Outfit repeating. A lot of people seem to be extremely scared of it. Me, for one, am also a victim of being scared of outfit repeating.
For example, New Year’s Eve has just gone by and I got to a few days before and stated I had nothing to wear. Now, this is completely wrong. I have a complete wardrobe full of clothes but no, I couldn’t wear those snakeskin trousers because I wore them last New Year, and not a chance am I wearing that bandana I wore to the pub last week! Utterly ridiculous way of thinking. So, I panic ordered some clothes from Pretty Little Thing and ended up wearing some zebra print trousers which I soon ended up ruining by falling into a bush and ripping the knee. Don’t drink gin, kids.
So, what is it with us thinking that if we’ve been seen in an outfit in the past 3 months that we shouldn’t dare wear it again? There’s literally no logical explanation, except it’s all in our heads. Each of us think that people are going to remember that we wore that pair of trousers in October, because we posted an Instagram in it. In reality, I personally don’t remember exactly when my friends have worn a specific item of clothing, I just think they look cute. A little ‘omg I love that top’ and we should move on.
This post has ultimately been inspired by the Instagram account ‘elizabethwhibley’. She posted a collage style illustration to try and tell people ‘it’s okay to repeat that outfit, hunnie.’
Along with the illustration, she posted a number of facts which really opened my eyes. 17% of young people said they wouldn’t wear an outfit again if it had been posted on Instagram (source: ethical consumer sept/oct 2019). I literally had this exact conversation with a girl I work with, with her saying not a chance would she wear an outfit if she had recently posted it on Instagram. It’s actually pretty sad, when you think about it, how consumed we are by social media and keeping up a certain appearance online. We need to realise, no one really cares that much. Sounds harsh but no one should really care you’re wearing the same top 6 posts apart from each other. And if they do, they’re pretty low and clearly have too much time on their hands.
Another thing that shocked me from Elizabeth’s Instagram, is that the number of times the average garment is worn before disposal is 10 (source The Times, fashion economy). 10!?? That’s nothing! That’s actually such a low figure and I think we all need to change our ways of thinking. We’ve been conditioned as consumers to think we need a new outfit for a different event, but in reality, switching out a different top with the same trousers creates a whole new look. We should work harder to come up with fun combinations of clothes to create an outfit instead of sitting there scrolling and ordering clothes unnecessarily. This helps your bank by spending less, as well as helping the environment by buying less fast fashion. However, wearing someone else’s clothes is also fun! That could be your friend’s, or from a charity shop. Second-hand clothing is nothing to be scared of, some of my favourite pieces of clothing have come from charity shops. I once got a thick brown (faux) fur coat for £10!!!! Absolute steal.
So, stop getting so worried and worked up about wearing the same outfit twice. Just bloody do it. And if someone wants to make a comment about it, they can bog off.
Post whatever you want, wearing what you want, huns.
Here’s a link to Elizabeth’s Instagram, living her best pink life.
(click on the piccy)
She also has an incredible website selling earrings and prints, in the most beautiful pink aesthetic. The website is just a dream, go and have a look.
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