The Little Brown Dress – Alex Martin

I’m sure everyone is familiar with this project by Alex Martin. She made a brown dress, and wore it for one year, straight. Every day. Without fail. (Although she must’ve had a plan for when she had to wash it……)

Anyway, here’s the site: Little Brown Dress. She made the dress herself for about $20.

My thoughts on it? Good on her for doing it! I’m pleased that someone out there is doing something that caused such a sensation that it got people thinking about it.

I wonder if she spent anything on accessories.. 🙂 I mean, she couldn’t have made her own shoes and her own boots, no?

Granted, in her line of profession, she could get away with it. For me, it’s a suit/business casual profession, and a brown dress wouldn’t cut it most of the time. Also, it was a pretty and simple brown dress, which means it didn’t have anything unique about it, and that’s probably why people didn’t even notice (not to put it down, it was a great dress, just simple). If the dress had pattern, or some vibrant colour, or something interesting about it, then people would remember it because it would click in their brain: “Oh that’s a pretty colour”.

That’s why when you travel, or are on a project, people tell you: Bring clothes that can match well with each other, that are neutrals, and aren’t crazy. That way, no one will notice what you’re wearing because it’s all neutral.

However… with that being said… I’m sorry. I love wearing clothes. I love my shoes. It’s a passion, it’s not (all) about consumerism for me, and I like mixing, matching and having a choice of what I want to wear. Although I agree that too much choice is a bad thing, because you tend to keep going back to your favourites instead of wearing other pieces that still have their tags on… I love that colour perks me up and how it fits, makes me feel different. To me, clothes and dressing, is not just putting something on for the sake of covering your body. It’s your mood and your choice. I can’t even think of how to properly say it. It’s a feeling.

Anyway, it’s a collection too, that I’m slowly paring down to the pieces that are unique, and that I truly love.

Her project is still something to really think about.