A woman has hit back at environmentally-unfriendly ‘fast fashion’ by wearing the same dress every single day for 100 days, according to the Nottingham post
Sarah Robbins-Cole decided to take part in the 100 Day Dress Challenge on September 16, 2020.
The 52 year old, who works as a church leader and college chaplain, even wore the dress on December 25.
Sarah, who lives in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States, soon became so attached to the Wool& dress that she bought one for her mum, Karen, who is 81.
And she says she enjoyed the challenge so much that in 20201 she has pledged to buy no new clothes at all.
Instead, it’s inspired me to go one step further and not to buy any new clothes or accessories between January 1, 2021, and January 1, 2022.
“I realised that, at my age, I have clothes for every occasion and if I need a ballgown, I’ll dust one off that’s been in my wardrobe since 1992!”
She continued: “I am thinking of clearing my wardrobe and having a big declutter, but I’ll wait and see what I do wear over this coming year first.”
Sarah, a minister says she was astonished by how much she enjoyed the challenge: “To my surprise, wearing the same dress for 100 days in a row didn’t take anything away from my life.
The mother of two was among around 250 women who took up the 100-day challenge, run by clothing brand Wool&.
Designed to show participants how wearing just one garment every day would change their spending habits, reduce their laundry load and, by not buying fast fashion, help them to save the planet, it also changed the way Sarah felt about how she looks and dresses.
“I first saw the challenge on social media and thought why not?” said Sarah.
“So, I really was a lady of the cloth!”
Participants were allowed to wash and dry the dress overnight, but if they were awake, they were expected to wear it.
And anyone who completed the challenge would win a $100 (£74) voucher to spend on a new Wool& dress.
Sarah teamed her long-sleeved, scoop-neck, knee-length Rowena dress, made from sustainably-sourced merino wool, with a dog collar when she was working – and even tucked it into jeans for an outdoor hike.
She then documented the challenge by posting all her 100 different looks on her Instagram page @thisdressagain.
Sarah, who has just started a sabbatical and is in the midst of a doctoral programme in educational leadership, says not only did her repetitive wardrobe simplify her life, it also taught her about something she calls “spotlighting.”
“Spotlighting is that feeling that everyone is looking at you when in reality, they’re probably not,” she said.
