be all too easy to get rid of our clothes in favour of something new. And with over 300,000 tonnes of unwanted clothes ending up in landfill each year, this happens a lot.

Although there are more sustainable ways of discarding of old clothes – from giving to friends and family or charity shops to donating to animal shelters – there’s another way to fix the problem: sending them to a repair or alteration service.

Taking clothes to a tailor may sound like something only previous generations would do, but the ‘make do and mend’ era is back with a bang.

Breathing life back into old clothes, shoes and bags is a way to make your favourite pieces last longer. By doing this, you’re reducing the need to buy new, saving clothes from going to waste and reusing and recycling.

Charlotte Staerck, CEO and co-founder of Handbag Clinic says: “We buy and sell preowned designer handbags, so can easily identify the significant financial value restoration work adds, plus the benefits it has for the environment. Whether it’s a beloved possession they never want to part with or a bag that had been written off as in need of replacing, people now actively want to reduce their waste by restoring or reinventing an item so they can continue to enjoy it.”

8 specialist online fashion alteration and repair services to make old clothes look like new