7 Tips To Avoid Having “One Time Outfits”

We all own them. And we all wish we didn’t. But thanks to Facebook, we do – and we just cannot find the time to wear the outfit again.

Ever buy an awesome dress because it was on sale at TJ Maxx/Marshalls or because it was super cheap from Forever 21? Uhh, hasn’t every girl? Ever buy a colorful, expensive top/dress from Urban, Nordstrom, or a cute little boutique? Ever wear one of these outfits out, have a million pictures taken of you, and get tagged in a million pictures of you wearing that outfit? Because I have.

Well, once that happens, you can’t wear that dress/top for quite a few weekends – because its in your recently tagged pictures! Or even worse – its your profile picture. And once you dub an outfit as a “profile picture” outfit – you CAN’T wear it again any time soon – because everyone sees your prof pic! Then, once it’s okay to wear the outfit again, the dress/top is so old and out of style that you just can’t.

Okay, maybe if its a little black dress or a white T, you’re in the clear. But if its a colorful, flower filled dress/top… people will probably remember it and be like “Omg, she totally wore that 5 weeks and 3 days ago! I saw in her Facebook pictures. How dare she do that!”

Now, when you think about it like that… people don’t care that much about you. Sorry to break it to you, but they don’t.

Then how come we care so much? Because we always want to dress to impress and have the freshest outfits, duh. And that certainly won’t happen if we are seen wearing a dress from last year… Even if that dress is sooo cute. I mean you never know who you are going to see out. What if you run into a group of people you went to high school with? Or even worse, an ex boyfriend?

Once again, sorry to break it to you, but no one else thinks your outfits are outdated (unless you’re wearing a shirt from Abercrombie & Fitch that you got in high school) – and most people will not remember that you already wore that outfit (Especially your ex. Most men do not care about or notice your clothing choices). And even if you already wore that outfit, SO WHAT? I mean, do friends ever go through your closet and think some of the dresses/tops you have are so cute and ask if they can borrow them? If they haven’t, I’m sure they would. So what’s a girl to do about the problem of “the one time outfit?”

Here are 7 tips to solve the issue!

1. Dress your outfits up. Put different belts on dresses. Wear different jewelry. Rock different shoes! Or even a different cardigan. Dress a top up by pairing it with a skirt! You can wear an outfit in MANY different ways. Don’t give up on a dress because you already wore it once or twice and/or its in a million FB pictures.

2. Get rid of your tagged photos. I hope you have already done this. Whether you have a job already or you’re job searching – employers and prospective employers can somehow find your photos. And once they’re online, they’re online forever. The least you can do is hide them. This way, the only people who will see your photos are your “friends” (because we all have over 500 friends…). And the only photos they will see are ones you choose to put up – in your own Facebook albums. So your outfits (and your drinking habits) will be hidden!

3. Know that as you get older, you don’t have as many pictures taken of you anymore. Have you noticed that as a college grad, you don’t go out as much… and when you do, your picture isn’t taken as much? The Facebook photo album love fest is coming to a close – you don’t even name albums after your favorite rap song anymore… you name them according to the season and year. Anyway, you’ll be able to wear your outfits more because the only people that see them will be the ones whom you were with! And if that one lucky outfit is worn on the night tons of pics were taken just be happy you don’t have tagged photos anymore… and the next time you wear it, dress the outfit up differently.

4. Borrow your friends clothes. Not all of us have the option, but if you do abuse it! Your friends are prob as sick of their own clothes as much as you are. Trade outfits for a night! You will be helping yourself and a friend feel good for the night. You don’t even have to borrow actual clothes – borrow their jewelry or shoes to dress up your own outfits differently. It will be a win, win sitch.

5. Clean out your closet. You will be stunned at what you find. Your favorite shirt from 4 years ago could be today’s hottest trend (I know this isn’t highly likely, but it can happen. It happened to me a few times!). I had one top from a few years ago that I recently wore and I got more compliments on that shirt than I did on the expensive, brand new dress I wore the day before. Funny how that happens.

6. Get over the fact that the dress/top is in pictures recently put on Facebook. As I said before, no one cares. This is all the notion of a paranoid girl (not me…). And you CAN wear the dress/top if you want to. If you wore it last weekend, I would probably hold off – unless, of course, no one saw it except a few friends and some people at a random bar. But if its been a few weeks, put that dress on and drink up!

7. If you really, really don’t think you will ever wear that dress/top again – give it away! People around the world cannot afford clothes, never mind the clothes that us trendy, recent grads own. Someone else (both people who can afford clothes & people who can’t) would appreciate the clothing items that are currently collecting dust in your closet much more than you! I know its hard to say goodbye and give up the stuff that you (or your parents) spent your hard earned money on, but why not help someone out while clearing up some space in your closet for new purchases!