Events › Past is Prologue: Waste Not, Want Not: Reimagining Fashion through Thrift Style

Thrifting and upcycling are not new concepts. The practice of reusing empty feed sacks, flour sacks, and sugar sacks—also known as commodity bags—as raw material for clothing and other home goods was popular during the austere decades of the 1920s through the 1940s. This program highlights a collection of sacks from Kansas mills, thoughtfully selected to honor a family with deep Kansas roots in agricultural extension, 4-H, and a family-owned feed and farm supply store. This collision between commercial waste and homespun ingenuity provides a model for our modern emphasis on sustainability! Presented by Marla Day, the curator of Kansas State University’s Historic Costume and Textile Museum in Manhattan.

This program will be hosted using the meeting software Zoom. A Johnson County Library staff member will contact registrants via email the day before the meeting with instructions on how to access the Zoom meeting. You do not need to download any software or create an account.

For inquiries about accessibility and accommodations, please contact us at ask@jocolibrary.org or 913-826-4600 at least two weeks before the event.