Today stories about clothes that are worn by several generations may sound mythical, but they are actually true. One example could be boro (ぼろ), the garments of several time layers made in Japan from the 17th to the early 19th century. Boro or patched and many times mended garments came about out of sheer necessity, as scarce supply and high cost of fabrics forced people to reuse them several times before they wore out.