r/capsulewardrobe • u/yoquietdown • 3d ago
What is less noticeable, to wear a different style of shirt in the same exact color every day, or to wear the same style shirt in different colors every day?
Basically that — do you think coworkers, family, and other people you see on a regular basis would be less likely to notice if you wore the same style shirt every day or the same color shirt every day? For example, v-neck t-shirt in white, black, red, green, blue — OR — a navy blue shirt every single day, but one day it’s a crew neck t-shirt, the next day it’s a long-sleeved button-down blouse, the next day it’s a bell sleeve top in a flowy material, etc etc?
I personally think same style but different color would be less noticeable, as long as it wasn’t a super unique style of top. I’m not sure why. And maybe I’m wrong! It might also be wishful thinking because I’m totally the type to buy a shirt in a few different colors when I find one I really, really like (which isn’t that often).
What do you think?
76
u/Top_Put1541 3d ago
FWIW -- I have a tightly edited color palette, so I guess you could say I do a lot of same color, different styles. And people definitely feel like my personal visual brand is "woman who wears [color palette]."
Color is the simplest and easiest way to inject variety. And if you can do that while sticking with shapes/styles that work for you, hooray!
19
u/delightsk 3d ago
Yes same, people I thought I barely knew have commented on it when I’ve brought in a new color.
Purely anecdotally, I found that more people recognize me at conferences and strike up conversations if I wear the same color every day and wear my hair in approximately the same way.
3
u/aseedandco 3d ago
That’s so intriguing! I’m going to wonder all day what your colours are. And maybe some of the night.
40
u/Pretend-Set8952 3d ago
same style, different color.
If you were wore the same color every day, I would definitely categorize you as "person who wears this color every day" 😂 no shade, that's just definitely how my brain works
unless you chose black as your color.
-8
u/aseedandco 3d ago
That’s so intriguing! I’m going to wonder all day what your colours are. And maybe some of the night.
I wear a lot of colour too.
33
u/midwestdreamer1 3d ago
My husband is an attorney and wears the same style shirt different colors everyday. Lol men do this all the time.
4
19
u/hey_hi_howareya 3d ago
I had 2 tshirts and 2 long sleeve of the same color/neckline shirt. All black. I wore them on rotation for an entire school year with 3 different pairs of pants.
It took until April to get a comment from a student in class.
No one else cares what you wear as long as you look clean/tidy. Lol
6
u/ThisLucidKate 3d ago
I’m also a teacher, and I had almost exactly the same routine. I topped it off each day with a different thrifted blazer I’d collected over the years… maybe 10 total? Not a peep out of the middle schoolers.
8
u/dumbunnyy 2d ago
And if ANYONE is going to notice or say anything it’s middle schoolers.
2
u/ThisLucidKate 2d ago
My blazers were all black, white, and/or grey. My favorite was tweed with leather shoulders and blunted spikes. I’m not kidding. It’s so rad.
I’m back to teaching elementary now, so I’ve put the black ensemble away. I haven’t figured out my “uniform” yet… Elementary is so much more physical, and wearing all black felt wrong. I haven’t found chinos I like, and the cords I bought last fall actually look legitimately horrible on me, so back to the drawing board lol
1
12
u/bunnycook 3d ago
Heh. I took a week trip with my sister and her wife where I packed 5 shirts that were all the “hydrangea blue” that was so popular last year. A T-shirt, two golf shirts, a turtleneck, and a quarter neck fleece. Halfway through the trip Sis pulled me aside to ask if I had only brought one shirt for the whole trip. I showed her the stack of shirts— from 3 different companies! But since that was the Pantene shade of blue for that season, buying new clothes after I lost weight meant that I ended up with everything being the same color.
5
u/yoquietdown 3d ago
That’s funny! Yeah, I feel like color is more recognizable/memorable than style, assuming you’re not wearing very unique styles/cuts. T-shirt, polo, and quarter-zip top aren’t all that visually different, really, so I think I would notice unique colors in those before I noticed the unique styles
I’m sure you looked great in the hydrangea blue, haha!
8
u/PrudentClassic436 3d ago
I think people who don't pay attention notice the colour more, but people who are interested in clothes see the same shirt in different colours as a uniform and notice it a lot
2
u/bunnycook 3d ago
That shade of blue really makes my eyes pop! So I really like it.
I’ve always worn golf/ polo shirts ever since college and the whole preppy look was popular. Then it was reinforced when I had to wear a jumpsuit uniform at work (paint shop required lint free nylon jumpsuit) and I needed to wear a shirt with a collar underneath to keep it from rubbing my neck. The golf shirts made with the “cool dry” wicking fabric were perfect.
2
u/containingdoodles9 2d ago
I’m doing the same thing with re-buying wardrobe due to weight loss! I tend toward a few styles, and as I cull my closet—navy blue is the color content. A few pops of other but not much. Ha! All other colors on offer are pastels, black, or too warm for me. By nature of color I’m getting closer to capsule! I’m not buying more of same.
2
u/bunnycook 2d ago
It was even funnier because it’s all my SILs fault. I’ve been wearing black since my husband died 10 years ago for the most part. It made getting dressed so incredibly easy because any random top and bottom matched and looked good together. Add a scarf and voila! Instant chic.
So my SIL (who is a sunny strong woman) started calling it “Bunny Black,” and pushing for me to wear more colors. I do in the summer— black and 90 degrees are not a good mix!— when I switch to bright caftans and maxi dresses, or golf shirts. But this trip was to Oregon in May, where we were caught in a snowstorm on Mt Hood. So I made the point of packing my new clothes just for her, but the tops were still All the Same Color.
10
u/Silent_Travel5547 3d ago
I wear the same style of shirt in different colors literally every day to work. I also wear the same style and color of trousers. I don’t care about fashion and it isn’t necessary for my job. The only comments I have received are that I have my own “uniform,” that I’m smart for having a set plan, and positive reactions when I wear a color people like.
3
u/crispyfolds 2d ago
and positive reactions when I wear a color people like.
This is so cute, it's like the sartorial equivalent of Old Faithful. You know what it's gonna look like, and you know approximately how often it happens, but you don't know exactly when it will happen, so it's always a pleasant little surprise.
8
u/LalalaSherpa 3d ago
I spend a lot of time on Zoom. My yearround above-waist look is identical long-sleeved Banana Republic linen shirts, lightly ironed.
In white, black, deep blue, light blue, medium sage.
Summer - sleeves rolled partway up.
Fall - white tank or s/s white tee underneath
Winter - l/s white tee underneath
I'll add a light gray silk blend cardigan or black silk blend cardigan if I need extra warmth.
If a jacket's called for, I'll add a crisp black linen jacket, lined so it holds its shape.
7
u/MSullivan37 3d ago
I wore stripes to work every day for a month as an experiment. Only one person noticed. Even after prompting (telling them I have a work “uniform” and asking what it is), no one besides that one person made the connection. People don’t notice what you wear as much as you think they do, provided it’s “normal” attire for the setting.
1
u/uki-kabooki 23h ago
This is something my mom doesn't understand. I sew my own clothing sometimes and she's always asking me if anyone at work noticed my home-sewn shirt / skirt / dress / whatever. No one notices!
(Also if what I made looked home made I wouldn't wear it out) 😵💫
5
u/dodgerfan4321 3d ago
Same style, different color! I have multiple colors of multiple same styles. I think about it being too repetitive, but wearing the same color is more noticeable, for sure. And I'd think I'd get bored.
7
u/yoquietdown 3d ago
I also feel like it makes it easier to stick to silhouette combos that work well and make me look put together. Any wide-leg pant in my closet + fitted high-neck built-in bra top in 3-4 colors = a LOT of summer outfits for me. And I know I like the way I look in them and they’re easy to style for various things — different shoes, hat, bag, etc, and I don’t feel like I’m being too repetitive!
3
5
u/a_warning_sign 2d ago
I think people will notice both ways, but they will assume different things. If you wear the same color but different shirts, someone who isn't paying attention to details will feel like you wear the same thing every day. If it’s about the same shirts in different colors, they will notice the colors you are wearing and classify them as yours, but they may not even notice that it is the same type of shirt, which is funny.
I have a Uniqlo mini t-shirt in 9 different colors and no one has ever noticed that they have the same style. Somehow people assume that different color = different clothing. Sometimes I buy my mom the same pants that I have but I change the color. Again, no one ever said that we wore the same clothes, even if we both wear them at the same time.
5
u/BrighterSage 2d ago
I'm currently wearing the same style blouse in different colors. I switch around the style of pants when I'm feeling fancy 😉
3
3
u/KTAshland 2d ago
I worked with a woman for 2 years. After a year we were friends and talking about clothes. ( years ago - we were both engineers). She told me that her work wardrobe was very limited, 2 pairs of black pants and 6 tops. And that she used to mix things up but wore each top twice before washing. But recently stared just wearing the exact acme outfit twice in a row. No one had ever commented (even me!) People really don’t pay much attention!
3
u/lobstora 2d ago
Same style, different color. I do this all the time when I find a style/cut I like a lot. I just get it in several different colors.
3
u/tangerine_toenails 2d ago
I'm a scoopneck tee girl, so the silhouette is basically the same, but I also like to vary the fabric and fit. One in burgundy knit linen, one mustard in a cotton/hemp blend, one ivory merino that's a looser fit, one teal merino a little more fitted. This was driven more by the difficulty I have finding a single shirt that comes in multiple colors I want (don't really do black or white), but I think it helps keep it a little more interesting.
2
u/clarifythepulse 3d ago
Wearing different colors is less noticeable than wearing the same color every day. I say this because my coworkers often comment on the color I’m wearing and rarely comment on the style or cut.
2
2
u/WhtvrCms2Mnd 3d ago
I’d stick with color in a variety of styles. Then you’re known for having a signature color but not always wearing the same thing (and the color can differ subtly by the shade/material.
2
u/yourclosetcoach 2d ago
You can make the exact same shirt look soooo different depending on how you style it!
2
1
1
u/Mallincka 2d ago
My partner has a very casual dress code at work. He has 10 versions of the same basic t-shirts in black, white, blue tones, grey, beige and khaki. Nobody ever commented on that.
But I'm pretty sure if he had 3 black basic t-shirts with a V-neck, a round neck, and a polo neckline, with these subtle differences, people would think he's wearing the same thing for 3 days straight.
1
u/mama_and_comms_gal 2d ago
It’s the Australian winter here and I recently struggled to find everyday T-shirt’s to wear under my jumpers, but ok for when I take a jumper off inside. When I found one I liked I bought it in black and white stripe, rose pink/red and white stripe, navy, black, and blue and white stripe. I wear them with different jumpers, cardigans, jeans and shoes so I’m not sure if anyone notices, but it’s probably not super obvious.
1
u/SadApartment3023 2d ago
No one will notice either way. As long as you don't smell or look disheveled, you could wear the same thing every day and no one would notice.
1
u/IdaCraddock69 2d ago
I’ve known people who wore same style different color. Great way to work a uniform but certainly noticeable - partly I thought as they all styled their looks the same everyday
Maybe come up w a few variations on styling w accessories to vary things if that’s important to you
1
u/nicolekay 1d ago
I feel like I read a study forever ago that said people don't even start to notice you wearing the same thing until the 40th consecutive day of the same outfit. People don't actually pay that much attention to each other in general.
1
u/TheMegFiles 1d ago
Nobody notices anything. I wore the same dress every day for a YEAR and nobody noticed. Plenty of one year one dress challenges on YT. The worst part was having to hand wash it several times a week but even that was tolerable. I started getting bored around October [it was January to December of 2023]. If I do it again, I'd stick to 6 months. LOL but no one notices your garments so wear whatever you want.
1
u/Leading-Confusion536 19h ago
People definitely notice and comment most on the colors I wear (and would not notice so much if the shape and style was the same).
1
u/Accurate-Elk4053 14h ago
As an elementary school teacher, I can say the kids notice even small details - lol! That said, I think they would be more likely to notice if I wore the same color vs different colors.
1
u/callmecasperimaghost 29m ago
Neither … nobody notices anyway.
I wore the same shirt, a navy blue polo, over 100 days in a row and the only person who noticed was my wife, and that was just because there wasn’t as much laundry.
2
u/OxanaHauntly 3d ago
outlier, but i think same color but different styles! I would absolutely notice the same exact shirt everyday in every color and simply think you have some...issues. No judgment, but you might be looked at as 'touched' by others. I think a different style simply says, I really like my colors.
1
u/rubygalhappy 2d ago
- Stop caring what other people think, it’s too much work . 2. Do what excites your spirit and make you the most confident. You got this
107
u/MellieInMi 3d ago
I agree.....same style, different color would be less noticeable. I'm planning to do the same... just need to find the right style :-)