yes , do n't throw them away , save them from the thrift-shop rack , reinvent them with nothing more than a few stitches and an iron ; the destiny of manufactured things lies in durability and changing contexts , crushed silk beneath fluorescent light , elegant tatters with buttons of plastic in colors never achieved within geological strata , with stockings of such strong nylon they could have been made into braided rope of incalculable strength if only people did n't rip them off and toss them into wastebaskets .