People Who Wear The Same Thing Every Single Day Usually Have These 11 Reasons
Clothing doesn't have to be wild and varied to be a form of self-expression.
Look Studio / Shutterstock As a person who is known for dressing up in strange clothing, it’s hard for me to imagine being a person who would dress the same way every single day. I mean, that often feels like it should only happen in TV shows, right? Well, not quite.
Though it’s not as common as seeing people who eat the same thing daily, the truth is that some folks are totally content with wearing the same thing every single day. It’s wild to me, but it happens. If you’re curious to find out why, I did the detective work to find out the reasons behind their repetitive wardrobe choices.
People who wear the same thing every single day usually have these 11 reasons
1. Looking dapper in a work uniform
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Let’s start off with the most common reason why people will wear the same thing every day: work. A typical full-time worker will spend between 30 and 50 hours per week at their job, not including their commute time. That’s a huge chunk of your lifetime!
Sometimes, people don’t want to immediately change out of their work clothes. If you have a comfortable uniform that also looks dapper, you might just want to stay in it off-hours. This is particularly common among people who have a job involving suits.
2. Work uniform utilitarianism
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While we’re on the topic of wearing work clothes off-hours, we may as well also talk about one of the other major reasons people might wear their work clothing off-hours: utilitarianism. If you work in medical scrubs, you already know how useful those scrubs can be.
Scrubs are breezy, easy to move around in, and also have tons of pockets—an ideal pick for people who have to carry a lot of knick-knacks on a daily basis. They’re designed to be useful. When the clothes are that useful and comfortable, why wouldn’t you want to wear them?
3. Easy choices
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President Obama was famous for wearing (almost) the same clothes day in, day out. This was due to his tendency to streamline decisions he didn’t want to spend time on. Obama chose his clothes by sticking to a very limited set of colors.
While former President Obama and Facebook/Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg have said that sticking to a handful of clothing items made their decision-making simpler, some may take it further by buying the same outfit in large batches. If it’s a good look, why change it?
4. Love of routine
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While we’re on the topic of how wearing the same thing every day can be a good way to eliminate time trying to dress yourself, we may as well look at the other benefit to this pattern. It helps establish a routine.
Some people love to have a rigorous routine, down to the very outfits they wear and the foods they eat. This is especially true with neurodivergent people. For people with autism, maintaining a strict routine can help prevent a sensory overload.
5. Anxiety
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Autism might have the most notable link to wearing the same things every day, but it’s far from the only mental illness to be linked to a highly repetitive wardrobe. Many people with anxiety tend to have a handful of clothing items in which they feel very comfortable and safe.
If a specific wardrobe choice makes you feel safer during times of need, there’s nothing wrong with leaning into that energy from time to time.
6. Depression
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We live in a world that’s more aware of mental health than ever before. So, if you ask a typical person why someone would wear the same thing every day, you’ll likely hear at least one or two mention depression as a reason. Depression has a way of causing people to skip on self-care, including laundry day or updating their wardrobe.
Depressed people might start wearing the (literal) same clothes every day because it’s easier to pick up the stinky jeans from the floor than it is to put them in the wash and pick out a new pair. It’s one of many ways that people “wear their depression.”
7. Limited time for self-care
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On an anecdotal level, I want to point out something pretty obvious. If you’re working crazy hours and don’t have much time to hit the pause, your wardrobe choices may reflect that over time.
People who are very busy might end up doing the same thing that depressed people do: wear the same thing simply because it’s the first thing within reach. This is usually a temporary thing. When they finally get time to have a breather, they’ll usually do a batch of laundry and sort out their clothes as needed.
8. Limited clothing options due to body type
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Most clothing companies make their clothes for people who are slender to mildly plus-sized in build. If you are too tall, too short, have a specific body part that isn’t quite the norm, or are otherwise not close to the standard for a “regular” person, clothing shopping can prove to be very difficult.
For example, if you are past the 700-pound mark, it's likely that you won’t be able to find clothing that fits you without custom-ordering it. When this happens, the clothing that you can buy will be limited. This can cause people to keep wearing the same thing day after day out of sheer necessity.
9. A tight budget
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Sometimes, limitations are not always body-related. If you have a tight budget, it’s common to have to choose between multiple items that don’t fit well or one good outfit that costs more. There are several ways to solve this problem.
Some wear the same luxe items day after day until they break, so they can space out how often they shop. Some people choose to stick to a style uniform they know fits well without breaking the bank. Still more choose to sew their own clothing or modify items they get from Goodwill.
10. Religious dictates
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It’s no secret that religious beliefs can shape the way we live life, and yes, that includes the clothing we wear. Conservative sects in some religions, such as Islam or Judaism, encourage faithful members to wear a “uniform” of sorts.
To those who are not part of the faith, it often may appear that they’re wearing the exact same thing every day. That’s not always the case, though! The differences in religious outfits are often deeply nuanced and subtle compared to mainstream clothing.
11. Personal choice
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Fashion is, at the end of the day, a matter of self-expression and personal choice. Most people prefer to switch their fashion choices up from day to day, but that doesn’t mean that everyone wants to do that.
If a person doesn’t want to change what they wear, there’s no reason to badger them about it. After all, it’s their personal style, not ours!
Ossiana Tepfenhart is a writer whose work has been featured in Yahoo, BRIDES, Your Daily Dish, Newtheory Magazine, and others.
