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repetition vs variety - and does anyone really notice?

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I am one of those that craves variety. I may dress casually, but I don't wear the same old same old. I actually can say that most outfits do not get repeated more than 2 or 3 times a year. And even then, odds are it's not exact - it may be just a different shoe, or belt, or whatever, but for some reason, I'd rather 'change it up' when possible. This is to make me happy, not my audience (perceived or real).
When it comes to remixing, at what point is it so imperceptible to the casual observer that it's a moot point? Not to knock anyone, but the Vivienne Files comes to mind. A denim shirt over khaki pants looks the same to me no matter if you pair 'dots' or 'browns' or whatever other accessory category you choose, know what I mean??
But then there is also the question of repeating formulas - if I have 25 ways to do a voluminous top over skinnies, or gladiator sandals with shorts and a tank, or a pencil skirt with pumps - is the casual observer just seeing 'volume over skinnies' again and again and 'tank, shorts, glad sandals', 'pencil skirt, pumps' without noticing the different pieces, colors, textures, etc? And if so, do we care?! I'm only half kidding, but really, if no one differentiates between one outfit and the next, are we just spinning our wheels?

Dressing

43 replies

Latest reply was from shiny

Caro in Oz

Veteran

Oh this is what I'm wondering about (or wandering about if you will) too. I'll be watching this with interest. A perfect balance between enough & variety - is it possible for me?

Anonymous

I try to change things up. That is why I wear skinnies, bootcuts, flares and straight leg even BF jeans. I also try different work silhouettes but you can only go so far there. I might wear a blouse with a blazer and skirt one day, then a cami with a cardigan and pants the next, then go with a dress, and back to pants the day after. I might wear boots, then pumps, then booties. I also stopped buying multiples unless they are essential to my style, such as the Editor pants and the Halogen pencil skirts. However, I am at the point where I need to have some sort of catalogue, if you might call it that, so I am not doing the " Tazmanian Devil" routine every morning. I am about sick and tired of fixing my closet every.single.weekend. I do notice repetition in my outfits and it bores me to death.

jenanded

Veteran

I figure life is too short, and clothes are a wonderful interpretation of who we are and the world we are in... Yep i think we are spinning our wheels and forgetting that it is kind of entertainment. I both LOVE the variety I see in YLF AND the sameness of Vivienne files. Frankly I have hours of fun looking at the colours in my wardrobe, feeling good in an outfit and taking complments if I am lucky enough to get them. I also remember so fondly shopping for clothes with my mum (who is now no longer here), talking about clothes with her, and I love now spending time with my daughter getting ready to go out, and even matching up tshirts and shorts at home. I love the feel of fabric, I love shopping with my girls, I love the colours of the clothes. I am fortunate to have the money to be able to buy in stores now but I also reflect fondly when we were so broke and we all had clothes I made from $1 fabric... Mo, if you love variety go for it. I think Vivienne files is fun too but really wonderful curating of stuff as well.. Not sure if that helps but its a great question. AND I have a friend who is so whatever that at fifty she is wearing clothes she had at highschool full of holes even though she can afford new stuff, That is not pleasant to be around. Yeah pretty!! AND I love chatting to everyone on YLF about ideas and how they felt as well 0 that is way cool.

missvee

Veteran

Interesting post! I'm not so bothered about variety but I do like to express a creative side through fashion, so that might mean wearing a favourite outfit over and over, or taking a favourite piece and changing how I wear it ( different top, shoes, accessories etc). I try to buy pieces that I really like - that way I don't seem to get bored with them. Most of my friends are not Fashionistas at all, so they rarely comment on what I wear, and that's ok by me. I guess I dress to please myself anyway.

Thistle

Veteran

I had a friend who did an experiment. She wore exactly the same outfit each day of the week, five outfits in total (one for each day of the week). She did this for a whole fiscal quarter. At the end of the quarter, she asked around if anyone noticed anything.

Turns out oone had noticed.

Now, I work with almost all men, and most are engineers, so I doubt this is typical. Still, it was interesting.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I have a friend (male) who is a regular at the pub I've worked on and off for the last 18 years and he wears the same thing any time he is not in uniform (also a restaurant employee). He's at least in his 50's so I assume this has been going on long before I met him this decade lol. No one snickers behind his back at the same Levi's and trucker jacket.

Louise

I think people notice. At least other women do. We used to live in an area where people dressed up more. Then we moved to a smaller center and people don't dress up as much here. Blue jeans and t-shirts are the order of the day.

When I first came I received a lot of unwanted male attention (I was married with 2 school aged kids!), so I started to dress down. And I killed the variety so as not to draw attention to myself.

But I am artistic by nature and I absolutely crave variety. I miss being able to dress if I want to just because I want to. I wish the women locally dressed better. But they don't. And if I do start to throw in 'variety' (ie. dresses) I get comments about how I don't have to dress up for them. People can be very rude.

So I'm thinking the solution might be to have the variety in my casual clothes to wear around the house. I'll stick to the local uniform when I go out, but around home I can wear whatever I want.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I'm on the bench. I love variety as much as repetition.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

I think other people notice your overall style more than any particular outfit or how many times it repeats - unless is a very noteworthy outfit I suppose. So with people I see repeatedly I have a sense of the sort of things they wear without necessarily noticing if the exact outfit is a repeat. I am happy to repeat an outfit that I like, fwiw.

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

Remember my post about my co-worker noting that I never wear the same thing twice (which is not true)? That surprised me because I thought nobody notices but they do...
However I dress for myself and I love not only change outfits but also silhouettes and vibe during the week and even from week to week. I do it because I like variety and get easily bored with the repetition...but I won't try to make an outfit slightly different just to avoid repeating an old one I wore last month either.

Anonymous

This post makes me think of one of my co-workers. Our personalities are 180 degrees apart, but we have similar taste in clothes. She wears a grey sheath dress often. I don't know if it's the same dress or she has multiples. But she switches up the shoes and accessories. I never think "Oh, she's wearing that grey sheath dress again." I just always notice how nice it looks on her...and that I need to get a grey sheath dress.

I'm like you Mo, I like variety and try to switch it up so the outfit isn't exactly the same. Even if it only means wearing a different blazer and untucking the shirt instead. It's more for me, so I don't get bored. I do wonder if anyone notices how often I repeat items.

Mann

A new poster here :). Been lurking on the forum for a while, now signed up. Re the topic: I have a really small closet, and have been thinking about this a bit. I figure it's hard to generalize: it all depends on the people around you whether they notice, and also how extravagant your style is. I doubt most people who don't have an interest in fashion and clothing will notice and remember whether I wore black skinny jeans or skinny trousers or cords; or whether the cardigan had embellishments and lace on it or not. At least not in my office, nor my friends. They might however remember if I wore a cobalt blue fur vest, or something else that stands out as an eyecatching piece. I personally don't care whether people remember. It's me who is driven to different silhouettes, fabrics, and fits, as much as my small wardrobe allows. And I'll happily repeat an outfit, although not necessarily two days in a row - but I do sometimes wear my favorite outfits once a week, maybe just switch out shoes or jewellery, but I doubt anyone notices the subtleties.

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

Mo, I think things are different for us. I wear scrubs to work, you wear a restaurant uniform. Can't get more repetitive than that. Heck I don't even change my commuting clothes during the week, because the actual number of hours they are worn is low.
I do repeat opera outfits because I don't have unlimited dresses. But that's like once a year.

Gaylene

Veteran

Personally, I think that the average person notices the formula more than the details, unless something stands out because of it's color, shape, design, oddity, or whatever. Changing the belt or shoe in an outfit probably goes unnoticed unless the belt or shoe is unusual enough to catch a person's attention. If you wear more or less the same formula everyday, most people will be hard pressed to remember the details of today's outfit from yesterday's.

My theory comes from standing in front of students who can spend an hour or so staring at my outfit in the classroom, but, if you queried them later, would be hard pressed to tell you if I wore my grey trousers or my black ones on that particular day. But they will remember if I wear a skirt/boot combo instead of my usual pants/jacket formula, or if I wear my moto jacket, or my Fluveog shoes, or anything else that stands out from my normal attire. They are also quick to notice (and remember) if I have a button undone, or if anything shows that shouldn't be showing--even if they are viewing me from the back row of the lecture theatre. The only exception is if, for some reason, my students decide to focus on something like how many times I wear my black leather jacket in one week. (A humble reminder that I need to change things up a bit-- either in my lectures or my wardrobe.)

Choosing my career has definitely affected my fashion style. Nothing revealing, nothing body conscious, always check the rear view, don't go overboard either by being too bland or too trendy, don't wear it if your students are wearing it... the list goes on. That's why most of us in the education field tend to find a uniform or formula that works and spend our time tweaking it a bit to keep both us and our students from terminal boredom. Variety, but in small, sharp doses--like a pair of Fluevogs to liven up those black pants just to keep things from being too predictable. But too much change bothers most students; they like their routines and professors to be interesting but not scary.

qfbrenda

Veteran

I agree with Gaylene.

I tend towards wanting variety like you, though I don't have a huge wardrobe compared to some. I just like to mix things up.

A thought about VF... I like her site and have checked it daily for a long time. I've noticed that her goal seems to be to get her essential clothing items in place so that she can spend her time thinking about other things. I'm thinking her methods wouldn't be that fun for a person who uses fashion as more of a hobby and creative outlet.

rachylou

Veteran

I suppose it all depends on who you're with. But my cousin wore the same dress two successive x-mas family dinners, and my uncle commented.

rae

(website)

Veteran

I'm wondering how a uniform will affect me as well. The prospect makes me so glad that I have a wide variety of boots.

As of right now, I like to change up COLOR more than anything else. It just happens to be the main thing that grabs me or reflects my mood when I dress. So I can happily have the same jacket or style of jacket in many colors and not think twice about repeating the silhouette. Same with skinnies and boots to some extent.

ETA: I expect I have a much lower tolerance for repetition than my "audience," so I don't think about it when I dress... hm, guess I didn't think about it when I first commented, either!

Beth Ann

Veteran

Great thread, Mo. This has been on my mind a lot recently. I'm a creative type, and I crave variety, but I'm trying to buy better quality with limited funds, as well. Since YLF, my wardrobe "remixes" far better, but I'm also not satisfied with ho-hum any longer!

What to do?

I try to find a block of time every couple of weeks to "play" in my closet, trying new mixes. I need to begin photographing this, since I sometimes forget my creations. I also try to spread my spending out over time, buying more heavily in early fall and again in Spring, but sprinkling in a few puchases to keep things fresh in between.
Finally, I notice that I move items and silhouettes in and out of heavy rotation, and switch up my FFBOs.

Ingunn

(website)

Veteran

This is very interesting! To me, this corresponds to practicing to become a better musician, for instance, or an artist, or even a teacher. Anything, really. My point is: No matter what you want to be good at doing, you have to master the tools and the strategies of the trade first. Then you can begin improvising. If you have a structured core (formulas, capsules etc), you can add variety to that to keep everything fresh. Will people notice? Probably not, but they will notice that you are looking good, fresh, and up to date. It is the same way as we go to an exhibition or a performance: We appreciate the quality of it, if it's good, but we won't necessarily comprehend all the thoughts and work behind it.

To me, both structure/repetition and variety is equally important. If I had to invent everything from scratch each morning, I would never get out of the house.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Very interesting question and fascinating responses so far.

I like what Ingunn says here, and I'm discovering for myself that there's a twist. I will happily repeat a favourite outfit any number of times within a season. Honestly, right down to the exact details -- if I love it and feel great in it, and it works, I apparently have no compunction about wearing the same thing over and over again, regardless of who might see me in it. In fact, I'm much RATHER wear it than some outfit that is different just for the sake of being different. Of course if that outfit were equally great I would want to wear it just as often as the first outfit. And I would prefer to have at least 7 or 8 KILLER outfits to choose from! But you get the point. I'd rather wear KILLER and will repeat if I only have one or two KILLERs.

But...and it's a big but....it turns out, I only want to do this repetition thing for ONE season. Then I want to find some NEW favourite outfits!

Or at least that's how it's looking so far, this being my second fall on YLF.

I don't think that means I need to change my entire wardrobe every season, but it does suggest why a small wardrobe of "essentials" topped up by some terrific standout pieces might be my favoured way to go. I could add a couple of new "standout" pieces each season and replace any essentials that needed replacing and keep myself pretty happy. But without those "standout" pieces, I'll be bored as bored can be.

Anonymous

This is such a great thread. I will be following it with much interest.

I think Ingunn said it best for my personal style of dressing.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Interesting! Anna you make a good point about us uniform wearers. It's no wonder I crave variety. But even when I'm off work here in FL for extended periods, I still like to change up what I'm wearing. I have to admit I don't remember how much variety I needed when I worked an office job over 20 years ago. Back then I wasn't always dressing correctly for the position (ahem) but I did have too many clothes even then.
Suz, regarding just wearing a few Killer outfits, I actually scratched down earlier this year that 50 great outfits beat 100 so-so ones. This was to wake me up to making my closet better work for me instead of acquiring, acquiring, acquiring. But obviously our repetition thresholds are way different LOL.
I would say I don't repeat within a month, generally. But then the 'paper bag' dress came along and I found myself wearing it 2 and 3 times a month this year! Dresses in particular get very spaced out rotation in my closet so this was a breakthrough of sorts. It was also the dress that sealed the 'drapey' silhouette for me this summer.
I wonder if my preference for variety will shift as my purchasing rate slows way down next year with the 12 in 12?
And my lady friends do notice what I'm wearing - the guys not so much, unless it defines a particular body part, like a new pair of jeans lol.

Anonymous

Honestly, I don't mind wearing and being seen in the same outfit a few times per month. As long as what I wear makes me look and feel good, and as long as I dress appropriately for the occasion, I'm perfectly fine with not having a wide variety of outfits. What I do like, however, is changing my color palette for each season. I wear different colors in the Fall, for example, than I do during the Summer. This means my Summer clothing is not being worn right now, which is fine because by the time Summer rolls back around, I'll be ready to wear them again. Right now, I'm enjoying my Fall wardrobe. I don't feel deprived at all, and if people get tired of seeing me wear an outfit more than a couple of times per month, it's their problem. I'm much happier wearing a few fab outfits than I would be wearing a different outfit each day of the week just for the sake of variety.

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

I think some people do notice when I'm repeating but honestly, I'm to the point where I don't really care. If I truly like an outfit I am now quite comfortable repeating it - with either a bit of tweaking or exactly the same.

I used to totally crave variety but this past year I've learned that reaching for that variety has resulted in purchasing mistakes.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

By all means repeating great outfits is fab! I don't mean to say one is preferable over another. As a matter of fact, I wonder if the need for variety is a lot of effort for little noticeable effect honestly lol.

RedM

This is an interesting, and timely for me, post. I've come to the realization that I'm happiest in a dress. However, how many quality dresses can I own and how many different ways are there to style them without breaking the bank? Will I tire of a dress after a season? I'm lucky that I work in a casual environment with mostly men who only notice that I'm not wearing jeans as opposed to particulars about an outfit. I guess I'm with Suz, that if an outfit makes me feel fab then I will wear it, same details and all, multiple times.

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

It seems like a lot of people I know notice things like a new necklace or different shoes. But not so much for pants or tops, unless they are strongly patterned or something. I'm not sure they care as much about repetition unless every time they see you it's in the exact same outfit. Like my BF shorts I bought 3 pair of and wore nearly every day for the past couple of months. Sigh. At least one pair was white.

For me, fashion is both an artistic expression and a confidence building tool. I like to look good for myself and to project that feeling outwardly AND I love art and color, etc. I guess I'll repeat quite often for the sake of fit, comfort and what I perceive as looking good. Maybe to a fault.

I do tend to notice other people's clothing -- esp. if I see an item several times and it becomes their uniform in my mind. Not necessarily a bad thing if the fit, color and style suits them well, but I do like to see some new things on others once in a while.

Some people change their hairstyles often and that's always intrigued me because I never have been one to do that. Except for a ponytail when it's hot or I'm exercising, my hair style seems to stay the same day to day.

I like a small wardrobe but I'm still working on mine so there are mistakes sitting in the closet. I'm not willing to clear out everything that I only wear once in a while because I do tend to change my mind over the years. I don't want to repeat the same 10 outfits every ten days but maybe if I had say, 30 outfits for summer and 30 for fall I'd be pretty happy to just accessorize to keep things interesting. I'm still learning.

Diana

Veteran

I like variety and I have a large wardrobe, so I think I don't repeat complete outfits very often. I do repeat individual pieces, especially things I am currently in love with or things that are ubiquitous like blue jeans, but like you, I'll at least change out the shoes or the scarf or something. I think in summer I wear the same thing more often, probably because sometimes it's like a dress+sandals and that's all, so there's less ways to change that up.

One rule I have is to never wear the same item two days in a row (except for coats and handbags and very occasionally shoes such as my snow boots). In addition to it being better for the clothes to let them air out a bit, I always wonder whether being seen in the same clothes the following day will make others think that I either didn't go home last night or bother to shower! On the other hand, I know someone who wears the same outfit two days in a row on a regular basis, - I think her theory is that you wear it twice and then you launder it, so it's easiest to keep track if you just do the two wears in a row.

I DO notice if someone wears something very often but I'm pretty attuned to style and always look at peoples' clothes. Also, I think many others don't notice at all.

Funny side note: Earlier this week, one of the "clueless boys" in my lab commented that he liked my shoes (the Born Arlettas) and said that he had been seeing a lot of cool shoes around lately and wanted to tell his wife about them. I was really flummoxed for a moment because I was totally not expecting him to have noticed something like that! Perhaps I have been underestimating them...

Aziraphale

Veteran

That's a good question, Mo. I guess it depends on who you're dressing for. In my experience, the "casual observer" doesn't notice much at all unless you're wearing something noteworthy or eye-catching, but they do notice an overall put-togetherness, I think. If you dress stylishly, people come to expect it from you. And it doesn't take that many wardrobe items to look put together every single day (in fact it's probably easier if you have a limited number of items). But if wearing the same old things all the time bores you to tears, then by all means, mix it up. But you're doing it mostly for *you*.

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