Self imposed uniforms

[JeSuis]

A la Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Homer Simpson...

What would yours be if you had to do this?

I do it! I work in an art gallery and wear versions of the same outfit every day. Black blazer, white or black shell top underneath and jeans and boots. It's an art gallery with some workshops and a lot of mess created by artists and by people taking classes so a posher "uniform" wouldn't work as I'm often moving heavy sculptures or paintings and helping clear paint up etc. I've tried different outfits and find this one the best. Vaguely smart but still something comfortable and practical.

I didn't expect anyone to say they actually did this already! Do you wear similar when not at work?

I don’t have a uniform as such, but for work I wear one of a variety of dresses from the same company, with brightly coloured tights and a matching bright cardigan. It's sort of a uniform!

And to answer your question to PP, I don’t wear the same at home. I tend to wear baggy skirts, tops and hoodies on my down time.

I do it too. Whatever my favourite outfit is at a time I have 3-5 versions of it that I cycle. Sometimes they are all the same colour ways, sometimes I have a couple of different colours of same garment.

At the moment it is Forgotten Tribes Low Crotch harems with. Ninety Percent Henley with aro joanetta trainers.

Last incarnation was Monki black denim dungarees worn rolled at the hem with the bib down and a Marks and Spencer Heatgen plus polo neck in black with narrow tan vertical stripes or a no brand basketball shirt Henley with black body and leopard print sleeves/trim in taupe and black with mother of petal buttons, and all birds high top mizzles in black felt.

It changes every 3-6 months and and I retire items to be reincorporated into future favourite outfits f a slightly different combination.

I do my wear it absolutely every day-sometimes inspiration strikes and I want to wear a different thing. But it takes a lot of decision making out of each morning and helps me.

I spend a lot of time researching and looking into getting the details exactly right for the next incarnation. Then suddenly an idea strikes me from what I’ve seen or tried and I run with it and the next favourite is born.

I start off with one outfits worth of clothes and wear it regularly for a couple of weeks to see if it takes. If it does then I go straight to three outfit’s worth, and if I think it’ll last for six months I go to five.

I’ve been doing this for five/six years now and so have a good stock of well loved staples to fre on, so now often I am just buying multiples of one item for a new staple look.

I also wear the same style of bra and knickers everyday. Different colours depending on outfit.

I do this!

I work in a special school federation doing pastoral care.

That means meeting parents and professionals but also attending to support some high risk incidents.

I have M and s high waited jogging a in various dark but nice colours - Eg plum. 4 cotton t shirts the same in plain colours that are king length, pockets and detail so smart casual. I then wear junior or cardigan.

It's not easy to dress for one minute meeting a parent and the next jumping a fence after an absconder 🤣🤣

I do this for work. M&S black joggers, plain navy technical t-shirt from Decathlon, plain black trainers, hair in a bun, minimal makeup and just stud earrings. I’m a self-employed sports massage therapist, so I need to be able to move freely and look smart but also a bit sporty-ish.

Although I am considering mixing it up a bit with a different coloured t-shirt

I would like to be able to do this. Decision making in the morning is so tiring.

Inspired by Obama, who said it saved him at least one decision a day (what to wear) freeing him up for more important decisions.

When I buy a new top, I buy multiples of the same one. Sometimes dye them all, currently have about six each of an olive green and a teal blue plus a few rust coloured tops in cotton/hemp, so a slight slub like raw silk to the surface.

Lovely fabric soft shaped trousers. I wear either a blue or teal top with a pair of the trousers every day as my 'uniform'. For dressier occasions (!) I wear a different top with the same trousers. For exercise, I have an active wear type trousers with the same tops. I have enough to wear two tops a day for a week before running a wash.

It's so freeing to now have to think about what to wear. I may have enjoyed wearing uniform at school, though it was much less comfortable than the fabrics I wear now.

The other big plus is how easy it makes doing washing.

I'm so fascinated by this! Do you have rows of similar items in your wardrobe?

I think mine would be blue jeans and a grey or navy jumper. Probably a white tshirt underneath.

I was talking to a psychiatrist the other day and he said that he always wore the same thing because his patients liked the comfort and predictability of it. I'd never thought about it that way before.

I personally like choosing what to wear each day. If I had a uniform though it would probably be black skinny trousers, ankle boots and a silk shirt of some description.

I have found my people.

Do you have rows of similar items in your wardrobe?

Yep.

@FinallyHere, may I ask where you get your trousers please?

I don’t stick to completely the same thing but if I find something that works I buy it in multiple colours!
I have the same stripy jersey dress in 5 colours
Raglan sleeve wool cashmere jaeger coat in 7 colours
There is a particular style of batwing sleeve sweater dress which I have from all Saints and phase eight in about 8 different colour or pattern ways

I have a version of it for work. Not the exact same garments every day, but a style.

Shift dress, black tights, ankle boots (winter).
Tapered trousers, silk blouse, slip on flats (Autumn/Spring)
Midi dress, low wedge peep toe sandal (summer).

It makes shopping & dressing easy.

If I could choose, I’d be a PE reacher and wear trackie bottoms every day .

I think this sounds so interesting! How do you decide your next outfit @ImmediatelyNo ?

I might start researching one for spring. But where do you start?!

Winter: Navy cashmere crew neck, grey wool loose trousers, white trainers or black boots

Summer: denim shirt dress and Birkenstock Arizonas.

I’m working on a warm but semi-smart one for home working and zoom. In lockdown, I often wore mismatched top and bottom - comfortable on bottom and smarter on top, but it felt scruffy, a bit bonkers and a bit no-man’s-land.

Now I’m hoping to work hybrid permanently and spend 5days a week at home, but I am over this business of one wardrobe for home and one for going out. I want to be able to nip out somewhere, answer the door to the postie or stand up on zoom without feeing scruffy or needing to change.

Given what my heating bills are going to do in March when my deal runs out, I’m compiling a mix and match wardrobe of cords, velvet, thermals, merino wool, wrist warmers and so on. Currently trying to find something like uggs but not too uggy for indoor use.

So I think you can do a very specific capsule wardrobe that swaps around well without going full Steve Jobs.

The era of different wardrobes for work and home is over, though, I think.

I always used to do it, white t shirt and various pairs of M&S relaxed jersey or polyester trousers in different patterns and DM boots.

Since COVID, it’s all scrubs in the NHS so doesn’t happen but I liked having essentially a separate wardrobe for work, didn’t have to think too hard in the mornings and days off were identified by different clothes.

TBh I like scrubs for the same reason, I don’t have to think.

@Itsnotdeep here are some questions to get you started…

These are the central questions…
What is absolutely your favourite thing to wear at the moment? And what is the thing you wear most often? What has proved really good value per wear/worn well?/What would you buy again?/What suits your lifestyle?

Then once you’ve decided on one farmer that meets all of some of the above questions then you can work outwards with these supplementary questions…

Are these things similar to other things you have worn frequently/enjoyed wearing in the past?

What are your favourite colours/colours which suit you best?

What washes well/easily?

Is there anything currently en vogue you’ve seen and would like to try? What would it go with in your existing wardrobe that falls into the favourite/frequent/wears well category?

What are your favourite fabrics/textures?

This is really interesting but what about keeping warm?

I definitely have a style. I have the same M&S jumper in five colours, usually worn with a long A-line skirt, long socks (because I hate tights) and comfortable flat shoes or ankle boots.

I have other clothes too, but they're all similar in style!