I’m sure you’ve experienced the pressure to find something new to wear to an event. It starts off with the frantic feeling of , “I don’t have anything to wear” and, after the entire contents of your wardrobe has been dismembered on your bed, you invariably find yourself leaving the store new dress/shoes/accessories in hand.
Yes, I’ve been guilty of this – particularly during and university. It was the time of eighteenths, twenty-firsts, balls and even a few weddings. It was the perfect storm; these events combined with a time in my life when I was meeting new people, experimenting with my style after seventeen years in uniform and enjoying the financial freedom a casual job afforded me.
I had no problem “outfit repeating” on a daily basis but for events I did love a new dress. Not because I couldn’t bear to be seen in the same outfit – but a new dress brought with it the promise that it could transform my mundane self into someone different – my very own Cinderella effect.
I’m happy to say that these days I feel this pressure far less often. Over the years I’ve found my sense of style, curated a wardrobe full of pieces I love and, although I love the way that a new outfit or a beautiful dress can make me feel, I’ve come to realise that sometimes it’s not only about what you wear but the quiet confidence of your carriage as well. I’ve also become more aware of the impact overconsumption has on the environment and how outfit repeating is one of the easiest steps we can take to reduce excess clothing waste.
Although I’m more than happy to outfit repeat in my daily life and amongst friends and family, it has been interesting to navigate this as a content creator. Even with the popular hashtags #wearrewear and #shopyourcloset, I’d be lying to say that I haven’t felt pressure to have an unlimited supply of new outfits at my fingertips. Although I’d be happy positing the same outfit multiple times – it is interesting to see that engagement drops drastically after too many posts in the same outfit on instagram and one of my concerns when starting this blog was that I didn’t want to unnecessarily contribute to clothing waste.
In some ways this pressure has been helpful. It’s been a challenge which I’ve had to solve. It’s made me more creative styling pieces, supplemented by preloved pieces I’ve thrifted. It’s made me apply the principles of a capsule wardrobe more effectively to get more milage out of the pieces I own and made me consider the pieces I do buy more carefully for versatility. In fact, as I was thinking about last week, by following those principles, I usually have the opposite problem of trying to narrow down outfits for a photo shoot.
That said, I also strongly believe that we should re-style and re-post the same outfits on social media and blogs because let’s face it – it’s normal – which brings me to this beautiful dress. This dress from Shona Joy was the second outfit I posted on this little space almost a year ago (you can check that post out here). It was a dress that I had loved for about six months before buying and has been a piece that I’ve worn countless times since. So I think it deserves a little bit more attention and a second blog post because, in my opinion, it makes an excellent case for outfit repeating.
I’d love to know what your relationship with outfit repeating is?
Dress: Shona Joy (similar here and here)
Ballet flats: Trenery (similar here)
Photos: Sara Eshu
