Outfit Repeating: Let's Stop the Demonization

OUTFIT REPEATING

Ever had the thought “I’ve got so many clothes but nothing to wear”…

We’ve all had that experience; standing in front of the wardrobe and sighing, feeling stressed because you just want to get ready and leave the house feeling good, but there’s a lack of inspiration because you’ve …”worn it all before”.

When this happens, is it because of a genuine dislike of the clothing, or is it worry about what other people will think?

The dread associated with heavily re-wearing garments once can be traced back to the kind of teasing that can happen in school, where typically it can be viewed as a sign of being unclean or less fortunate financially. These insecurities translate into adulthood and are then exacerbated. It’s no surprise when we think of the bombardment we endure from media on this topic – a continuous flow of messages saying we should aspire to always wear something different… something NEW.

The insurgence of fast fashion has seen magazines/tabloids run articles to shame celebrities (mostly women) for being seen in the same clothing more than once… a quick google these days and you’ll find articles pushing the narrative: “How to repeat an outfit and not get caught" 

Then we have the social media influencers who never seem to re-wear garments/outfits, as every picture is something different. The impact this has on the well-being of society is huge, and that’s before we digest the horrifying environmental impact caused by a culture of over-consumption. There's an insidious flaw in the system. For influencers, payment to wear clothes in exchange for promotion is their income, so promoting an ethos of re-wearing would be bad for business. It is a vicious trap with way more ‘losers’ than ‘winners’.

Our insecurities around being ‘fashionable’ and 'current' are rooted in a desire/need for social acceptance; a motivation so strong and so susceptible to the tactics of marketers that they easily manipulate us into buying more and more – a profit driven venture of exploitation that will not stop until the planet literally cannot take anymore.

So, what can we do?

RESIST the shaming. UNFOLLOW ‘icons’ that make you feel bad about yourself or who regularly promote fast-fashion. SWITCH the narrative around the re-wearing of clothes and CELEBRATE outfit repeating in our daily lives. Become the worst fast-fashion customer by developing confidence in yourself and your clothes. Choose well-made garments that will last and can be worn in multiple ways so you don’t have to constantly consume. Become a PRO OUTFIT-REPEATER

Experiment with your wardrobe and pair different things together. This is what we mean by BUY LESS LOVE MORE… and this is coming from a fashion and textiles brand. The difference between us and those manipulators is that yes, we need to sell to exist… but we refuse to exist purely to sell.

Love Clare and her team of Pro Outfit-Repeaters