Notes3 min read
Repeating an outfit isn't running out of ideas
Some outfits find their way back into rotation without much thought. Maybe they deserve a closer look.
The outfit that passes the Tuesday test
A loose shirt, straight trousers and the same flat shoes. It may not be the outfit you'd photograph to announce a new era in your wardrobe. But you wear it on Tuesday, choose it again on Friday and, when the following week arrives, it still works.
That tells you something about your style, too. Perhaps you like how those proportions sit together, the colours are easy to combine, or nothing needs adjusting halfway through the day. The outfit has had to live with the street, a chair, the weather and the rest of your life. A good photograph doesn't pass all those tests.
The strange pressure to wear something new
In a feed, every image seems to ask for a new idea. In a wardrobe, clothes are there to be worn again. The distance between the two can make repeating an outfit feel unimaginative, even when you like it exactly as it is.
It isn't only our impression. In a qualitative study based on interviews and wardrobe research in Ireland, Helen Maguire and Frances Fahy identified social media as one factor affecting repeat garment wear. That doesn't mean everyone worries about repeating an outfit, or that a familiar look is always a happy choice. Sometimes schedules, budgets or dress codes decide for us.
But when you return to an outfit because you want to, it's worth noticing. It says something more precise than ‘I like this piece’: it shows which clothes you like wearing together.
Repetition gives you room to edit
You don't have to reinvent an outfit to justify wearing it again. Leave it as it is. Or change one thing and see what happens: swap flat shoes for a more formal pair, wear the shirt open instead of buttoned, add a long coat over the same base.
A small change is easier to see when everything else stays still. It helps you tell what holds the outfit together and what was only passing through. Perhaps the trousers and shirt are the combination; the shoes can change. Or perhaps it was the shoes all along.
Next time you repeat an outfit
What would you leave alone?
You don't need a clever answer. Just one you can use the next time you open your wardrobe.
Repeating a good idea doesn't make it any less yours.
Sometimes that's when it starts to become clear.
ARKLING