I don’t think I could, I’d get too bored, even if I was trying to make a point. But I heartily applaud the American teacher who decided to wear the same outfit, in this case a grey dress, for 100 days. Julia Mooney wanted to get her class of 12 and 13 year olds thinking about fast fashion and how we judge people by what they wear.
Her husband, also a teacher, joined in by wearing the same trousers and shirt every day. And since her story was reported in the national press, so have people throughout the US.
The discussion also took in the pressure of buying the ‘right’ brands and the effect of social media. ‘What if we spent our energy trying to BE good, interesting humans instead of trying to LOOK good and interesting?’
Benefits when you wear the same outfit
Julia benefitted from her experiment by saving the time and energy she used to take choosing clothes in the morning. She kept the dress clean by wearing a pinny, washed it at weekends, and mended it when necessary. Just like our parents and grandparents used to do, who knew all the tricks of making clothes last longer.
I particularly like Julia’s comment that she ‘feels like she’s expressing herself more by cycling through a smaller wardrobe.’ That has been exactly my experience since I cut back on clothes spending several years ago and stopped buying things randomly just because I liked them. I became much happier with my wardrobe, and actually started getting compliments!
And if you like everything in your wardrobe there’s a real joy in wearing out your favourite clothes and knowing you’ve made the most of them.
What would you choose if you were going to wear the same outfit for 100 days?
Would you try to make it look different with a variety of accessories?
(Photo by Henry & Co on Unsplash)
As a part-time supply teacher in the UK I often think I need to change up my outfits so that I’m not seen wearing the same outfit in the same week….honestly it sounds crackers writing that sentence!
But then I do have great dresses that I would love to wear all the time – perhaps I’ll adopt this three-month cycle and see what happens? And if the conversation about fast fashion becomes tricky, I’ll just say that Mark Zuckerberg has the same approach.
I do think I’ll stick with navy instead of grey, though – far more flattering to my skin tone!
I’ve seen other people write that they’ve done the same thing, Emma, and absolutely nobody noticed! Back in the day it was common for exasperated mums to say to children having a strop about their clothes – ‘Stop making a fuss, nobody’s going to be looking at you!’ Turns out they were right :0)