Wearing the same look daily: weird or great?

You know how some people in the public eye have turned to a "uniform" of clothing, never varying their outfits? Think of Steve Jobs and his black mock turtleneck, Levi’s and New Balance tennis shoes. Or there's Elizabeth Holmes, who in a nod to Jobs, wore all black, often a black turtleneck. There's also Dr. David Agus, who I see on CBS news spots all the time, wearing a black pullover sweater and a white button down shirt poking out. Turns out, he was Steve Jobs' doctor.

Supposedly this "hack" (I hate that term) helps people make fewer decisions in a day and frees one up to do better thinking about work, life, etc.

I'm not gonna lie ... I think this is odd behavior. But maybe it's actually jealousy I'm feeling, because you are doing what I wish I would do. In fact, I went to an all-girls Catholic school (I'm not even Catholic) for a stretch, in large part because I wanted to wear a uniform.

(Back-in-time harp strums here) Growing up in Southern California, we lived in a new area of Los Angeles County that didn't have a local high school.

My mom decided that the nearby Catholic school would be good for me — not because I was running wild, but because she knew this school had a good reputation for academics.

Horrifyingly to me, my stepdad got a new job in Northern California during my junior year of high school, and we moved to Cameron Park in March of that year. Somehow, 16-year-old me thought it would be a good idea to go to an all-girls Catholic school rather than the public school near our new house.

Spoiler alert: It was a bad idea to join an already-in-progress group of very clique-ish girls who'd been together in school and church since prekindergarten. However, those three months of wearing a uniform to school were probably the greatest fashion days of my life. I loved putting on the skirt, sweater or blouse, knee socks, and Sperry Top-Siders every day with nary a thought about how I looked. But, I mean, with that description? You know I looked bitchin'.

The question now is, how would this translate to wearing the same outfit every day as an adult out in the world? I have this thought pretty regularly because so often when I'm getting dressed, I gravitate to my favorite pieces of clothing and think, "Did I just wear this the last time I saw this friend/went to that restaurant/met with that student?" Wouldn't wearing the same navy and white checkered blouse with the same gray jeans be noticeable, and possibly a sign that I'm oblivious?

Or does it say that I believe my brain is so amazing that I can't be bothered with the tedium of deciding what to wear? Or does it say I gave up on being part of polite society?

One reason I can't make myself do this thing — wearing clothes that I enjoy wearing every day — is because I'd have this very loud urge to explain to people every person I saw that I know I'm wearing the same thing as the last time we were together, but it's a choice.

Also, I know I'd feel weird that in photos I'd always be wearing the same thing. "Oh look, it's Thanksgiving 2011! Or 2015? Or 2022?" In that same vein, I know of a few people who keep records of what they wear where, which seems practical if you go to a lot of public events with photographers.

I did a little searching around the internet to see what people had to say about the self-choosing uniform wearers among us. I liked this story from Vox (https://www.vox.com/thegoods/2019/2/26/18240110/ uniform-dressing-reddit-wear- same-thing-every-day) that responds to some of the thoughts I have about embarking on this lifestyle.

The guy in this story, Justus Kersey from Eugene, Ore., is a bit of a minimalist, which is a different motivation than mine. But he did address my concern about having to explain to everyone about being a uniform-ist. When the story writer said, "You mentioned ... that most people don’t even notice that you’re wearing the same outfit, right?" Kersey responded that he regularly points it out to people. "I’d say, 'Hey, I wear the same outfit,' and people say, 'Oh I didn’t even notice.' I just don’t think that it’s something people pick up on super easily."

Hmm. Maybe now's the time for me to pull out my bitchin' school uniform and see how it goes.

— Tanya Perez lives in Davis with her family. Her column is published every other Sunday. Reach her at pereztanyah@ gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter at @californiatanya.