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One Dress October has been something I’ve wanted to participate in since I heard about it a few years ago. However, I either wasn’t in a position to do so (like when I didn’t have my own washer or dryer) or I just felt too lazy to try it out.
This year I decided I was going to do it.
So, what is One Dress October? Just as the name implies, you only wear one dress for the entire month of October.
Why would anyone subject themselves to this? The main idea is to learn how to utilize everything in your closet and how to accessorize differently. I found it especially helpful because I kept grabbing for the same outfits over and over again.
By limiting myself, I forced myself to get more creative.
While the point is to wear the same dress for all 31 days, but I had to make some reservations. It was a busy month at work, and we had a big tailgate-themed event at work, so it wouldn’t have been appropriate to wear a dress every single day. Therefore, I decided it would only be applicable on non-casual work days.
Originally, this meant I would wear the dress every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for the month of October (we have $5 jeans days every Wednesday, with the donations going to local charities), which would have totaled 13 days in the same dress.
However, some things came up (like the entire week when I wore jeans to work because I had to set up for the aforementioned tailgate-themed event), so it only ended up totaling 10 days in the same dress.
That being said, I thoroughly loved the experience. Here’s a rundown of how it went.
The first step was to pick a dress. I needed one that would be simple enough to go with a lot of things, while also being subtle enough that my coworkers wouldn’t notice I was wearing the same dress every day.
I also didn’t want to spent money on the challenge, so I worked from the selection I had. In the end, I chose this dress from H&M, because it’s simple, black, and comfortable.
I planned everything out in Stylebook, including a One Dress October category to organize all of my ideas. Once I had some planned out (including backups if I didn’t like how it turned out), I chose my favorites and put them into the October calendar.
I created a One Dress October category in Stylebook to store outfit ideas
Once I chose my favorite outfit options, I put them into my October calendar in Stylebook.
Day 1
I was able to wear the dress three different ways: as a dress, as a skirt, and as a shirt. I tried to not repeat styles in the same week so as not to be obvious that it was the same dress. It didn’t always work out, but I never had a coworker point out that I was often wearing the same dress.
To start off, I wore the dress with a cable-knit sweater (similar), gold necklace, and black heels.
Simple. Comfortable.
Day 2
The next day I wore the dress with a brown blazer (same jacket, different color) and some brown oxfords.
Day 3
Day 3 was the first day of the Red Wings season, so I had to pay homage. I wore a red blazer (similar) and red shoes (same shoes, different colors), octopus necklace, and octopus ring.
The blazer and shoes look like they’re different shades of red, but I promise they’re much closer in real life.
Day 4
This was my favorite outfit by far. I added my favorite leopard-print shirt (sold out, similar cut) and some black heels.
It was so simple but looked really put together.
Day 5
I also felt really put-together with this outfit. I wore a mid-length skirt, mustard sweater (same sweater, different color), some fun green heels (similar), and a gold and green necklace.
Day 6
This one was a little more professional, with a basic white button-up shirt, grey sweater, and matching grey flats.
Day 7
On Day 7, I wanted to utilize the simplicity of the dress to accentuate a blue statement necklace. I added a matching blue sweater (same sweater, different color) and some simple black flats.
Day 8
I went simple on Day 8, with a black blazer (similar), black heels, and red lipstick.
Day 9
Day 9 was a casual day, but I wanted to continue to wear the dress as October was winding down, so I went casual with it. I wore the dress with a circle skirt (similar), a chambray shirt (similar), necklace, and black flats.
Day 10
I wanted to wear fun tights at least once during One Dress October, so I pulled them out the last day. I unintentionally wore the same basic outfit as Day 1, which is the only time I doubled up. I added some purple tights, a fun necklace, and some black heels to the cable-knit sweater (similar) I wore on Day 1.
What do you think? Would you ever wear the same piece of clothing for an entire month?
I’ve never heard of anything like this, but this is such a fun idea. And your outfits are so cute! You did great!
Thank you so much! I heard about it a few years ago and the idea stuck with me. I had a ton of fun making outfits that wouldn’t look like the same dress!
This is such a great idea! You totally styled it perfectly! Congrats!!
Thank you!! I had a LOT of fun with it. 🙂
What a neat idea!! I am awful with utilizing my closet. *_*
Thank you! I was too, but I’m getting better thanks to this challenge! The only problem is I’ve completely forgotten about my pants (outside of jeans) because I didn’t wear them for a whole month… Whoops! 🙂
This is a really fun idea! It would take a lot of creativity to keep coming up with ways to style the dress. Day 5 + 9 are my FAVORITES <3
Thank you!! Those were two of my favorites, too. I can definitely tell I’ll be wearing them both more often. 🙂
I don’t know if I am that creative. But the outfits you came up with for one dress looked great.
Thank you so much! And you’d be surprised how creative you can be when you have to be 🙂
what a cool idea! You did a great job mixing it up! That seems like such a challenge and you totally rocked it!
Thank you so much! 🙂
I wish I could be that creative when it comes to clothing. But those outfits that you shared looked amazing!
Thank you! You’d be surprised how creative you can be when you try! 🙂
I love this concept and actually put it into motion every month! I have 3 black dresses (I wear a dress 4 days a week for work) and I layer shirts over them and do all kinds of things to make them look different. I have hundreds of scarves and different tights, makes the dresses look like different outfits all the time!
That’s awesome! I wish I had the apartment storage space to have that many accessories. 🙂
Love all these dress ideas!! Soo cute xoxo MK
Thank you so much!
This is such a fun idea. I just wonder if you’re wearing the same dress for 31 days, when the heck do you wash it?! Ha ha ha! But your combinations are GREAT and I might be brave enough to try this one day. (Although I don’t currently wear dresses for ANYTHING!)
Thank you! And it helped that I was only wearing them three times per week, but I was VERY careful not to spill and washed them at least every weekend, if not more. 🙂 I’ve known other people to get more than one of the same dress so they can swap them out.
Did anyone notice that you kept wearing the same dress under all of this stuff?
Nope! Only my boyfriend, who knew about the challenge.
This is such a good idea, I have that h&m dress and used to wear it lots but not always styled it as good as you did. Thanks for the ideas might borrow some in the future
Thanks! It’s such a great dress.
Great way to be creative with your outfits. 🙂
Thank you!
I have a similar little black dress and I never really know how to style it – these are nice tips!
Happy to help! 🙂
I love the virtual style calendar. Great ideas to style one dress too.
Thanks! I seriously LOVE Stylebook. 🙂
That’s very creative, Lots of cute outfit ideas.
Thank you!
THAT is such an awesome idea! I love it!
Thank you so much! It was a lot of fun 🙂
I was just thinking the other day that I really need to figure out some new outfits with the clothes I already have. This sounds like a great way to do just that! I think the black dress was a great choice! It’s simple enough to pair with a lot of different things.
It’s a lot of fun! And if the dresses (or whatever article of clothing) you want to style differently are too obvious, challenge yourself to wear them every Monday or whatever, so it’s not too obvious at work! 🙂
I love this idea, especially with a simple black dress! I have one that I’ve been wearing at least once a week with different accessories, and even that has made getting ready so much easier. I’ll have to consider upping my dress game and wearing it more often.