Raring to Repeat

Are we so obsessed with fast fashion and throwaway style that wearing one outfit more than once is considered a social gaffe? Or are we totally unforgiving of celebrities who sometimes behave as most humans do?

A little bit of both is at play here. But in both cases,it is only our naivete that permits us this cloudy judgement.

In the good old days,before luxury conglomerates forced the It bags upon us and before fashion magazine cover lines began screaming ‘New New New’,rich people dressed in the most discreet manner. Old money was truly glamorous as was wearing one’s clothes until they wore out.

It may sound blasphemous in today’s acquisitional zeitgeist,but clothes that allowed for repeat value were investment pieces. Everyone,including the iconic socialite Mona von Bismarck (whose Balenciaga couture wardrobe is the stuff of retrospectives),wore her floor-sweeping dresses very often.

I’m especially thrilled when boldfaced names show up in their own clothes. It lets you in on their personal tastes,their daily lives and current moods. Isn’t it far more exciting to see how a rich woman would dress herself,instead of having some pushy fashion PR send her a dress to wear for free?

Besides,wearing a new dress is easy. A truly stylish woman is one who can comb her old favourites for a new look,recession or not. Someone who can mix vintage with modern and make it fly. A woman who has the eye to match different items from a mound of clothes creatively is someone who has a rare gift.

Ask Kate,being a repeat offender is the new cool today. Anna Wintour wore her black-and-white Versace frock to London Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week that are just seven days apart. She also wore an emerald shimmery number to an event in New York and another in London in the same summer. And we all know how much Katie Holmes loves her camel coat,she’s rarely seen without it.

Fashion Notebook is a fun blog which has a section called the ‘Repeat Offender Series’ where the blogger wears all the pieces in one accessorised ensemble three times in one month,showing a clever way to do it.

So if you’re trying to be really chic,try your own wardrobe. namratanow@gmail.com