Fashion that Multitasks: 1 LBD = 31 Days of High Style

When Seattle artist Alex Martin wore the same brown dress every day for a year - with the added constraint that anything she paired it with such as accessories, shoes or layering pieces was either second-hand in origin or already in her wardrobe - she was one of the first to tap into a nascent trend in a high-profile way. "In this performance," she wrote about her "Little Brown Dress" project which lasted from July 2005 through July 2006, "I challenged myself to reject the economic system that pushes over-consumption," mostly through immense pressure on women to look good by buying immense amounts of new clothing. In May of this year, fashionista Sheena Matheiken launched the "Uniform Project", wearing the same LBD for a year as an exercise in sustainable fashion, while NYC designer Mal Sirrah recently collaborated with over 1000 women around the world on the perfect, universal dress. What has become clear is that there is a movement afoot to reexamine the McTaste factor in ra