Edel Coffey: There's a lot to be said for the uniform
28/01/2022
As a young journalist, I was lucky enough to meet and interview the writer Josephine Hart, best known for her classic novel, Damage. When I met her, she was wearing a navy cardigan and skirt, and a white shirt with a small black ribbon tied in a bow at her neck. It was an understated, respectable and perfectly functional outfit and when I mentioned how much I liked it, she explained to me that she always wore the same thing. It was her ‘uniform’. She was a naturally glamorous woman and didn’t have to do much to look phenomenal. Still, the Mullingar native could have bought and worn as many couture outfits as she liked – she was after all Lady Saatchi, married to the advertising magnate Maurice Saatchi – but she often opted for her uniform, something simple and usually in black or white.
I’ve always been a fan of fashion but over the years I have come to appreciate the idea of having a uniform to rely on for everyday life. I always thought I loved fashion and clothes too much to be the kind of person who wears a uniform but I accidentally discovered the joys of wearing a variation of the same thing every day during the pandemic. But even though life has now returned to a sort of normal, I have kept my uniform and I don’t think I’m ever going back to the days where I spent mornings wondering what to wear, wasting valuable time and mental energy deciding on an outfit. I used to use up a lot of time wondering what to wear on any ordinary day. As a woman, not having to worry about what you’re going to wear every day saves a lot of time and mental energy. If you’re prevaricating in front of a wardrobe, you’re using up a lot of your decision-making power before you’ve even left the house. And some scientists believe the more decisions you have to make, the less brain power you have to make those decisions. (Have you ever come home from work and not been able to decide what to have for dinner? That’s decision fatigue. The struggle is real.) My uniform is not as chic as Lady Saatchi’s were, consisting as they do of a t-shirt, jeans and blazer, but it’s as quick and easy to get dressed in the morning now as it is to throw on a tracksuit, and the outfit is functional, with the added bonus of being able to take me everywhere I want to go from the school gates in the morning to a restaurant lunch to a wine bar in the evening (if I’m lucky).
I thought of all the people I admire who also wear uniforms - Fran Lebowitz, Diane Keaton, Steve Jobs, hell, even Carrie Bradshaw had a uniform of sorts, even if it was Manolos, tulle skirts and bandeau tops. Wearing a uniform seems like a smart solution to fast-tracking yourself into the fun part of your day. It’s why Diane Von Furstenberg created the wrap dress. It was her version of the man’s suit for working women - you throw it on, and you’re ready in seconds to go anywhere from a business meeting to a cocktail party. It’s considered an iconic design now, straddling the line between sexy and seductive, demure and professional and it was made out of a comfortable, stretch jersey that meant it was comfortable and clingy.
There’s a lot more to be said for the uniform, not least in terms of sustainability, another reason I have started to embrace my own uniform. It’s much more pleasant too to get dressed every day when you’re not faced with a mountain of options and you can actually see the clothes you have. I was reminded of this too as I packed my bag for a recent holiday. I like travelling light and my uniform means I can keep my baggage minimal.
Uniforms are often associated with the erasure of identity, of individuality, but there’s nothing to say you can’t dress up on special occasions or add a little individual flair to your basics. I’m happy to sacrifice a little bit personality in my clothes in exchange for the benefits of not having to think about what I’m going to wear. It’s been nothing short of liberating, both in terms of decision-making in the mornings and worrying about how I look as I go through the day. I’ve found when I’m wearing my uniform, I’m never worried about how I look, I never feel self-conscious the way I might in an outfit I haven’t got quite right.
Okay, so if you live for fashion, and express yourself creatively through each and every outfit you wear every day, a uniform might not be the thing for you. But having a go-to outfit of basics for every day doesn’t mean you can’t pull out a giant tangerine ballgown from time to time. However, if you want to save your decision-making power for the really important challenges that may arise each day (like what to eat for dinner), get a uniform.
