Most of us would never want to be seen wearing the same outfit in the same week, let alone the same day. But art director Matilda Kahl wasn’t worried about violating some kind of fashion law. She didn’t even worry about what people at work would think about her. She just decided to go ahead and wear the exact same thing every day for three years. But it didn’t make her a pariah in the fashion world. It made her trendy and iconic and her story has resonated with so many people, that she’s gotten thousands of shares.
->**Matilda Kahl wrote an essay in [Harper’s Bazaar][1] on why she wore the same thing every day.**<- [1]: http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a10441/why-i-wear-the-same-thing-to-work-everday/
In the article, she explained that she wasn’t wearing the exact same article of clothing, just the same style, in much the same way as men do when they wear the same suit, and not one bats an eyelash.
She bought 15 white silk shirts, three black pairs of pants, and called them her work uniform, along with a black leather rosette that we wore on her neck. It wasn’t easy either. It actually cost her a great deal of money, but in the end, she claims it was worth it.
Her supervisors tried getting her a raise so she could buy herself some new clothes, but Kahl found that creating a work uniform and sticking to it saved her hours of trying to figure out what to wear and what not to wear every morning for work.
It’s allowed her to save time and energy because frankly, she was growing tired of running late every morning because she was too busy trying to figure out the right outfit for work and whether it was appropriate at her advertising agency.
This was the last thing that Kahl wanted. She preferred to have a life where she could make less choices, at least, during the week. Her job already produced enough creative challenges. She didn’t feel that her wardrobe needed to be this difficult either.
It also has to be fashionable and respectable too. She also wanted to make sure that she bought enough pairs of each article of clothing so she wouldn’t have to continuously do laundry all the time.
Thankfully, the response from others has been positive, but Kahl admits that she never imagined that wearing a uniform would be so provocative, or that it would have such a huge impact on her life. Kahl told Business Insider, “I have realized how much more efficient, productive, and happy I can be when I don’t let myself get distracted by the small things in life. The uniform has become a great everyday reminder that I (and only I) decide what is important.”
The entire Soho office team surprised Kahl by dressing in black pants, white tops and little black bows. What a great show of support!
