Yes, I’m an Outfit Repeater, Thanks for Noticing
When I was a kid, I watched “The Lizzie McGuire Movie” and learned two things:
Rome is where dreams (and accidental pop careers) happen.
Being called an “outfit repeater” is apparently the worst thing that can happen to a person.
I took that second one to heart. I spent the next several years of my life convinced that wearing the same dress twice was basically a death wish. Never mind that I had a closet full of clothes I actually liked, God forbid someone recognize my shirt from last Tuesday.
Flash forward: I am now a functioning adult with interviews, deadlines, and a blazer I’ve worn no fewer than fourteen times during a month on an internship in London alone. Honestly? Calling me an outfit repeater now feels like calling me a person who knows what works.
Let’s stop pretending fashion is a costume contest where the rules say, “Never be seen in the same thing twice or you lose.” Real people have lives. Real closets. Real staples.
Outfit repeating isn’t a failure of creativity, it’s proof of it. The real way to show off? Wearing something multiple ways and still making it look intentional. That takes actual style. And maybe a decent steamer.
I’m not trying to impress anyone by pretending I wear a new outfit every day. I’m trying to get dressed, get out the door, and look like I have it together because quite frankly, there are so many other things to worry about besides what other people have seen me wear previously.
Somewhere along the way, we decided clothes should be single-use content. Once an outfit has been documented, it’s done. Archived. Buried beneath a slideshow of brunch pics and morning routine flatlays.
But real style isn’t about having endless options. It’s about knowing what to do with the pieces you’ve got, and not letting a photo op retire a good look. Trust me, nobody’s zooming in on your timeline to track your jeans' screen time. And if they are? Congrats, you have a fan.
Wear the same look twice in one week. Wear it better the second time. Don’t let your best pieces gather dust just because they already had a moment.
Lizzie McGuire may have been an outfit repeater, but as she puts it when sticking it to Kate Sanders, “Maybe I’m an outfit repeater, but you’re an outfit rememberer, which is just as pathetic.”