Uniform and function
The point of wearing a uniform, usually, is to take out much of the thought process that goes into figuring out what to wear every day. In the case of students, waiters and policemen, it assigns you to a rank and strips you of personal identity, reducing you to a number or name tag. Sometimes, a uniform does the exact opposite — it calls attention to the fact that you are wearing the same thing every day, a monochrome image burnt against a technicolor backdrop. It becomes both a style and political statement. I had a college classmate who for one whole semester would wear only a white T-shirt, khaki pants and white sneakers to go with a shaved head and nerd glasses. It was a manifestation of his minimalist-punk ethos, and contrary to what you would think, a lot of thought went into creating this non-look.
When it comes to wearing the same little black dress every day — but differently — for a whole year, as Sheena Matheiken did for the Uniform Project, style becomes a challenge as well as a call to action. A tweet from my friend Cat Juan, who was contemplating joining the cause, led me to this site. Fashion bloggers have been documenting their day-to-day garb for years now, and 365-day challenges have turned many a blogger with as little as a phone cam and a simple idea into best-selling book authors. Matheiken was a jaded advertising type who wanted to do something philanthropic but without calling it so. Inspired by the new models of sharing that were flourishing in the social network and the au courant memes of homemade craftiness and downscaling consumerism, she launched a website that would raise funds as she promised to wear the same dress for a whole year, accessorizing with only pre-owned or donated items. The point was that you don’t have to keep buying new clothes to create new outfits — and in the process she raised over $100,000 which sent 287 underprivileged Indian kids to school via her chosen charity, the Akanksha Foundation.
Look ma, one dress: The mark of a truly stylish person isn't in a rotating wardrobe but in making the most of what you have. The project, started in 2009, was such a success that it launched a pilot series where guest bloggers were invited to do a month-long version of the uniform challenge and raise money for their particular cause. The “pilots” get to design the LBD they will don for the next 30 days, and the rules of versatility dictate that the dress feature a zipper or button opening (so you can layer it as a jacket), be wearable back-to-front, and of course be black, the better to hide those week-old coffee stains. Matheiken admitted she had several identical LBDs on hand, if you were wondering about hygiene issues. The results are pretty amazing — it wasn’t a matter of just changing a pair of earrings and throwing on a different sweater every day; that would be boring. Entire new genres of looks were invented from sheer audacity and need. And Mathiesen never looked bad, ridiculous, or a parody of what she was trying to achieve. She became a fashion icon for creative sustainability.
The Uniform Project movement has spread virally and fashion types around the world are replicating the challenge with their own versions, finally finding a fun way to link altruism with the disciplined narcissism of documenting oneself daily. It’s a different way to think about one’s wardrobe — especially for those in the media who feel it’s the kiss of death to be styleblogged in the same outfit twice. Let’s destigmatize the dreaded “repeat outfit” and instead elevate it to a noble effort of social awareness. There’s more to fashion than being able to buy new clothes all the time. Style, when it runs deep, is the art of making the most of what you have.
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The project can be found at www.theuniformproject.com.
