Why is it usually considered poor form to wear the same clothes two days in a row?

Was there a shower in between?

Is it poor form? If the clothes (and/or you) aren’t dirty and don’t smell I don’t think anyone in the real world actually cares.

If you walked into an office wearing the same thing, say, the same dress, same shoes two days in a row you bet they’d notice!

As it happens, yes, there was a shower in between, but I didn’t wash the shirt. Didn’t need to.

Imagine Mrs. Obama always wearing the same dress to gala events.

You’re not Michelle Obama, and the situation you described was not “wearing the same thing into the office”. It was a casual thing.
When I have worked in office settings I wore fairly neutral clothes, and if they didn’t look like they were worn the day before (wrinkled, stained, pungent) nobody cared. Granted, I haven’t worked in enough settings where anybody would give a rat’s ass how many times I wore a shirt.

No need to get nasty @canidmajor. You know perfectly well what I’m asking.

Also, it was to the office, and I specified that in the details.

I tended to wear pretty much the same kind of clothes during my last few years of work—unticked Polo-type shirts in the summer and sweaters or long-sleeve shirts in the cooler months—both with jeams or safari pants. No one ever commented. I’m sure I wore the same pants at least two days in a row but almost always a different shirt.

As to whether I think wearing the same clothes two days in a row is “poor form,” no, I do not. But then I’m at the point in my life when I care very little about what other people think of me, especially what I wear.

Be comfortable, be confident, be yourself. :-)

I remember my dad wearing the exact same thing to work every single day in the 60’s. Black slacks, white shirt, black tie. He was an engineer at Boeing. Of course he had about 5 pairs of identical pants and shirts.

They finally lightened up in the 70’s.

Well, like, if I went to a formal function at someone’s house and wore a particular dress, and six months later I went to another function at that same person’s house and wore the same dress, same shoes, same jewlery, I think it would be commented on. I think it’s more on women than men, though.

For me, to work, not the same shirt. Maybe the same jeans where all my jeans look pretty much the same. Shirts, no. I wear a different shirt every day. At my job, yes, people would notice. I work for someone who is elected and how I look is very important. My hair, my makeup, every day looks as good as I can make it. I take a shower every day so it’s not a matter of smelling, it’s more a matter of wanting to look different every day. People where I work would notice and they would talk.

To a function, say a party or friend’s house, if it’s been six months or a year I wouldn’t remember what I wore to their house six months ago or a year ago so it wouldn’t matter.

I may wear the same shirt two days in a row on the weekend, depending on how long I wore it for the day before, what I did the day before and what I’m doing today. If it was something dirty yesterday, like an amusement park, a fair, or if it was hot weather, I wouldn’t. If it was to run to the store yesterday, and then to visit my mom today, then yes, that kind of thing I would wear the shirt twice in a row and not think twice.

Not nasty, @Dutchess_III, just pointing out the difference between you dropping by the office and being the First Lady. A pretty vast chasm.
I don’t see it, unless the clothes are very distinctive, or look or smell sloppy from previous use.

Right. Exactly @jca. But my question is why? Why do we do it? Why not wear the same thing today that we wore yesterday? How is that different than hanging the shirt back up in the closet and wearing it again in 2 weeks?

@Dutchess_III: I don’t know that answer.

I used to work with someone and we had a discussion about societal standards for cleanliness. The standard is we shower once a day or once every two days. Anything less is considered gross. Why? We were discussing why. I don’t know why. It just is.

After more than two days it gets gross in your privates area, and, in the summer especially, under your arms and under the boobs (if you have larger breasts, like I do.) And your feet if they’re stuck in shoes all day. Infections could probably set up. I mean, there is a sound reason for bathing every couple of days. In reality, if we just cleaned those areas we’d probably be good for a month!

I guess I just wonder why we consider it tacky to wear the same clothes everyday, even if they’re clean and you’re clean. Do people view it as a sign of laziness, even if they can see you’re a hard worker? Does it go back to poverty, when some people only HAD one pair of clothes to wear?

This is a really good question. I’ve witnessed people judging others for wearing the same clothing two days in a row or within the same week. What I never understood is if it is such a big deal, why not mention it to that person instead of turning it into a gossipy topic.

I do that all the time. It’s a bit of a uniform for my business. And I do shower every day and wear fresh underwear. I think it would be in poorer form to not wear any clothes two days in a row.

I saw a story where a male reporter wore the same suit every day for a year (I think he had two of them I don’t remember exactly). I don’t remember if he changed his shirt and tie. I guess I don’t remember a lot of the details. What I do remember is he said no one ever commented on his suit being the same, and he assumes that means no one noticed. I’m sure women could not get away with that on TV.

Barbara Walters used to talk about wearing, or not wearing, the same outfit to parties and events when she was on The View. She would show a photo of her at some gala event a year ago, and then another photo from a month ago at some other event, where she was wearing the same thing. She thought it was ridiculous to expect women to wear a dress only once. She would talk about a dress it two that she loved, and fit her great, and why shouldn’t she wear it several times over the years.

Now, about one day after another; I do this, I wear the same clothes two days in a row sometimes, but not if I’m likely to see the same people. My husband calls me retrato, which means portrait in Spanish. I have two black crew necks that are exactly the same. I have two black v-necks exactly the same. I also have that V neck in navy. So, I can wear a different shirt 5 days in a row, but basically look the same. I wear those sorts a lot.

If you wear something two days in a row, I think people may wonder if you did the walk of shame early that morning, or, more innocently did you not wash your clothes?

Thanks @JLeslie. What’s the “walk of shame,”?

Also….do most people wash the clothes after wearing them only one time? I don’t, unless I spilled something on them or had reason to sweat in them.

So, I’m getting ready to go in for another couple of hours today. Although I haven’t even worn that other shirt for more than about 4 hours this week, and it’s not dirty, I just can’t bring myself to wear it yet a 3rd time in a row, and it’s stupid. But I’m going to bow to the pressure any way.
Hope to hell I can actually get some WORK done today. My broker is quite old, well past retirement age, and he spends most of his time in the office trying to figure out this internet shit and he keeps going around in fruitless circles. I think I was brought in to “help” him establish an internet presence, but I can’t figure out exactly what it is he wants me to do. I guess he doesn’t know himself.

@Dutchess_III: I think “walk of shame” is having been out all night and coming home in the same clothes, walking into the house, it being obvious you were out because you’re in the same clothes you wore yesterday.

For me, as I said before, whether or not I wear the clothes twice depends on what I did the last time I wore them and how long I wore them for, and who I’m seeing. If I was out all day at a public place like a county fair, political meeting, etc. I’ll not wear them again (pants and shirts). If I was out shopping for a few hours, I may or may not wear the shirt again another day, the pants, maybe, maybe not. Depends on how long, how hot it is out, and what kind of shopping (for example, Home Depot type of stuff = dusty).

Walk of Shame: having on the same dress in the wee hours of the night, early morning, or to work the next day, because you never went home the night before. It’s basically admitting you slept somewhere else.