Why I did the #30daydresschallenge

I just wore the same dress for 30 days straight. I know what you’re probably thinking, because it’s the first question I get asked. Yes, I was allowed to wash it during those 30 days. And no, I didn’t get bored wearing the same dress every day.

I first learnt about the brand Wooland a few years ago when I saw their advertisement pop up on my Facebook feed. It said, “wear our dress for 100 days straight and we will give you a $100 gift card”. They must be really confident about their quality, I thought to myself, admiring them for their bold marketing statement. But would anyone join their challenge to wear a dress for 100 days in a row? And why?

Out of curiosity I started following the brand and got pulled in by the stories of hundreds (now thousands) of people who were wearing these dresses and documenting their journey through photographs and posts. Each of them chose to do the challenge for a different reason — some to purge their closets, or because they wanted to live a more conscious life, and others to save themselves the hassle of deciding what to wear each morning.

And after watching from the side lines for many months, I decided to join the challenge. Having carefully chosen my dress, I joined the #30daydresschallenge last month. 

Here’s why I did it:

Say it, do it: I work in sustainable fashion and sustainability is huge part of my life. At JULAHAS we always believe in doing more with less. Imagine, just one dress is all I needed for the next month! By being a proud outfit repeater it was my way of walking the talk.

Wash less. Wear more: One of the said benefits of this challenge is lesser laundry. I wanted to confirm that. I didn’t wash my dress every day, only when it was really dirty. Other days I hung it to air dry and it was magically clean and fresh the next morning. I can now confidently say that my laundry loads were down by a third and hardly included anything that belonged to me. Now to get the rest of my family to join the challenge 😅.

I’m a material girl: Having worked with wool for many years now, I know how breathable and temperature regulating it already is. But this dress was different, it also had a bit of nylon in the mix. How would it feel against the skin? Would I mind that it wasn’t an all-natural material? Here’s what I discovered: this was the only bit I didn’t love. I realised that it is often impossible for brands to be 100% sustainable, but I would love to see a pure wool dress from Wooland soon!

Embracing my body: As I am getting older, my body is changing and so is my relationship with it. I love things that don’t hug my curves and look for flattering fits. This dress was designed to fit so many different bodies and shapes. I loved how simple yet stylish it looked.

Learning to pack smart: I always overpack when I am travelling. During this challenge, while I packed the same amount of clothes I usually do when I travel for a week, I wore less than half (my dress was worn on repeat) of what I carried.
If you want some more tips on packing light with wool, you can read this blog by JULAHAS customer and a Wooland fan Linda.

This challenge is addictive, not only because their dresses are so wonderful and fuss-free, but largely because of the kind, generous and wonderful women that are part of this group. Even if your dress doesn’t make you feel special, they do.