“I hate that thing where people are like ‘oh, you’ve worn that shirt before,” singer and songwriter Conan Gray said in an interview clip. “Like no fucking shit, I bought the shirt.”
If I had a dollar for everytime someone made a comment about the amount of times I’ve worn a piece of clothing, I wouldn’t have to work a day in my life to make money.
I remember when Hollywood was in an uproar a few years ago about comedian Tiffany Haddish proudly wearing a roughly $4500 Alexander McQueen dress to multiple events. It was as if an other-worldly creature just landed on planet earth and no one could believe it. Like why is it such a surprise that someone wore a dress they bought? It’s beyond me.
The statement “oh, you’ve worn that before” just indicates a problem we have in our culture. We ultimately treat clothing as short-term items meant to be discarded as soon as someone sees us in them rather than viewing them as long-term items meant to have a long life span (that is if the item in question was made with this goal in mind).
My goal with this blog post isn’t to convince everyone to be like the minority and actually wear the clothes they buy more than once, rather it’s to shine light on the reality that there’s people who purchase clothes with the intention of wearing them for as long as possible because they couldn’t care less whether they were photographed in the same outfit at multiple occasions. So stop commenting on it.
If you are someone who actually panics at the thought of wearing a t-shirt for the second time in a week or being photographed in the same outfit at an event, my question to you is: why do you feel that way?
Over the past few years, capsule wardrobes have gained popularity, especially in the minimalist and sustainability community. Capsule wardrobes are made up of a few basic and versatile pieces, usually with a cohesive color scheme, that aims to provide an easy way to create multiple outfits with a few select pieces. Capsule wardrobes can range in size, but they’re often pretty small — small enough to fit on a clothing rack.
I think capsule wardrobes would benefit everyone because it’ll prompt less spending which, in turn, means more money to put towards other things, and it’ll force a lot of people to find another weekend hobby other than shopping.
At the end of the day, outfit repetition shouldn’t be so far removed from our culture, instead, it should be encouraged and somewhat praised because not only will it benefit you in the long run, but it will slowly create a more sustainable and healthy approach to individual consumption — something we all desperately need.
For similar posts, click here.
To stay inspired, follow @aaliyahinspired on Instagram.
Leave a Reply