Comments on: Remembering the little brown dress project

By: Jennifer S

Jennifer S — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 03:05:40 +0000

In my mind, the last comment, from Sheryl on July 6, 2007, really sums up how I feel about the rest of the comments that look down on the challenge.
October 2010, I and a few friends participated in our own October Dress Challenge. Our motivations were many. One wanted to fast from spending money on clothing and accessories. Another wanted to become more aware of her own materialism and desire to buy new clothes. And yet another wanted the creative challenge of restyling the same dress 30 different ways.
The 2010 challenge was such a success that we are doing it again in 2011. So far, 14 women have accepted the challenge. Would you consider it?
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=166424780110097

By: Sheryl

Sheryl — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 04:11:58 +0000

I find it sad that most of the people reading about this project don’t get it. Or I guess maybe that was the point, that most modern people have no idea that less then 100 years ago, most people only had one dress, two if they were lucky. During WW2 there were ration coupons that were for clothing. And the manufacture of cosmetics was basically illegal. So you were more then lucky if you could go and get a dress or a pair of shoes once a year. We all take for granted the things that we have. Maybe we should all be more appreciative.

By: xueyin

xueyin — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 03:41:39 +0000

There is this New York artist called Andrea Zittel and she did similar things in early 90s. Look up her six-month uniform project.
https://www.zittel.org/works/Uniforms_Six%20Month/main_sixmonthuniforms.html

By: e

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:34:13 +0000

to the above post (2 above) no, her new project is only clothes she makes from old clothes. WEARD…

By: t

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 04:26:56 +0000

I want to know what the TBF blogger is wearing for this month? What piece are you wearing every day? Did I miss that in the post? And are you changing it up - adding jeans, etc?

By: Judy

Judy — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 14:39:08 +0000

I think this is a very thought provoking idea which, because Alex is an artist, is the POINT. It does make one think about how consumerist our society is and how overwhelming our wide variety of choices can be. There is another performance artist who has done a project based on mall shopping which I found interesting. It is called Rosemary Goes to the Mall and can be found wwwdotrosemarywilliamsdotcom. I heard her on NPR.

By: Caribbean Lionesse

Caribbean Lionesse — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 11:05:53 +0000

I don’t know… I have my doubts. I suspect she would have had to buy a LOT of other accessories- cardigans, scarves, etc to camouflage the fact she was wearing the same darn thing every day.

And did she rush out and splurge on a post-Brown Dress wardrobe? I know I would have…

By: coco

coco — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 10:45:03 +0000

i am far to shallow for this. funny enough while i was moved out for my remodel i had only 1/2 my work wardrobe with me and i wore the same dress twice in a three week period and all the women in my office noticed.

By: Patrice Teilmann

Patrice Teilmann — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 08:39:27 +0000

I guess I’ve done something similiar, but for different reasons. Mine would have been titled “Navy Nike Sweatpants”, which was my daily uniform for almost a year, after the birth of my first child, and then I wore them again after second son was born. I would have worn them forever, but they finally fell apart and I had to face the fact that my skinny jeans weren’t fitting and I had to buy bigger clothes.

I now have loads of clothes, and I’ve made a promise to myself to shop from my own closet for a few months. I’ll never go back to wearing the same clothes everday though. Been there, done that abd having fun with fashion is one of the great pleasures in life for me.

By: Ivi

Ivi — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 06:30:42 +0000

Clothes and personal style is what people see first. If you work in a corporate environment or a place where you meet and interact with a number of people, it is really important to look your best, because then you feel good about yourself and your best self comes out too.

Reckless splurging on clothes and stuff is silly, but buying some key pieces and giving a creative edge to your wardrobe with sensible shopping on a budget can get you a long way.

The only things that I have been wearing every day for the past 4 years is my watch and my perfume. I will probably still do it for the next 4 or more years.

And…I just find wearing the same thing 2-3 days in a row without washing it (especially if it is a top or dress) impossible. Cleaness comes before everything else in my book.

By: queensgirl

queensgirl — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:41:25 +0000

as far as wearing a garmet for several days goes, EW!!!!! i’m sorry but that’s just not hygenic. Although some people seem to (mistakenly) think that they “don’t sweat” so therefore they don’t need to clean thier clothes as often. Yuk. I have a co-worker who consisantly wears the same items, and let me tell you, we all notice.

By: ii

ii — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 01:22:08 +0000

Okay, without reading her blog, but just what TBF wrote, the real question that I have is how much other stuff did she get? I mean, it’s fairly simple, albeit boring, to wear the same “base” everyday for a period of time, if you have a wide range of stuff to wear with it. Shoes, bags, tops, bottoms, jewellery, scarves… you get the picture. I often find myself wearing the select few pieces for a while, say a pair of jeans that I feel make me look skinnier than the others for a week (I do wash them during the week!) but I always dress them up differently… So I guess unless the “other stuff” was limited too, this is kinda useless in promoting any anti-consumption survival skills.

By: Lindsey

Lindsey — Thu, 31 May 2007 12:59:50 +0000

Wow, this is so cool. Thanks for sharing. I wrote out this long post on my blog to advertise this and get you some players, but blogger eat my entry. I don’t have enough energy to re-type it.

By: jen

jen — Thu, 31 May 2007 12:17:46 +0000

While I think the notion of shunning over consumption is wonderful… if you are an athlete like myself, this is just not practical. I sweat through my workout clothes pretty badly and would think I’d at least have to have several different recycled outfits to survive… and not insult others with my stench.

Also a little black dress would have been easier to use and reuse without people being any the wiser. Still hat’s off to her for her ingenuity.

By: Benita

Benita — Thu, 31 May 2007 08:51:56 +0000

I’m sure people noticed that she was wearing the same dress, they were just too polite to point it out.