I wore the same dress for 100 days. Here was my experience.
TL;DR: I have a small wardrobe and I LOVE it and I’d love to help you experience the benefits of a smaller wardrobe, too!
I’ve had a small wardrobe ever since I read 2 very influential books as a young adult. The first book was entitled Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion by Elizabeth L. Cline. I devoured this very well-researched and well-written book. As you can expect from the title, it exposes the costs of producing and consuming fast fashion to humans and the planet. After I read the book, I became very interested in only buying clothes that were sustainably made and what I deemed high-quality (in hopes they would last longer than the cheap fashion that filled my closet as a college student). As a new college graduate and sole-breadwinner for our household at the time, this meant I could not afford to buy a lot of clothing (a natural constraint!)
Not soon after I read the second book that had a huge impact on my wardrobe and my life at large; The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I read this book in early 2015, soon after it was published in the US. I can’t remember where I heard about it (I was not on social media, maybe a podcast?) but that book really taught me this principle; When the student is ready, the teacher appears. And wow was I ready.
I was so moved by the book and her process and took immediate action. For those not familiar with the Konmari method, you work in categories, not necessarily by space (clothes, books, papers, komono and momentos.) As suggested in the book I started with clothes. Even before this I never had a huge wardrobe. But after this experience I had a very small wardrobe. And the crazy thing is that it has stayed very small for over a decade. I’m not tempted to grow my wardrobe at all. I don’t miss any of the clothes I got rid of or my previous life when I had more clothes than I could regularly wear (and fully wear out).
Over the next few years some of the pieces in my wardrobe were getting worn out and I really craved the ease of a uniform. In my quest to find something that would work as a daily uniform that was also sustainably made, I stumbled upon Sonnet James dresses. I loved them so much (comfort and sustainability!) that I bought 3 of the very same dress in 3 different colors. I was working in an office at the time and I wore those dresses on repeat. I often wore them when I was not in the office too. I LOVED having a uniform. I even wore them for my whole first pregnancy and while breastfeeding my son for 2 years.
But eventually, those dresses got worn out (that’s what happens when you only have a few items of clothing that you wear all the time!) and I moved to a much colder climate and was no longer working in an office. My wardrobe remained very small but I did acquire a few new pieces to update my uniform to meet my new needs (my new uniform was tees and jeans). It was also at this time that I started really getting into wool.
Wool socks were the gateway drug for me. Wow, I love them so much. My feet were so warm and cozy and a whole-lot less stinky. I became a wool convert pretty quickly.
Fast forward a few years through another pregnancy and a global pandemic and somehow I stumbled on another brand; wool&. They have a really cool origin story. And they have a really cool challenge they invite customers to be a part of. If you wear the same dress for 100 days straight and document it, they’ll send you a $100 gift card. I love wool, I love a uniform and I am very prize-motivated. It’s like they designed this challenge just for me! I mean how could I NOT do this?
So I picked out a dress and started my 100-day challenge. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure I was going to last 100 days but when I didn’t even bat an eye after 30 days of wearing the same dress, I knew this was going to be easy. In fact, the hardest part was remembering to take a picture every day for documentation.
I wore the dress everywhere! I wore it at home, out at the park with my kids, at church, to the symphony, hiking, camping, kayaking. I wrapped up the challenge professing an even deeper love of wool (I do now have a few more of their dresses, I’m nothing if not brand loyal) and a deeper conviction that there are a ton of benefits to minuscule wardrobes.
Here are a few of the benefits I experienced:
It's SUPER easy to decide what to wear when you have a very small wardrobe. I spend less than a nano-second thinking about it each day.
I actually wear out my clothes.
My wardrobe is more current. And I don’t necessarily mean in the sense of style (I will never profess to be an ultra-stylish, fashion conscious person). I mean that my wardrob reflects my current life, not a past life or a future life. When something wears out I have the opportunity to replace it with a similar item or do a small course correction and find an item that more closely aligns with my current life and my current style.
I spend less time, energy and money procuring new clothes. Buying new clothes is not a sport like it used to be in my fast fashion days. And I’m consuming at a much slower pace so I spend less money and time shopping.
I think people see me for me and not my clothes.
I need a lot less storage space for clothes.
I don’t feel the constant need to declutter my clothes (attrition happens naturally, as mentioned above).
I have a clear picture of what clothing works for my current life. For me, comfort is king. ALL of my clothes are comfortable and fit my current size. If you have a small wardrobe, your standards can be higher.
It feels less wasteful.
I spend a lot less time on laundry. This is sort of specific to me since my small wardrobe has a large wool content. Wool is magical. Maybe if you’re lucky I’ll reveal how many times I washed my dress in the 100-day challenge!
I know I’m a little extreme in my stance on this, but right-sizing my wardrobe (which for me is a minuscule one) has been a big positive in my life. And in a world that tells you that you need more and more and more, I think it can be helpful to take a step back and really consider if that way of life is serving you. If it’s really making you happy or if in some instances it’s adding more work and stress to your life.
If fashion and clothes are an important part of your self-expression and your life, don’t let me discourage you. I just know for myself that having a smaller wardrobe has freed up my time, energy and mental capacity for things that I care about more. And that’s kind of a big deal to me.
If you’re ready to see if a minuscule wardrobe changes your life, Book a 90-minute session with me! I love helping people decide what to keep in their lives and set up their spaces to be the most functional spaces they can be. I’d love to help you do the same!
