Bakla Ako, May Reklamo?

Is your closet bursting at the seams? No, we’re not talking about THAT closet; if you prefer hiding inside it for the rest of your lives, we won’t force you out of it. For as long as you’re happy, then we’re happy for you too! We’re talking about those clothes in your closet which you have forgotten about, clothes that have become ill-fitting (thanks to the holiday eating season – which for most of us is, well, everyday), clothes that have stains, discolorations, pigmentation (huh?), tears, etc. There are many ways for us to get rid of all these “dirt” and unsightly entities inside oour closet. For one, we can make use of our generous alter egos and donate the clothes to charitable institutions. If you’re the business-minded kind, then you can open up a garage sale (or ukay-ukay store). If you have siblings, hand the clothes down to them. Or if you’re a pack-rat and everything-has-a-sentimental-value kind of person (like I am), then you might as well keep the clothes.

Keeping these clothes, however, means that we’re using up more closet space – specially because some of us just love shopping! So there’s no more choice left but to throw them all away? Please, don’t throw them all away, my love, my love, don’t throw them all away…

We love shopping don’t we? It is undeniable (I’d rather use just that than say undeniable “fact” because I don’t have the stats to prove that it is indeed a fact) that we kind of always want to get a hold of what’s hot in the industry, or whatever celebrities are endorsing. A change of wardrobe every six (or three?) months sure is something that many of us want. Some of us actually purchase something new to fill our closet’s imagined void every pay out, right? We do this repeatedly and until our closets want to explode and the entities inside just wanna come out!

But what if you can’t afford to throw away, donate, sell, all these? Well, Bakla comes to the rescue and gives you some tips based on his personal clothing experience (disclaimer: this doesn’t make us an authority on matters like these, but we’d like to play as such). One word, I guess, would summarize it all: RECYCLE!

You save money, you save on closet space. Turn your trash into cash. Turn drab to fab! Uhm, recycle? That’s so not in! Kebs, if it’s not in.

Recycling doesn’t have to mean reusing your old clothes, that’s why it’s recycle and not re-use!  

Here are the steps:

1. Out!
Take everything out of the closet.

2. Organize the clothes into piles: Usable,Recyclable, Impossible

Usable: Clothes which you are currently using. These are the good fitting ones and the clothes which you feel pretty in. For some people, this may also mean clothes which are already ill-fitting but are still “usable” in the next few months, after they have lost that holiday weight (some never do, so these clothes end up into the Impossible category)

Recyclable: These are not so well-fitting clothes, clothes with stains, tears, and other unsightly marks. These are the clothes which are now out of season, but still wearable and usable. These are clothes that you still want to wear, but can’t because they’re out of season or a little bursting at the seams or because of that ink stain.

Impossible: Kahit anong gawin, wala nang pag-asa (No matter what you do, there’s really no more hope!). These are clothes which are eligible to become dishcloths, foot rugs, rags, etc. These are the clothes that make you think back and laugh at yourself for ever buying such horrendous styles.

Weed them out carefully. And once you have decided that one piece of clothing goes to a particular heap/category, do not look back. Let go! Let go! Let go!

3. Put all the usables back to closet. Get a box or a bag for the Impossibles. Deal with them later (but please, if they’re not usable at all, don’t give them to charity. Mahiya naman kayo!)

4. Gather the recyclables into one heap and carefully sort them out into piles of shirts, pants, blouses, unmentionables (these should be thrown out already!).

5. This is where your creative mind comes in. You need to look at all the recyclables and think of how you can recycle them. You can either Paint, Bleach, Dye, or Sew and re-sew them.

Paint

The design is up to you. You can use stencils or print/create templates and use green film and silkscreen. Let your creatve mind do the work for you. For lazy asses like me, “abstract” is the name of the game. You don’t need to follow a specific design, you just paint away! What I normally use are the following: used cologne atomizer, old toothbrush, small paint roller, masking tape (rolls and rolls), newspaper, tissue, paintbrush, and my trusty fingers. After “painting” them, I blowdry them and do the other side. When both sides are quite dry enough, they are left to dry some more (under the sun if possible, if not, air dry inside).  I then get pieces of wax paper to cover the paint up before ironing. Sometimes, colorless nail polish helps “seal” the paint.  Once completely and fully dry, the shirt gets handwashed in cold water using a bath soap (liquid hand soap is also an option). Hang to dry and voila! The

next step is to wear it to work or in the presence of friends to get validation and approval (or otherwise).  If people like the design, it’s good to go! If not, get a pail of water, mix bleaching solution, and put shirt in to bleach out the paint.

(Painting also works nicely with sneakers!)

Bleach

Bleaching is another method that can be employed.  Just get some bleaching solution (Zonrox Lemon is a good idea) and mix about a glass of it with 3/4 of a pail of water – this sometimes depends on the shirt or pants size.  This method works well with solid colored shirts (or any non-silk material, why would you have silk shirts?) and works really great with old denims! Soak the shirt or denim in your water-bleach solution, leave for a few hours or days (depending on your preference), check periodically, then hang to dry. Once completely dry, press all sides (I know, I know, jeans are not supposed to be ironed!) then air dry.  Wash like any ordinary pair of jeans (if you ever wash them).

Sew

Some people may argue that sewing or mending clothes requires a lot of talent and skill. Au contraire, all you need is knowing how to do the running stitch  – and probably that chain stitch thingie. A sewing machine (a small one like the ones they sell on Home Shopping Networks) will do. Sewing is something that can be done on ill-fitting (too large or too small) shirts.  If it’s too large, simply get another shirt or make a pattern of a good-fitting shirt using the same size dimensions, then make tastas the hems and all the other sewn sides of the ill-fitting shirt.  If the shirt is too large for you, reduce its size by cutting through the cloth using the pattern you made. If the shirt is too small, you will have to sew the shirt onto something else or you can use a “filler”, which doesn’t need to have the same design, and sew it onto the shirt.  Again, personal style is important.  If you feel it looks great, then go for it.  If others don’t like it, it’s not your problem anymore (it’s their problem anymore!)! 

You can also get two or three different shirts, cuth through them like patterns, and sew different parts from different shirts into one shirt.  An example would be a longsleeved dress shirt:  Collar and cuffs from one shirt, everything else from another.  Personal style and comfort are important.  If you really don’t have a knack for sewing, or don’t have enough patience, then never attempt this method.

Dye

This age-old and old skool tradition still works great to this day.  Remember Venus? Venus is a paper sachet of powdered dye solution. More known as dyobus, dyobos, and dyovos, this small pack can do great wonders! The instructions on the packaging say that you must boil water in a stock pot, add the dye powder, then “cook” the shirt in.  However, boiling water then pouring it into a tin basin (even a plastic pail works!) with the dye in it also works.  you can do a tie-dye design or a complete dye of the shirt.  Trust me, this is so worth it and surprisingly fun! Just be sure to wear protective gloves, lest you want to go to work with blue fingers and fingernails!

There are many other ways to recycle your shirts and jeans.  The ones we mentioned above are just a few of them.  We will discuss more in the future.  If you don’t feel like doing any of the above-mentioned methods, you can always resort to the Layering and Mix/Match Methods. Simple yet practical, Just don’t do layers in the summer!

Bakla has used these methods many times over and has hit and missed. He has saved a lot of money and has freed up some closet space in the past few months.  And no, he has not gone shopping for clothes (like he used to, like a lot!) in a long while.  His most practical use of these methods are manifested in the costumes that he has created from scratch for their erstwhile monthly company costume theme days!

Costumes! 12 3 4