For thousands of years, embroidered patches have been a means of identification. Dating back to the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean, Mideast, China, and India, elaborate hand-stitched fabric swatches were tools used for the military. Other times, such embellishments were a sign of beauty for other important personnel, stitched onto the robes of royalty or religious figures. Even today, patches are seen on a wide range of people: from the military to sanitation workers and even, of course, on Boy and Girl Scouts.
In the realm of the sartorial, there’s nothing a good patch can’t fix. You can add patches to denim jackets, wear them as falsies, or you know, use them to patch up holes in your clothing. But mostly I like patches because they’re little sew-on (or iron-on) pieces of joy that can immediately spruce up any outfit.
When it comes to patches, I am usually pretty particular. I prefer the serendipity of stumbling upon a rad patch at fleamarket or on Etsy, rather than outwardly seeking them out. However when I came across the website Patch Sales, I knew where I’d soon be spending my babysitting income.
Although I’m sure Patch Sales is a company run by adults, all the patches on the site manage to encapsulate everything that is magical about youth. I can’t help but imagine that they secretly have some cool tween working in their office, telling them all about his or her daily life to manifest into patch form. While yes, some of their patches do cater to the usual scout suspects, there are numerous surprises that seem like they were ripped straight from a mood board in my imagination. Among their many categories are patches devoted to pumpkin picking, scrapbooking, fast food tours, magic shows, and so, so much more. If you want to get patchy, check out Patch Sales here.
Images via Patchsales.com
