Help
Sign In
clothing for kids
December 2009 
The Uniform Project
Posted on Jul 20th, 2009
by 
martha
martha
This is what Sheena Matheiken wore on Sunday, July 19th, 2009 (yesterday). She was thinking about going to the beach.
How do I know this? And even more to the point, why do I care in an "I'm gonna blog about this" kinda way? It's because because July 19th was the 200th day of 2009, and that means that Sheena has worn that same black item she's wearing in the picture 200 times this year. She wears the same thing every lovin' day.
Actually, she has seven identical black thingies, and she wears the "same thing" every day with washing activity goin' on, in a regular cycle.
She's doing this to raise money for school uniforms for kids in India. So, if you're interested, here's her cute little ol' website: theuniformproject.com If you click on the calendar in the upper left corner, you can see how she wore it on any day so far this year. And frankly, I am in awe! That girl can accessorize!!! :)
And yes, my morning paper assures me that she is working on marketing the black dress-thing. It's reversible, so you can wear it backwards or forwards, and it's a button-up--an amazing little garment. But even better, the project is also a useful counterpoint to "fast fashion," which is the name for that new development you may have noticed while shopping these days: You pick up a hanger to view a cute shirt, and notice that it is so cheaply made that it has few seams, and it's basically what I would call "cheapo," and my mom might have called "flimsey." YUK!!! But these garments are not only challenging to those of us with higher quality expectations for our garments, it's bad for the environment, too! This endless churning of fabric creation, purchase and abandonment. Let me off this train!!!
I'm old enough to remember, of course, when one kept one's clothes "forever," and they developed an unfortunate sweaty odor under the arms and so forth. I'm not going all the way back to THAT era, but I DO think Sheena Girl is showing us the way to a brave new fashion world! Oh Sweetie!!! I'm gonna wear my beautiful scarf today! Just for you and your lovely project! YAY for Sheena and the schoolkids in India!!! :)
Access: Public
Absolutely fascinating. I checked daily to see how she changed the Little Black Dress. I especially liked it because I am into my Wear It More Than Once phase. It is a terrible waste of time, water, energy, soap, to wear things only once- except for underpants. I hear in some countries people change their undies just once a week. Now, I hang up my clothes instead of throwing them into the laundry hamper, except for those that have spots.
Very creative and a worthy cause.
Hi Mimi, Gee, we're both doing that–not washing it unless it “really needs it.” I'm so glad you DO think we need to wear clean undies daily, though. Wouldn't want to wear my undies for a whole week, even if the alternative was to wash them by hand! :) Hmm. That reminds me. After doing the breakfast dishes, my mother would wash her undies and “nylon stockings” in the kitchen sink. We had a wringer washer then, and the undies were never to be put through the wringer. It was an automatic wringer. I truly terrifying device!
We used to help my Mom do the wash in the wringer washer. My sister got her arm caught in the wringer right up to her elbow. They were frightening alright! Oooo nylon stockings and garters or garter belts!
Interesting!
Mimi, one word: girdles. Remember the ones that had no crotch? I never, never, never wanted to actually wear anything like that. And I never did! :)
I wish I weren't old enough to remember girdles (rubber) without a crotch :) LOL
I can still hear the scritch and urch sounds of the rubber trying to stretch over and around my teenage curves. Thank goodness that by the time I was in my mid-twenties, we had begun to disdain those things :)
As for the little black outfit and all that accessorizing, I think I ought to come up with something that works for my age group and body type; especially to wear to work.
My middle daughter bought all black clothes for a few years so she would never have to think about what to wear and how to coordinate. I followed her lead and kind of did the same – bought all pants in black and then just threw any old top on that worked for the weather :)
Washing underwear by hand must be a universal thing – unless like some gals today, they don't wear any :O