If clothes maketh the (wo)man, I suspect I am a basic Singaporean bro, at least in personal style philosophy. Like the average SG Man, a species that has singlehandedly done Uniqlo’s marketing team a solid with their need to own all colours of the AIRism cotton oversized T-shirt for any and every occasion, I am also guilty of filling my closet with multiple pieces of the same or similar clothing. It started with my hunt for the perfect white sneakers over a decade ago, which led me to Japanese retailer Muji’s affordable, simple and comfortable white sneakers.
I’ve since owned at least seven pairs. These versatile sneakers have accompanied me from wet market to press conference to night club, sometimes within the same day, and even on casual treks. Don’t even get me started on Uniqlo’s bra tops, of which I proudly own eight in different cuts and colours for any and every occasion too.
My “collection” is far from finished – it takes a herculean amount of self-control not to give away a fraction of my salary to the household brand every month, and I sometimes lose this inner battle. This desire to create a daily uniform of sorts is not a new phenomenon. We probably know that one person who always shows up in black no matter the occasion, or who seems to wear the same scruffy T-shirt and pants anytime you see them, as though they own many such pieces.
Perhaps the most famous example of an outfit repeater turned style icon was the late Steve Jobs. (You don’t need to see a picture to know the exact get-up I’m talking about.) The Apple co-founder is probably more extreme than the average fashion repeat offender who may not need to dress identically every day.
Not only did Jobs wear the same black turtleneck daily, he had around a hundred pieces made for him by its Japanese designer Issey Miyake. In the era of personal branding, however, what we wear seems to matter that much more. And I assumed most people, who have a favourite outfit they put on repeat so often, actually intend to reflect some aspect of their personality via their appearance.
As it turns out, I give way too much credit to the Singapore population. I learnt from personal stylists and image consultants that people are not always in control of the initial impression they may send. One man's minimalism is, after all, another man's monotony.
Some people are “unconscious” consumers, explained Joy Tan, co-owner of personal branding consultancy The Style Atelier, which runs a “style 360” programme related to appearance, behaviour and communication. These are consumers who “might get stuck (on) certain choices, because as humans, we gravitate towards what we are comfortable with”, the 43-year-old said. “And why fix whatever ain’t broken right? If nobody complains, and if they feel, ‘Okay I kind of like this (item)’, then they just get stuck with it.
” Personal stylist Julia Blank added that women, in particular, tend to buy multiple pieces of the same or similar clothing “because of a lack of knowledge”. These customers “know what they know, and they want to replicate this model of success in as many colours as the store sells them”, the 45-year-old based in Singapore has observed. In her experience, Blank has also seen women buy multiple items of a wardrobe staple when they’re driven by a need, such as having gone through “a change of size”.
“They find this one pair of pants that seems to work for them, then they replicate the colour. It comes out of a need; it’s not because 'I’m a fashionista, and I would like to buy this one particular T-shirt in five different colours because it’s just so wonderful,'” she said. On the other hand, men are usually outfit repeaters because they want to “save time”, Blank added.
Several clients have told her, “Look, please don’t laugh, but when you look in the wardrobe, I will have three different pants and they will repeat the colour, or five different shirts and they will repeat the colour.” These clients often “think they’ve found the magic formula of what looks good on them” – and this mindset seems to be “particular to men”, she noted. “They want to be efficient when they shop, so they go into the store and the salesperson offers them, ‘Would you like to have it in five different colours? Because the collection will never repeat itself.
It’s a unique colour of this season.’ And they say, ‘Well, hell, why not? Yes, of course, let’s do it, because I don’t want to be in this shopping mall ever again for the next five years.’” These efficiency enthusiasts are also hoping to lessen “decision fatigue”, also known to them as the time and effort spent deciding what to wear every day.
“Instead of spending their mental cells and capacity on thinking about what to wear, even what to eat, they’d rather reserve those cells for the more important decisions in life,” said Violet Chan, The Style Atelier’s other co-founder. While wanting to reduce decision fatigue might seem an overly utilitarian approach to personal style, it can be “a very smart choice”, the 47-year-old added. “It’s just about knowing what your purpose is (when buying multiple similar items), and how to work it to your best advantage.
” On the flip side, there are outfit repeaters like me who understand that finding our sense of style is not just about knowing what’s appropriate for the occasion, discovering the most flattering silhouette for our body type or having a go-to colour palette for our skin undertone. Rather, we see personal style as a “brand guide”, so to speak, ensuring our appearance is a consistent and cohesive reflection of who we are and who we want to be seen as. Chan terms us the “conscious consumer”, which includes people who use their “visual image” to build their “brand”.
“‘Personal style’ is actually a pretty loaded term, because it’s got so much to do with the individual – who you are on the inside, at your core, that is to be expressed to the rest of the world every single minute,” echoed Tan. “I try to help my clients first understand that style is not simply about wearing an outfit, putting on eyeshadow, or even (deciding if) you should buy a top from Uniqlo or H&M. Those are easy to settle once we understand the more fundamental, basic and core items in personal style.
” In Blank's work, she's also observed that "people in general want to be who they are". Her job is to enhance, not change, her client. That is, unless they ask for a closet and personality overhaul.
This begins with simply understanding the person she's working with, she said. "What are their challenges, what are their dreams, what is the industry that they're working in, what is their lifestyle around them – before we even start working with selection of the outfits." That's because “style is not just clothing, but a layer of language that we wear", added Tan.
Most people "forget" that the clothes we wear have a "very personal relationship with us"; clothes are not "external to our body". "The more aware consumer understands that when they present themselves, they are carrying semantics. They have meanings over everything attached.
If I’m talking to you with Chanel earrings, an LV choker and a Dior hairband, I will definitely give you a certain impression, like it or not." Tan and her co-founder Chan aim to build a "visual story" for each customer, which Tan describes as "how they want to express themselves without having to speak". In other words, it's totally fine that you only wear any of your 10 black T-shirts to work, stick to wearing Uniqlo bra tops everywhere, or have seven AIRism cotton oversized T-shirts in different colours for different occasions – if you are aware of the impression you may send from repeating certain outfits.
So b uying multiple pieces of the same item in a different colour or pattern is not just about, say, being practical or low maintenance, but it's letting others sense that you are, especially if those values are key to your identity. When people are intentional about the looks they put together, it can make a huge difference including in the way they carry themselves, Blank noted. "I meet people from different walks of life with little (to) big budgets, but the feeling they get from having the right outfit is irreplaceable; when they look themselves in the mirror and they think, 'Yes, yes, this is it.
I love it.' "When the outfit fits great, they know it, they can see it, and it almost gives them that spring in their step to say: With this outfit, I know I have the confidence to push the door open.".
