by Brigette Mashile, founder of Roka Roko
I hate finishing. The process. But the aftermath is wonderful. I am talking about finishing in fashion design sense. Finishing is a process of … literally ‘finishing the garment’. And it is a lot of work. It includes putting in zips, embellishments which could be 100 little beads, ironing (my pass time hate), putting in buttons, cutting off threads, making sure all stitches are in place; ironing again, putting labels on…etc. So almost like quality control but slowly. It doesn’t matter how fast you are in life, you can never ever hurry finishing. Little things take forever to finish.
But, we must finish. Every single garment must be finished properly. Or else, the client will tell you about it when they stare at themselves in the mirror. Therefore most of us clothing engineers have a strong ‘attention to detail’ feature in us. It is not only for creative purposes, it is also for quality control. Literally to the lines getting out of lines. Undo and redo. And if we ever don’t use this ability, we will suffer the results of not finishing.
I have realized the lady who helps me doesn’t like to finish. Look, she has a lot of valid reasons. It’s a lot of work, she’s sometimes not sure what the goal is, etc. She starts a dress and leaves the finishing part, then moves on to the next. Maybe she plans on finishing them all on the same day. But when I look at them, I’m like ‘Who must do these?’. And I start telling her about the need to finish. But how many of us start to finish….
I don’t know how many books I’ve started. Reading and writing. I don’t know how many people I know have started books and haven’t finished. I literally clean my house across 2 days. I just cannot seem to finish in one go. I’m not sure if its exhaustion or I am just overwhelmed by all the work? Or is it a habit signalling other little issues I have? Or am I just seriously lazy? I love starting but somehow getting to the end is tough.
How many business plans have you started? Or a degree…with Unisa…you keep delaying because of everything in life. How many training routines have I signed up for and quit midway? How many of those online applications with a need for 1000 words have you started? I’ve written so many business plans but stopped midway somewhere, because either the opportunity elapsed; or I got bored, or just because. This was before running my own business. Today I know if I don’t finish, anything for that matter, I am stalling my own progress. Literally I am the clog in my own progress. I have learned to force myself through it, ignore all the reasons playing in my head to ‘not finish’.
So, lets change our thinking about things we need to complete. It is so important to learn this because you have no clue how much you deprive yourself by not finishing; you simply will never know what you could’ve had if you finished that ‘thing’. And sometimes it is essential to finish something while it is fun doing it. Making the same dress for 6 months is so boring. At some point you lose the passion and excitement. Hence, the need to start, finish it and proceed to the next step which is a fitting, collection and then payment(reward)! Hey, I finished this article 😊
Brigette Mashile is the founder and creative force behind Roka Roko, a custom fashion design business based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company passionately delivers quality tailored and trendy fashion to make their customers happy, and specializes in styling women by creating unusual combinations with fabric, culture and style. Brigette has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Witwatersrand and a Fashion Diploma from Studio5 School of Fashion. She’s a former fashion buyer for a major retailer in South Africa, and an international direct selling company. She’s been passionate about fashion since the age of 10 and gained invaluable experience in the fashion world running informal fashion creation businesses until the day her own Roka Roko brand was born. Find out more by visiting the Roka Roko website www.rokaroko.co.za
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