Wear the Same Dress For A Month? She Did.

[Gingersnap]

Could you wear the same dress for a month? One woman did, and it's changed the way she thinks about clothes forever
By Maureen Rice

Last updated at 7:39 AM on 15th October 2009
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http://i36.tinypic.com/1z1aes9.jpg
The dress: Maureen Rice opted to wear this £195 dress from LK Bennett every day for a month
Could you wear the same dress every day for a year?

That's what Sheena Matheiken is doing to raise money for her charity the Akanshanka Foundation, which campaigns for more schools in India. But could writer MAUREEN RICE wear the same thing day in, day out, for even a month?

She challenged herself to don this plain, purple knee-length, shift dress for 30 days to see how it affected her mood and self-esteem.

WEEK ONE: MONDAY
Over the weekend I found the dress that's going to take me through every occasion for the rest of the month. Costing £195 from LK Bennett, I chose it mainly because of its adaptability - surely something this simple lends itself to accessories, layering and whatever other tricks I can think of.

As this is day one, my strategy is to start off as plain as possible, and gradually add different looks as the month goes by.

So today, it's just me, the dress, a plain pair of black heels and a gold necklace. Your standard day-at-the-office look. In case you're wondering, I'm resolving the hygiene issue by wearing T-shirts under the dress, and making use of a four-hour dry cleaners.

My office is staffed mainly by women, so everyone notices that I have something new. We've all been cutting back on our fashion fixes this year, so there's a lot of compliments on the very fact of a new dress, never mind what it looks like.

But one of the reasons I found the idea of wearing the same thing every day so appealing was the break it was going to give me from shopping. Over the past ten years, a mixture of economic boom and a fiercely competitive High Street created a shopping equation that went: Availability + Affordability = Fast Fashion Frenzy.

Yes, it was fun for a while, but after a decade of getting into lifts with other women wearing the same dress, and swapping the treat of buying something new for the weekly obligation of buying something new, I'm exhausted, bored and broke.

(snip)

THURSDAY
I notice that Nigella Lawson has been spotted wearing the same dress on six days over two weeks - and also that she has sorted her autumn/winter wardrobe by buying a dozen of the same style of dress in different colours.

It works for Nigella, because she's a stylish woman, and I've realised that I'm not. Style, which is personal and depends on self-awareness and self-assurance, is much harder work than fashion, which just requires you to read magazines and spend heaps of money.

Style means looking like yourself, which means not only dumping anything that's 'not me', but knowing who me actually is.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1220464/Could-wear-dress-month-One-woman-did-changed-way-thinks-clothes-forever.html#ixzz0U2ik71ND

Read the whole thing - it's fascinating. I buy classic clothing that always costs a little more than I want to pay at the moment. The quality is worth it. I also have a crystal clear idea of what makes me look better than I really look and that's what I get. No matter how on-trend a look may be, if it makes me look fat, short, slutty, girlish, or ironically cheap - I leave it alone.

I wouldn't wear the same dress for a month but I will admit to having 3 identical plain knit dresses that differ only in color (black, deep gray, and rich brown). I wear them with Russian shawls, silk scarves, and/or about a dozen different belts. Best clothing investment I ever made. ;)

[Bubba Dawg]

If she became a nun it could be a habit.....

That was funnier before I typed it.

[Rockntractor]

That dress would make my butt look big!

[RobJohnson]

The office consensus is that the theory of the same dress is a good one: it is possible to wear the same thing and make it look different every day. It just isn't possible to wear the same thing and feel different every day.

I hope she washed it.

[linda22003]

I expected this to be about Ann Coulter. :p

[noonwitch]

I'm willing to pay good money for good work and church clothes. If you spend $100 on a dress, it'll still be wearable after 3 or 4 years. If you spend $50 for one at Target, you'll buy one each season because the dress is cheaply made. I'm in my 40s, so styles don't really change much for me. If I have some basics, I can just update them with cheap, trendy accessories as needed. My work dresses for the most part are classic things, like my black coatdress, that never go out of style.
Separates are different-there are some pretty decent quality, low-priced stuff available at places like Kohls and Penneys.

Shoes are what are hard for me. I am very hard on them, because I walk on the outsides of my feet. Whether I buy a pair at Payless, DSW or Nordies, I tend to wear them out in one year or less. I don't want to wear old lady/orthopedic shoes yet (but I always wear flats, no heels anymore), but any cheap shoes are very uncomfortable for me. I've been wearing a pair of black, dressy-looking Sketchers all summer, even with my work clothes, because they are comfortable and no manager has said anything to me at the office.

And I really never want to wear orthopedic shoes again. I had to wear them in elementary school, and they are ugly and not exactly comfortable, either. I'd rather wear saddle-shoes.

[Gingersnap]

I've been wearing a pair of black, dressy-looking Sketchers all summer, even with my work clothes, because they are comfortable and no manager has said anything to me at the office.

And I really never want to wear orthopedic shoes again. I had to wear them in elementary school, and they are ugly and not exactly comfortable, either. I'd rather wear saddle-shoes.

I have all kinds of foot problems (none of which are my fault, I might add). I wear a lot of clogs, Birkie sandals, and flats with orthopedic inserts. I only wear heels on high ceremonial occasions. There are a lot of different clog styles which range from the ultra casual to the dressy. Good clogs aren't cheap, of course. Expect to pay well over $100 for the dressy type to wear to work and around $80 for the more casual formats.

However, they wear like iron and if you wear the soles unevenly, you can get them resoled at a very reasonable price. Since they aren't trendy, they are wearable for literally years.

Clog have a bad rap because cheap clogs are so ugly. It doesn't have to be that way at all. If you've never worn good clogs before, buy your first pair from a local shop so you get the correct size (mine are all European sizes). After that, you can order off the Internet. All genuine Birkies require an adjustment period to get used to the specialized foot-bed but you'll be glad you took the time. Some oiled leather clogs need a breaking-in period to conform to your arch. Again, this is worth the effort since they will feel like slippers afterward. If you have custom orthotics, most will fit in a clog style that has a closed heel. ;)

[fettpett]

as a young male (26) and married, i perfer a woman that likes classic sliming clothing, expecially dresses, not that say that something exotic every once in awhile isn't hot, but for everyday dress to the office/church a woman that dress similarly to the one in the OP shows that not only is she proffessional, but that she is intelligent and not a slut. Women that dress like they are out for a night on the town at the office bitch that they get treated differently and hit on more, and one wonders why. More women need to dress this way and they'll have more respect at work, home and for themselves

[linda22003]

i perfer a woman that likes classic sliming clothing

"Sliming" clothing sounds sticky.

[Gingersnap]

as a young male (26) and married, i perfer a woman that likes classic sliming clothing, expecially dresses, not that say that something exotic every once in awhile isn't hot, but for everyday dress to the office/church a woman that dress similarly to the one in the OP shows that not only is she proffessional, but that she is intelligent and not a slut. Women that dress like they are out for a night on the town at the office bitch that they get treated differently and hit on more, and one wonders why. More women need to dress this way and they'll have more respect at work, home and for themselves

Skirts and dresses certainly lend themselves to making a woman look good - more so than jeans and a sloppy teeshirt, in my opinion. I like her dress. Too many women seem to fear dresses. They are more comfortable than most slacks and they do a lot to minimize any figure flaws.

[lacarnut]

Shoes are what are hard for me. I am very hard on them, because I walk on the outsides of my feet. Whether I buy a pair at Payless, DSW or Nordies, I tend to wear them out in one year or less. .

I buy my shoes, penny loafers, at SAS stores. They sell casual ladies shoes also. They are the most comfortable and last longer (around 5 years) than any other brands. You can not buy them on the internet but they do have a website showing styles. Mine run over a hundred bucks, and they put them on sale only once a year.

[noonwitch]

I have all kinds of foot problems (none of which are my fault, I might add). I wear a lot of clogs, Birkie sandals, and flats with orthopedic inserts. I only wear heels on high ceremonial occasions. There are a lot of different clog styles which range from the ultra casual to the dressy. Good clogs aren't cheap, of course. Expect to pay well over $100 for the dressy type to wear to work and around $80 for the more casual formats.

However, they wear like iron and if you wear the soles unevenly, you can get them resoled at a very reasonable price. Since they aren't trendy, they are wearable for literally years.

Clog have a bad rap because cheap clogs are so ugly. It doesn't have to be that way at all. If you've never worn good clogs before, buy your first pair from a local shop so you get the correct size (mine are all European sizes). After that, you can order off the Internet. All genuine Birkies require an adjustment period to get used to the specialized foot-bed but you'll be glad you took the time. Some oiled leather clogs need a breaking-in period to conform to your arch. Again, this is worth the effort since they will feel like slippers afterward. If you have custom orthotics, most will fit in a clog style that has a closed heel. ;)

I can't wear open-heeled shoes-I can't walk right in them, so they make my legs hurt. My mom never would let me wear clogs back in the 70s for that reason. I tend to wear maryjanes, because they look nice with dresses and I can also wear them with pants. I can't always find a pair, though, because the Naturalizer is basically an online store now, and I'm not buying shoes without trying them on first.

[Gingersnap]

I can't wear open-heeled shoes-I can't walk right in them, so they make my legs hurt. My mom never would let me wear clogs back in the 70s for that reason. I tend to wear maryjanes, because they look nice with dresses and I can also wear them with pants. I can't always find a pair, though, because the Naturalizer is basically an online store now, and I'm not buying shoes without trying them on first.

Not all clogs are open-heeled, quite a few are closed or have a strap that you can flip back behind the heel. You might find that your inability to walk right in an open-backed clog has disappeared now. Inexpensive clogs are almost impossible to keep on but the better quality clogs never seem to have that problem. :)