Intermission: The Pause That Extends the Story
A Robe Built From Salvaged Scenes
Intermission is a floor-length bog coat constructed entirely from salvaged denim of different washes, different weights, and different histories patchworked into one continuous garment. Dark indigo meets faded blue meets vintage texture. Each panel is a fragment salvaged from jeans destined for landfill, now rebuilt into something that moves like a traditional Japanese noragi. The construction is deliberate: patchwork blocks stitched together with visible flat-locking, bound edges throughout, white running stitch tracing every seam and hem. Two patch pockets with sashiko embroidery. A self-fabric belt that wraps and ties. Three-quarter sleeves that drape open. This piece took approximately 20+ hours: deconstructing multiple pairs of jeans, planning the patchwork composition to balance light and dark, cutting and piecing panels, stitching every seam, and sashiko running stitch for both structure and visibility.
Theatre of Fashion: The Brief
I made Intermission for The Wearable Art Show 2025, where the theme was "The Theatre of Fashion": an invitation to interpret theatre through wearable art. The featured artist, Richard Crossman, works primarily in historical costume for stage and screen. The brief asked: How does theatre translate into fabric? I didn't want to recreate a costume from a specific production. I wanted to interpret theatre as concept, as structure, as the architecture of storytelling itself. Intermission became my answer.
The Liminal Pause
An intermission is the pause between acts. The moment when the story stops but doesn't end. When the audience catches their breath, processes what they've seen, anticipates what comes next. It's a threshold. A waiting room. A space to sit with what's unfinished. Repair lives in that same space. When you mend something instead of discarding it, you're creating an intermission. The garment's story pauses, but it doesn't end. You intervene. You add stitches, reinforce fabric, extend the life. You create anticipation for what comes next: more wear, more years, more use. Sashiko embodies this. Every running stitch is a small pause, a moment of care inserted into fabric that was failing. The stitches don't erase the wear; they acknowledge it and extend the narrative forward. Intermission is built from this idea: salvaged denim given a second act through patchwork and hand-stitching. Materials that had reached their conclusion, now reassembled into something new. Not restored to what they were. Transformed into what comes next.
Construction: Noragi Meets Bog Coat
The silhouette is inspired by traditional Japanese noragi: a work robe or dressing gown worn over other clothing. Long, straight lines. Loose fit. Functional pockets. Wrapped and belted at the waist. I call this style a "bog coat" in my practice: a garment built from simple geometric construction, not from complex pattern pieces. Intermission uses rectangular patchwork blocks across the body, sleeves, and hem. Each block is a different denim: light wash, dark wash, smooth, textured. The composition balances light and dark to create visual rhythm without pattern repetition. Every seam is stitched with blue thread using a flatlock stitch. The edges are bound and finished with running stitches. Two round patch pockets feature white sashiko embroidery in a simple crosses pattern. The belt is self-fabric: pieced from denim waistbands. It wraps around the waist and ties at the front. Every stitch, every seam, every join is meant to be seen. The labour is the design.
Why "Intermission"?
The title works on multiple levels. Literally: This garment is a robe worn during transition between acts, between activities, between dressed and undressed. It's clothing for the in-between. Metaphorically: Each piece of salvaged denim experienced an intermission. Jeans worn until they failed, then paused before disposal, then rebuilt into this coat. Their story didn't end; it just shifted form. Conceptually: Repair itself is intermission. The moment you choose to mend instead of discard, you're extending the narrative. You're saying "this isn't over yet."
Wearable Art as Statement
The Wearable Art Show asked for theatre in fabric form. I offered repair as theatre. Theatre is storytelling through constructed moments. Repair is storytelling through constructed stitches. Both make visible what's usually hidden. Intermission doesn't belong on a stage in the traditional sense. It belongs in the liminal spaces: backstage, between scenes, in the quiet moment when you sit with what's happened and prepare for what's next. It's a garment for the pause. For reflection. For the decision to continue. And like any good intermission, it asks the question: What comes next?