Her pupils were not the only people who started to notice something odd about this teacher. When she walked down the hallways, she would feel eyes on her. “Is she still wearing that dress?” one of the girls would ask before snickering. She knew that the question was about to come any day now. It would be time to explain her actions. Even though she was aware that it was only a matter of time, she had no idea that it was going to be this big of an issue. When it was time to explain herself, she left everyone in shock.
The Whole School Was Buzzing Once Everyone Realized That The New Teacher Only Had One Outfit
Dressing For The Job
At the age of 34, Julia Mooney accepted the art teacher position at the William Allen Middle School in Moorestown, New Jersey. She planned in advance and dressed for the job. Her new grey Jazmenia dress looked pristine as it lay in the box. When she ordered it, she had no idea that it was going to cause this much controversy. She was excited to start the new job, but her nerves had been in an even poorer state than usual. Since she was starting in a new school, she knew that everyone was going to be looking at her.
Dressing For The Job
It Fit Her Perfectly
After preparing her two little kids for school, it was time for her to start at her new workplace. The fit of the dress had been perfect on her. She was thrilled with this dress, which cost her $50. In fact, she felt optimistic because of it. She introduced herself to the 6th and 7th graders in her class and felt that everything would go smoothly. However, the problem started when the temperature started to go up!
It Fit Her Perfectly
Getting Hot In Here
She stood beneath the air conditioning unit, but this was not enough to make her feel better. She started to flush and realized, “Oh no… I’m sweating! The horror!” As she fanned herself using a book, she felt embarrassment bloom inside her. She had to continue teaching, but she was distracted by the summer heat. The temperature had already passed 90 degrees by then.
Getting Hot In Here
By The End Of The Day
For hours, she introduced herself to the students and asked the kids to do the same thing. It felt endless. As new classes of preteens entered the doors, she knew that this was her chance to make a good impression. However, she could not help but feel as if she was blowing it. At long last, it was time to go home. Julia was glad that the day was over, but she was embarrassed to see the way the dress clung to her like it was wet cheesecloth. She reassured herself that she could do better the following day. When she got home, she scrubbed the dress in the sink and let it air dry.
By The End Of The Day
They Started To Notice
When she got to school the following morning, her pupils must have realized that there was something different about Mrs. Mooney. The observant kids had been the ones to figure out why this was the case. At the age of 13, girls typically start to get more conscious of their looks and clothes. They want to wear fashionable pieces and follow trends. This explains why the first one to notice her faux pas was a girl.
They Started To Notice
Concern For Her
After some time, she became the talk of the town. The kids at William Allen Middle School talked about the fact that she wore the same grey dress every single day during that first week. They started to speculate what it could possibly mean. Her fellow teachers had also been concerned. Could she be struggling with money? The children started to wonder if this was the case… Sadly, we all know how cruel kids can be.
Concern For Her
She Soldiered On
Julia had been very careful to avoid the elephant in the room. She simply kept teaching even though the kids whispered and snickered amongst themselves. One of the other teachers started to treat her in a different way as well. This person acted as if Julia was fragile but refused to ask her about her outfit. Even though this could not have been easy, she decided to just wait. At the very least, she needed to stay for the duration of the course. She made up her mind to keep a low-profile instead…
She Soldiered On
They Wanted To Know
By the third week, people could no longer contain the curiosity that they felt. Julia could see the question written all over their faces. It was clear that it would soon be time for her to address the issue. But what exactly was going on here in the first place? Why did she wear that grey dress that often?
They Wanted To Know
The Exact Same Dress
No one knew that she actually had a trick up her sleeve. She actually planned the entire thing with precision. There was a reason she wore the plain grey dress every single day. “I’m walking down the halls and they’re like, ‘Is she still wearing that dress?’” she said. All the curiosity just made her smile.
The Exact Same Dress
She Planned It Carefully
“I needed to pick a dress that was going to be versatile because I’m going to be wearing it through the winter, and when we started the school year it was 90 degrees,” Julia said later on. At long last, some of her students had been brave enough to ask her about the dress. When they asked her why she wore it for weeks on end, she told them to check out her Instagram page. It had the answers to their questions!
She Planned It Carefully
One Outfit For A Hundred Days
The first post on the Instagram page said, “For at least 100 days I’ll be wearing this dress, through ceramics projects, blizzards, whatever. Boring? Sure. I love to express myself through what I wear as much as the next American. This is a challenge.” The account is called “one outfit 100 days.” We know that this does not exactly explain the reasoning behind it just yet. She had four reasons to do this!
One Outfit For A Hundred Days
It Saved Her Time
Why would anyone wear the same outfit for a hundred days? The first reason is simple. It saves her a lot of time. Julia has two toddlers, so she wants to save as much time as possible. By following a minimalist lifestyle, she can say goodbye to the “what to wear” question that ate up so much of her time. She did this so that she can spend more time with her loved ones. But this is not the only reason she did this.
It Saved Her Time
Slow Fashion Advocate
Aside from that, she also considers herself a ‘slow fashion’ advocate. In case you are not familiar with fast fashion, it involves the production of cheap but trendy clothing items that are not meant to last long. “We demand lots of clothes cheap, so retailers have to produce in foreign factories where US labor laws don’t protect workers,” she said. We have slow fashion on the other end of the line. It promotes fair labor practices and promotes good quality. But there is another problem that Julia wants to address.
Slow Fashion Advocate
For The Workers
A lot of clothes are produced abroad to meet the demands of the growing market for cheap goods. These companies tend to employ underage factory workers to cut corners. This is already bad enough as it is, but these children are not protected by the law either. Julia wants to help cull the demand for cheap labor by buying fewer items of clothing. It is the main reason for her decision, but it is not the only one.
For The Workers
Carbon Footprint Reduction
Julia wants to be a conscious consumer in the hopes of fighting the environmental impact of the fashion industry. Did you know that clothing consumption is the highest it has ever been? This is part of the reason the valuable resources of the planet have been depleting. For one thing, it takes 713 gallons of water to make a cotton T-shirt. On the other hand, a polyester T-shirt uses less water but emits twice the amount of carbon dioxide. Julia wants to lower her carbon footprint, which is why she bought a fair-trade hemp dress from ‘Thought,’ a clothing line based in London. How did the kids react to her project?
Carbon Footprint Reduction
It Is Not Unhygienic
When people find out about it, disgust is the most common reaction. Right away, people assume that it is not hygienic to put on the same thing every single day. “I just tell them: this is not a project about hygiene. I wash it as needed, I come to work clean. Lots of people wear uniforms and they are not assumed to be dirty,” she said in response to this line of thought. What else can we take away from this?
It Is Not Unhygienic
All About The Image
“Do we really need so many new outfits? Are we just perpetuating a culture that defines us based on what we’re wearing rather than what we’re doing? What if we spent our energy trying to BE good, interesting humans instead of trying to LOOK good and interesting?” asked the art teacher. When the story got out, it shocked a lot of people. Fortunately, most of the responses had been supportive of her!
All About The Image
They Supported Her
After this, her Instagram page blew up. She has since gained more than 6,500 followers. One of them said, “All for integrating sustainable strategies into everyday items, what a movement this teacher started!” Not long after that, some of her pupils and coworkers followed in her footsteps. In fact, 17 teachers joined the cause! This includes Patrick, her husband who works as a history teacher. He pledged to wear the exact same shirt for a hundred days. Local news stations soon got wind of the story.
They Supported Her
We Dare You To Do It
“I like to wear clothes, I like to express myself… I know that we are all looking at what the other person is wearing,” the art teacher explained in an interview. She went on, “To wear the same thing every day is uncomfortable because we have this deeply ingrained cultural expectation to change every day. It’s weird, but because it’s weird it’s making us all think.” But what do you think? Are you willing to do the same thing and wear a single outfit for a hundred days?
We Dare You To Do It