Fashion Influencers, Repeat After Me: Rewearing Outfits is the Newest Fashion Trend

The biggest fashion event of 2021 was reunion with Carrie Bradshaw, thanks to the premiere
of Sex and the City reboot “And Just Like That”. Although Mr. Big has broken our hearts at
the end of the first episode and left us with a huge disappointment, outfits of our beloved
SATC girls never disappointed us. When I saw famous blue Manolo Blahniks of Carrie after a
decade (and I also spotted a Gucci belt bag, a rose broche and a belt from old episodes,) I
realized one more time how valuable to keep our favorite items in a good condition and
rewear them again and again, rather than purchasing tons of new items every season and wear
them only once.

Source: Marie Claire Australia

The topic of my last article was excessive shopping fueled by Black Friday promotions and its
dangerous consequences on the environment. If that article has not convinced you yet to stop
unnecessary shopping, I am trying one more time: Why don’t you shop from your own closet?
It is fashionable to repeat outfits, if you don’t believe in me, ask Hollywood stars, Princess
Kate or Carrie Bradshaw! Joaquin Phoenix declared that he would wear the same Stella
McCartney tuxedo throughout the film awards season. Angelina Jolie recycled her design
gowns for her daughters. While members of royal family members wear the same outfits for
several times, why do we still feel a pressure to wear a new outfit for every occasion that can
be posted on Instagram? Less “likes” on Instagram does not kill anyone, but fast fashion is
killing the planet.

Source: lifeandstylemag.com& metronews.co.uk

A research conducted by WRAP, an environmentalist NGO, in 2020 demonstrated the

skyrocketed clothing consumption. The report suggests that clothing production has
approximately doubled worldwide from 2000 to 2015, the growth of textile industry outpaced
global GDP growth. According to surveys WRAP conducted, about 30% of consumers
consider an apparel old when it is worn once or twice. Since textile industry is threatening
environment as a result of excessive water consumption, water pollution, waste of non-
biodegradable fabrics and CO2 emission, growth of this industry brings deep concerns for the
environment. Beside environmental harm, uncontrollable growth of textile industry
contributes to other societal problems such as poor working conditions, underpayment of
labors and child labors in underdeveloped countries. If we keep consuming textile products as
much as we did recently, the industry will reach to three trillion dollars globally in 2030.

Unfortunately most consumers still can’t resist the temptation to buy trendy clothes of the
season; however, those shiny little things cannot be worn more than a few times. BBC
declared that British consumers buy five times as many clothing items as they did in the 80s.
One obvious reason behind this increase is the accessibility of cheap items as fast fashion
rises. I also suspect that social media, especially Instagram awakens the shopping monster
inside us. Some research findings seem to support my hypothesis. A study conducted by
credit card company Barclaycard, showed that 9% of survey respondents purchase clothing
only to take a photo on social media. Our favorite influencers’ carousel of revolving #OOTDs
inspired us to adopt, “wear once and done” mindset. Throwaway culture is still dominant in
social media; however, fortunately some opinion leaders raise their voice to slow fast fashion.

The rapid growth of fashion industry in the last decade can partly be attributed to fashion
influencers. Exposing to more fashion content on social media and their collaborations with
fast fashion giants contributed to a global increase in textile consumption. Yet, today many
fashion influencers have seen the dark side of fast fashion agree that the growth of fashion
industry is unsustainable. In recent days, we more frequently see fashion influencers that
repeat outfits and it is promising for the future of fashion and our planet. If somebody will
shift the paradigm in fashion industry, they are fashion influencers. When fashion influencers
demand high quality, eco-friendly, ethically produced items, their followers will change theier
consumption habits, too. When fashion influencers buy less in quantity but high in quality
fashion items and wear them multiple times, in different occasions, followers will not look for
new outfits for all Instagram posts.

My beloved influencer friends, I am kindly asking you not to ignore the latest fashion trend:
Repeating outfits. Buy less, buy better. Wear them many times, show your followers different
ways to style the same piece of clothing. Show them your creativity. Wearing the same outfit
multiple times is not a fashion crime. On the other hand, wearing once and throw away is an
environmental crime. I promise, your followers will not think that you are out of fashion or
boring when they see the same clothes multiple times. On the contrary, they will think that
you are a creative, clever and responsible person who care about the planet, the labors in
Bangladesh and post-COVID economic crisis.