Fashion Friday, Part One: The Uniform Project

A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.

~Coco Chanel

A few of the bloggers I read on a regular basis do a regular Fashion Friday post. I like them a lot, and would have liked to do them too, but I don’t really support buying new clothes all the time. The idea that you have to keep up with the fashions of each season. The worst is back-to-school: what’s wrong with last year’s clothes if they still fit?

I do love fashion and design, however; though I myself am about as fashionable as a paper bag. I shop mainly secondhand. My own “uniform” is a black tank top (hoodie in winter) with gray “comfypants”: shorts, yoga pants, a foldover skirt, sweats. To those who only see me from a distance, like the kids’ bus driver, it must appear that I wear the same clothes day after day.

I’d heard, in passing, about The Uniform Project before. One girl, one dress, worn 365 ways for 365 days accessorized by items already in her wardrobe. I loved this idea of an article of clothing that was stylish, hardy, capable of being worn in so many different ways.

What I didn’t realize until coming across it again on Twitter, was that the dress was also sustainably produced:

Since the range of eco-friendly fabrics developed in the US is very limited, we sourced the fiber in India where we were able to blend native silk with locally grown organic cotton and have them spun and woven. The result is a gorgeous, medium weight fabric in a 75% organic cotton and 25% silk blend.

and that the pattern was readily available so you can make your own:

Take it to your local tailor for a bespoke version, sew it yourself if you are handy with a presser foot, or even ask Grandma to make you one or two. If you feel like changing the pattern a bit, go for it, you can lengthen just about anywhere, adjust to your exact body measurements, make it in any color, print, and weave that you like. Or, you can purchase our proprietary fabric with the pattern for an identical match to the dresses we’re making.

AND, $15 of each dress sold goes to the Akanksha Foundation for the education of underprivileged children in India. The Uniform Project web page raised over $78,000 in its 365 days, enough to send 220 kids to school. Amazing, the power of the web.

Watch the video, it explains it all. I found it strangely moving.

Uniform Project Picture Book from The Uniform Project on Vimeo.

A few people I’ve mentioned this to think that it would be mundane, boring, to wear the same piece day after day. Frankly, since I do that already, this would actually class me up a bit, bring a bit of Audrey into my everyday life.

Audrey-esque, yes? My favorite is the removable Peter Pan collar. The dress seems a bit on the short side, but the website shows a variety of models of different shapes and ages wearing it and looking fab.

I think I’m going to do it. Accept the challenge. Buy the dress. Join the movement. Play along.

Maybe not wear it everyday, but often. Perhaps every Friday for a Fashion Friday? I don’t know, I think maybe it would make me feel a bit better to put on a dress each morning. Inspire me to better things. I used to love to dress up, especially in vintage, but a decade of stay-at-home mom and two years of freelance work-from-home mom have made me a bit- well, let’s say relaxed.

I don’t understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little – if only out of politeness. And then, you never know, maybe that’s the day she has a date with destiny. And it’s best to be as pretty as possible for destiny.

~Coco Chanel

The price tag seems a bit steep at first glance- $150- but these dresses are made from the aforementioned sustainable, organic cotton and produced in small batches based on demand, so that nothing goes to waste and no dress goes unsold. The design has changed slightly from the first run, so one might think of these as limited-edition runs! Also, we’re talking about an article of clothing whose very purpose is to be sturdy and worn many, many times. I’ve paid $225 for a bridesmaids dress that I frantically tore off and threw away after one horridly uncomfortable afternoon. (Let me be clear: the dress was horridly uncomfortable. The wedding was lovely.)

What do you think, of the dress and the project? What’s your “uniform?”

Fashion Friday honorable mention: The TOMS fall lineup arrived in my inbox today: for each pair of shoes sold, one is donated to a child in need of shoes. If you don’t know about TOMS, go check them out, I’ll wait.

I love the wedges. I might even love them in colors that are not black:

Maybe I could wear them with the dress?

Oh, who am I kidding. I’ll buy them in black. It’s who I am.

Note: this is Part One of Fashion Friday. More to come tomorrow-  yes, I know tomorrow is Saturday- it’s my blog and I’ll Friday on Saturday if I want to.