Save the Outfit Repeaters : 5 Tricks So Nobody Notices
Shhhh, don’t say the words “outfit repeater”, or the fashion gods will come to get you! Just kidding. Screw that!
Ladies, let’s kill this fear. If you’ll remember many moons ago before the over saturation of Facebook and Instagram documenting our every outfit, you could repeat an outfit three times a month and no one would notice or care.
I want those days back. But, here’s the thing. I think they never really left, we just let our perception get skewed. Back in the day, and even now, I can barely remember what I wore to a casual event or work, much less what someone else wore.
Building on that, I rarely remember what people were wearing when they post a picture that shows their outfit. And then, if they happen to post a picture again in the same outfit, I cannot recall a single time where I thought, “Huh, they’ve worn that before”, and scrolled their old pictures to find the offensive repeat.
Starting to feel a little better about repeating? I hope so. But keep reading, I’ve got some more tips on how to repeat outfits without feeling like everyone’s staring.
Tips on Repeating Outfits
Let me tell you a secret, repeating outfits means you have style. Because you know how to wear things again, but make it feel different. It’s an art. Always putting something new on is fashion, and fashion doesn’t last.
Style is eternal, after all.
Tip : invest in basics…and statement pieces
We all love the basics, and a lot of us wear the heck out of them. But what will really bring your wardrobe the extra mile is some statement pieces to mix in to your well-loved basic wardrobe. However, you can also develop the opposite problem if you gain too many statement pieces or ones that are too loud.
There are some looks you just remember, no matter how many ways they’re worn differently. For example, a creamsicle orange feather dress is pretty dang memorable. I would suggest you go for statement pieces that make a statement but not tooooo big of a statement. A good example would be a black beaded skirt or one of your favorite shirts in a different color than you normally wear. Statements don’t have to be big and loud to make themselves known.
If you want to see some more examples of how to combine basics and statement pieces, check out my piece on creating a Year Round Capsule Wardrobe, which specifies how many basics/statement pieces should be in your closet.
Tip 2 : Change Hairstyle/Accessories
I have a favorite little black dress, but sometimes it can be lackluster. However, when I change up the way I do my hair or wear a different necklace than usual, it feels new to me!
Don’t underestimate the power of little changes to make an outfit look different. With basic outfits I also feel like I can go even crazier with the hair and accessories (like rocking space buns with half up/half down hair, it’s a look).
The statement necklaces of 2010 may have come and gone in all their glory, but don’t be afraid of finding your own statement jewelry to spice things up.
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Tip 3 : Upcycle tired pieces
Pieces just get old, especially if you’ve worn them to death. But, there are ways to make them new again and have you feel like you’ve got a new closet with spending hardly any money. Here are some ways you can upcycle the clothing you’re tired of to give it new life and let you rewear it (all the while people asking where you got this new outfit, jokes on them).
Cut off your jeans for shorts, add distressing to your jeans, or cut off just the hem to get a trendy raw hem.
Make changes to a dress or skirt by shortening it or adding new trim on the bottom. If it has buttons you can change them out for something new and fresh.
Add patches to all the things, especially jackets. This is my current favorite thing to do with iron on patches, because I can remove them if I get tired of them later.
Dye it! Dye can be scary, so it’s a last resort for me. It works best on solid colors, but interesting results can come from prints, if you’re willing to experiment and risk losing it. I like dye if I still love the style of something but I’m over the color.
Tip 4 : Use a Digital Closet App
There are apps where you can upload your personal clothing items and have your closet at your fingertips. Pretty neat. I’ve got a review on the top 6 and which ones I like best.
But, where they are helpful in rewearing outfits is that it will give you stats on what you’re wearing the most. It can help to see a cold, hard number that you wore that black tee 15 times this month and ignored the other 80% of your closet.
Andddd some of the apps will also suggest combinations of things you can wear together, which is a feature I love for when I’m fresh out of creativity. These combinations are based on fancy math and algorithms from the robots, so they aren’t always the best, but in the case they aren’t, it gives you a starting point and angle from which to see your clothing in a new light.
Tip 5 : Rotate Pieces
If you’re overwearing something or just tired of looking at it but still feel a connection to it, put it in a box and shove it in a dark corner.
I once put a pile of clothing in a box that I was kind of unsure about getting rid of, and somehow it never made it to the donation center. About a year later, I found these pieces and I was soooo excited to “have them back”, because they were like new to me!
They were pieces I really loved, I was just kind of bored of wearing them all the time. Ever since then, I’ve allowed myself to keep 5-7 pieces that I just can’t part with in a box at the bottom of my dresser in a drawer I hardly touch.
In the back of my mind, I know it’s there, and several months later I’ll pull out those pieces and bring them back into my closet.
So, sometimes the key to rewearing or repeating an outfit is to not give yourself the option for a bit. When you have the option again, it feels fresh to you and to everyone else.
It’s 10000% possible to rewear your clothing and no one will notice. In fact, I’d be willing to be it’s way more likely they will NOT notice you repeated an outfit than they will.
Heck, even our beloved princess Kate Middleton repeats outfits, and I couldn’t tell you which ones she did. Frankly, the only reason I know this is because every now and then magazines will do a feature on the outfits or pieces she rewore. Did I personally notice? Nope.
And if I didn’t notice one of the most famous people in the world rewearing an outfit, then no one will notice you did too (plus, it helps most of us don’t have paparazzi).