A few years ago was the first time I heard about the capsule wardrobe, where people have a limited amount of clothing. Recently I heard about successful people who wear the same clothes every day, even more interesting!
I have developed a critical opinion of the fast fashion in our current culture.
We’re basically moving our problems to Asia, where child labor and severely underpaid workers are making our clothes.
When they’re producing the clothes in another country we’re not confronted with the consequences of our behavior because we don’t see it.
Fast fashion is way beyond what we need. Every season the fashion trend changes and people buy new clothes to keep up with it.
It’s just another way to make us consume things we don’t need.
I love the number of people that are applying minimalist principles to their fashion nowadays, they keep growing and growing.
For some, however, it’s still hard to believe you don’t want to consume more if you have the financial resources.
I’ve heard a good amount of people talk about wearing the same clothes every day, referring to it as a uniform, which is triggering many questions for me. Today I’m going to deep dive into the reasons why successful people wear the same clothes every day and discussing some common objections you might have.
Few quick facts about fashion:
- Fashion is the second most polluting industry globally, second only to oil
- Globally the fashion industry is valued at 3 trillion dollars, which is about 2% of the global GDP
Let’s dive straight into the 5 reasons why successful people wear the same clothes every day!
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5 Reasons Why Successful People Wear The Same Clothes Every Day
1. Make Fewer Decisions
The more decisions you make throughout the day, the more the quality of your decisions deteriorates. That’s because your brain gives equal decision power to significant and insignificant decisions.
If you’re making significant decisions throughout the day, removing even one decision in the morning leaves you with more mental space and better productivity throughout the entire day.
If we look at people like Mark Zuckerberg or Arianna Huffington, you will see that they wear the same outfit to work every day.
The rationale behind this is that if you’re running a big company, you have enough decisions to make throughout the day.
You want to eliminate as many decisions as possible throughout the day. That means you don’t want to think about what to wear, what to eat, and more.
[Related Read: The Amazing Power Of Radical 10X Thinking]
2. Save Time
Personally, I only discovered how much burden my stuff brought onto me when I cleaned it out.
Having less stuff brought freedom to worry less about things, as it brought the opportunity to only have the things in my house that I love.
In addition, if you have less stuff, you spend less time looking for things.
I don’t know about you, but more often than not I’m going through my stuff to find the things I need. Now I’m just checking one drawer instead of five, which cuts the time looking for things significantly.
[Related Read: 7 Things I Learned From A No Spend Challenge]
3. Save Money
When you wear the same clothes every day, it also has the added benefit of saving money.
You will save thousands every year when you’re sticking to fewer clothes to wear every day. The average American household spends $1,600 annually on clothing.
That’s a lot of money for things you probably don’t need.
What you save on not buying clothes, you can invest in individual stocks or go for the easy way with investing in low-cost index funds.
Adopting a capsule wardrobe or choosing to wear a single outfit to work every day removes much of your expenses. You would only need 2 identical pairs of pants and 6 identical shirts.
You won’t have any clothes that don’t fit quite as well as you’d like, you feel good in what you wear, and it frees up money you can spend on things actually value.
For example, I haven’t bought any clothes in the last two years, but I still have enough clothes left that I’m putting up for sale.
Related Reads:
- 25+ Incredible Easy Money Saving Tips
- 15 Tips On Being More Frugal
- Why Frugal Is NOT Boring
- 13 Easy Things To Sell To Make Money Fast
4. Experience Less Stress
Last week I ran into this story from Harpers Bazaar, where Matilda Kahl talks about her reasons for wearing the same outfit to work every day.
One thing that she mentions is that she is extremely stressed every morning and can’t decide what to wear. This is too short, this is too formal, this is too out there. “I had completely stressed myself out, and for what?”
If you’re wearing the same outfit every day to work, your stress levels will decrease and you will probably feel a lot better.
[Related Read: 6 Practical Tips On How To Declutter]
5. You Look Better
If you’re having a massive wardrobe with clothes amassed over many years, they might not be all the best fit for you. Perhaps you’re throwing on things in the morning, just because you haven’t worn them in a while.
When you’re slimming down your wardrobe, you will be left with pieces that you love and fit you amazingly. You’re sure that whatever you choose, you will look and feel better.
It’s easy, quick, and you always look put together. One more reason to start wearing the same clothes every day!
People are drowning in their possessions.
They don’t know what they own and they don’t like what they own. Few are looking for a way out, while others are consuming more and more. If you’re looking for a way out, this can be a good solution.
What do you think about wearing the same clothes every day? Would you do it?
This article first appeared on Radical FIRE and is republished with permission.