It’s not necessarily a bad thing to wear the same outfit more than once. Sarah Robbins-Cole wore the same trusty dress for 100 days in a row, and also vowed to never buy new clothes
It doesn’t have to be a fashion sin to wear the same outfit more than once.
Many people have a favourite outfit that’s their go-to for fancy occasions – whether it’s a date, a night out with pals, or a work event. Sarah Robbins-Cole’s favourite outfit is her trusty long-sleeved, knee-length black dress because it’s versatile and works for any occasion.
She’s worn it for work, walks, chilling out on the sofa, and even on Christmas Day. In 2021, she boasted that she’d worn it for 100 days in a row, but on her Instagram, @thisdressagain, she still years it regularly. The Rowena dress, which is made from sustainably sourced merino wool, has served her really well so far.
The church leader and college chaplain Sarah Robbins-Cole joked that she’s taking her job very literally, becoming a “lady of the cloth”. Sarah, who lives in Boston, USA, joined the 100 Day Dress Challenge on September 16, 2020, in a bid to live without fast fashion and help save the planet.
“To my surprise, wearing the same dress for 100 days in a row didn’t take anything away from my life”, she said. “Instead, it’s inspired me to go one step further and not to buy any new clothes or accessories between January 1, 2021, and January 1, 2022. I realised that, at my age, I have clothes for every occasion and if I need a ballgown, I’ll dust one off that’s been in my wardrobe since 1992!”
Sarah has three children with her British husband, clergyman Adrian – Elizabeth and Will – and the family have two rescue dogs. She was among about 250 women who took up the 100-day challenge, run by clothing brand Wool&. Designed to show participants how wearing just one garment every day would change their spending habits, reduce their laundry load and, by not buying fast fashion, help them save the planet, it also changed the way Sarah felt about how she looks and dresses.
Participants were allowed to wash and dry the dress overnight, but if they were awake, they were expected to wear it. Teaming her long-sleeved, scoop-neck, knee-length Rowena dress, made from sustainably sourced merino wool, with a dog collar when she was working and even tucking it into jeans for an outdoor hike, she then documented the challenge by posting all her 100 different looks on her Instagram page @thisdressagain.
Sarah, who has just started a sabbatical and is in the midst of a doctoral programme in educational leadership, says not only did her repetitive wardrobe simplify her life, it also taught her about something she calls “spotlighting”, which is the “feeling everybody is looking at you when they’re probably not”. She said: “Wearing the same dress for so long helped me avoid that feeling”.
The only really difficult part of the whole challenge, according to Sarah, was having to post a new look every day on social media. She said: “I forewarned my college students that I would be taking the challenge because they’d be seeing me in the same dress every day, which they might find odd. But, more importantly, I told them not to think when they looked at the pictures I posted that they were a true reflection of my life and that I was always that tidy and well put together.
“I remember one student telling me how she could come out of a lecture feeling happy, check her phone, see what looked like someone else’s picture-perfect life and feel depressed by the time she had crossed the campus to her next lecture. By taking on this challenge, I had an insight into the unbelievable pressure that comes with social media.”
She said the experience was insightful and worthwhile, noting: “I enjoyed accessorising it and, although I missed wearing jeans and found the long sleeves a bit warm when the sun came out, I didn’t really miss anything from my normal wardrobe. It was so easy to get up and get dressed in the same thing. It saved me loads of time and it was simple to brighten it up using accessories. The challenge did make me think about how many clothes end up in landfill, how much water is used to produce cotton and how we don’t really know whether the clothes we buy are made ethically, too.”
She also said the challenge made her realise something deeper too, sharing: “Keeping things simple – which this challenge helped me to do – really put me in touch with what’s important.”
A version of this story was originally published on January 7, 2021.
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