They say fashion is a way to express yourself, but what does your wardrobe really say? A few years ago I set out to see what my wardrobe said and I was not happy with the answer.
My clothes were not chosen to reflect who I am to the world. Instead, I bought them because of pressure to look a certain way, or because of a sale, or they were gifted to me. Nothing I wore made me feel both comfortable and confident. Nothing really said who I was or reflected my values.
So I set out to change that. After many different ideas and wardrobe experiments, I settled on the ten-item wardrobe from Jennifer L. Scott's book Lessons From Madame Chic. And for a while, that worked, but it wasn't quite right yet. Eventually, I decided to transition to a minimalist daily uniform: one outfit to wear all day, every day. It has been life-changing.
The process of narrowing down exactly what I wanted my uniform to do for me and say about me was incredibly difficult but well worth it. Ultimately, I decided on something that is comfortable but professional. Now, every day I put on a slightly over-sized black button up, black pants, and sensible, dress casual black boots.Although sometimes I give my feet a break and wear sneakers.
This reflects my values and my personality, serving me in a way that my old wardrobe never could. The collared blouse means I never feel under-dressed or unprepared for an event. The black lets me blend in when I want to and stand out when I don't.
But the most important thing it does is force me to step away from a culture of trends and beauty and fashion. Women are constantly bombarded with ads and social media telling us that we are only as valuable as we are beautiful. We are told from the moment we are born that we need to make ourselves prettier if we are to be worth something. But wearing the same thing every day, something that focuses on being professional and comfortable instead of beautiful makes the statement that my worth is not based on my appearance.
Every day my wardrobe communicates that I am more than what I look like. It communicates it to those who see me, day in and day out, with my nose to the grindstone instead of worrying, even for a second, about what I look like. It communicates it to the fashion industry that wants to prey on my insecurities and take my hard earned money instead of saving it for grad school. And, most importantly, it communicates it to me on the days when the Instagram posts and advertising gets to me, and it reminds me that I don't need to be beautiful to be intelligent or funny or interesting or worthy or valuable. And that has made all the difference.
So if you had to wear one outfit every day, what would it be? What would it say? And how could that change you?
