The Experiment...

Over the last few months I have been becoming more and more disappointed in fashion. Men's fashion in particular.

Shops don't seem to be pushing boundaries any more, for fear of loosing customers the high street has resorted to selling exactly what all the other stores are selling. With the main difference being price, Primark has clothes similar to selfridges, which has clothes similar to Topshop; just for differing budgets.

Going shopping had become a dull and boring, for everywhere I looked the same clothes were on offer. There was nothing new or exciting to interest my fashion tastebuds.
Although my definition of style develops over time, my sense of style remains unchanged. I want clothes that are unique and interesting, I don't want to look exactly like everyone else. There is nothing worse than going out and seeing someone wearing exactly the same outfit as you... Equally there is quite the buzz to getting dressed up and knowing that you look like an individual.

For some time I'd been adverse to major brands, with a personal choice not to wear clothes that have any kind of visible brand name on them. Why? Because fashion for me is not about brand, or label. Fashion is a means of expression, like painting or singing. The desire to wear certain types of clothes, particular colours or patterns is internally driven, like which music you prefer or what food you want to eat. Fashion, for me, is not about looking a particular way, or being cool/trendy, but expressing a sense of self.

I decided it was time to try something new...

I had heard of Sheena Matheiken who in 2009 began a project to wear one black dress for an entire year. A statement on sustainable fashion, Sheena created the Uniform Project which utilised the design of one dress of which she made several copies (not the same dress for 365 days thankfully!). Diarising her experience on her website and finally in a TED talk,  I think she stumbled upon something really fascinating.

Going against the tidal wave of 'fast fashion' and wearing a very limited wardrobe can have some really profound results.

And so my own fashion experiment had started to take real shape, with only one specific rule;

• Wear only plain black or white.