I was recently flipping through a magazine and I stumbled across an article that really inspired me and I thought I would share my thoughts on it with you. The article mainly focuses on an art director called Matilda Kahl who has been wearing the same outfit to work everyday for the past few years. After struggling to find the right outfit in the morning and spending a lot of her time and energy on that she decided that enough was enough and that she would stick to only one outfit from now on - for that she chose a classy and comfortable look consisting of a white blouse with a ribbon and black trousers. Another aspect that led to her decision of wearing the same outfit everyday was that this is exactly what all business men do anyway - they wear a suit. Why should women spend hours on deciding what to wear every morning when men don't even have to spend a minute on that?
Well first of all I have to admit that women got a lot more choices when it comes to clothing and I have to say - I love that. Because for me, wearing different clothes is a form of self-expression. I love picking different outfits depending on how I am feeling - sometimes there will be days when I wear black trousers and a plain white top. On other days I might go for a really girly look with a long skirt and a floral top. But then there are days where I wish I didn't have to think about my outfit. Especially when I have to wake up early to go to work. And in that case, knowing exactly what to wear would come in very handy. We have to make so many decisions in life anyway, sometimes it feels great to have one less to make - however small that might be. And not having to choose my outfit would save me an incredible amount of time in the morning - at least 10 to 15 minutes that I could spend having breakfast instead or reading through blogs. I think that this was Matilda's original reason behind wearing the same outfit - but the topic definitely goes further than that and like I have already mentioned, it is also a matter of gender equality. Because if the majority of business men are pretty much wearing the same thing everyday, then we can do it, too, right?
Because even though clothing is a form of self-expression, it should be an optional form. Clothes are a great way of expressing our emotions but on the other hand, what we wear shouldn't define who we are as a person. And I think that this might be a big difference between men and women - have you ever judged a business men according to his clothes? No, because most of them wear a black suit anyway. Would you judge a business woman according to her clothes? Not all of us would, but the chances are definitely higher. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, though, because clothes can really make you stand out and they can highlight your character. On the other hand, this brings quite a lot of stress with it because it means that we have to think about the way we dress.
I think wearing the same outfit is an amazing idea, just not for me - or maybe only to a certain extend. I love experimenting with fashion and expressing myself through it too much to stick to one outfit. However, reading about this experiment made me think about which outfit I would pick if I actually had to wear it everyday. As you can see, I have chosen tight black trousers, a black and white blouse and a leather jacket to go with it - I love this outfit because it is classy yet casual, especially when you combine it with a leather jacket. If I was working in the business sector I would probably go for a blazer instead. I feel like thinking this matter through can be really helpful for stressful mornings because you develop a back up plan. I think this is a great compromise anyway - I won't limit myself to only wearing one outfit (because to me, I would feel like setting a limit I am not entirely happy with) but in case I can't think of a good outfit, I will go for this one.
When thinking about this topic I have noticed that is has often been discussed in a different form already - the key word is school uniforms. Growing up in a country where we don't ever school uniforms I was also torn between the wish not to have to think about my outfit in the morning and then I was also very happy that I could choose what to wear. I often felt like the children at my school were too judgemental when it came to clothes though - that could have have been avoided by wearing school uniforms. In my opinion, everyone should make their own choices when it comes to the selection of your outfit - if you want to wear colourful clothes to express your personality, then that's great. If you want to wear a hat, black clothes and sneakers, than that's just as good. And if you don't want to spend any more time thinking about your clothes, then go ahead and wear the same outfit everyday and try the Matilda Experiment. It really is our choice.
What do you think about the Matilda Experiment? Would you wear the same everyday?
And how do you feel about wearing uniforms at school?
I would love to hear about your opinions, leave a comment below! x
