Every day the Same

This morning I had one of those typical 'so many clothes but nothing to wear' moments. Running late for work, I stared into my overflowing cupboard (one of two), rifled through the racks, threw garments all over my bed, and amid a mess of scattered jeans, dresses and cardis declared that nothing was right. Oh, how simple were the days at school, when we got up late, threw down some breakfast and flung on the same uniform we wore the day before. And the day before. And the day before that. Conformity conshmormity.

For 365 days, life will once again be that simple for Sheena Matheiken. Starting from May 2009, she has pledged to wear one dress for one year as an exercise in sustainable fashion. Well, there are actually seven identical dresses that will be on rotation - she may be environmentally conscious, but she's also conscious of the stench of year old musty clothing.

There is a point to this experiment. The Uniform Project will be used to raise funds for the Akanksha Foundation, a non-profit organisation helping to educate underprivileged children in India. Donations received throughout the project period will be used to fund uniforms and other educational expenses for children living in Indian slums.

She says of her venture:

I was raised and schooled in India where uniforms were a mandate in most public schools. Despite the imposed conformity, kids always found a way to bend the rules and flaunt a little personality. Boys rolled up their sleeves, wore over-sized swatches, and hiked up their pants to show off their high-tops. Girls obsessed over bangles, bindis and bad hairdos. Peaking through the sea of uniforms were the idiosyncrasies of teen style and individual flare. I now want to put the same rules to test again, only this time I'm trading in the catholic school fervor for an eBay addiction and relocating the school walls to this wonderful place called the internet.

Personally, I think she's onto something. I mean, for 365 days she willl be free of the stress that is Morning Outfit Construction. Sure, she has to work out a different way to wear the dress each day, but really, what's a bit of accessorising? She gets to enjoy the fun part - taking the ingredients and cooking them up into something delicious. And two months in, she's proving herself to be quite creative. See below.