Submitted by No-Struggle5102 t3_z6njkd in explainlikeimfive
Comments
No-Struggle5102 OP t1_iy2c5to wrote
Ok but why can’t I do that tho
locust115 t1_iy2coz7 wrote
You can if you choose, it's just something that is considered socially.. different? I don't want to say unacceptable or taboo, but there is reasoning. Build up of sweat and bacteria on your clothes and body makes it smell, that smell is typically offensive to other people even if you can't smell it, many other people do. I for example wear very much the same outfit day to day, but different sets, and wash other once a week. When I was lower income I would stretch out how long or how many times a week I wore a set of clothes. Now I am able to buy several pairs of the same jeans, so I can have clean other every day, but still feel comfortable in what I'm wearing. IT technically is societal construct, you can wear what you want tbf. People may just look at you funny if they notice you wearing the exact same thing every day and notice it get dirtier, like if you work next to the same people every day.
YellsAtGoats t1_iy2evun wrote
I mean, it depends on how much you're exerting yourself and how much you want to use perfumes and antimicrobials to mask or subdue any odor.
I used to do strenuous work indoors, so I'd change my exterior shirt and pants every 1-2 days, while changing my underwear every day. Now I do more sedentary work mixed outdoors and indoors, and I find that I can stretch the same exterior shirt and pants for a few days straight.
It sounds a bit grody, but what am I supposed to do? Mortgage and condo fees are already expensive, let alone laundry. And my time is at a premium. I'll be damned if I'm going to waste a lot of my personal time in the morning or evening doing laundry because my employer only provides me 2 uniforms, if I can stretch things slightly so that I only do laundry on the weekend....
locust115 t1_iy2f62f wrote
Yup, 100% I get that. And that to me, is reasonable. Also even what I may think isn't reasonable is just the way it has ro be for other people, so do what you gotta at the end of the day.
croninsiglos t1_iy2cfbo wrote
Having only one pair of clothes makes doing laundry very difficult because you have to be naked.
Additionally, many places have climates which are not appropriate for some outfits and there’s not a good one that fits all the seasons.
Another problem is microbial growth, even with washing, this can be an issue, especially in underwear.
It’s best to have multiple items if possible.
[deleted] t1_iy2dqbg wrote
[removed]
No-Struggle5102 OP t1_iy2d2xb wrote
You are the first of two that gave me a real answer
WardStradlater t1_iy2ctl0 wrote
“Accepted”
The way you ask the question seems to more be asking about societal acceptance of only having one outfit, not necessarily logistics of it. If people saw you in the same outfit every day they would think that you were dirty and not washing your clothing and so they would think that it’s gross. Even if you could manage to wash the outfit every day, your clothes would break down quickly and you would soon have very tattered and raggedy clothing which would also make people think you’re dirty and gross.
Zula13 t1_iy2crsa wrote
Because it is not sanitary for the same clothes to be worn every day. Skin cells, sweat, dirt, hair and other things make clothes dirty after multiple wearings. It is a waste of time to do laundry every day, so you need multiple pieces of each clothing (several pants, shirts etc.)
While you CAN just get identical pieces of each shirt, it is very uncommon. People like to have variety and options so nearly everyone gets different clothes. They also need different clothing for different situations. Few clothing choices work well for ALL of the following situations: the beach in summer, a job interview, a funeral, a wedding, and a snowball fight.
Wearing the same green shirt every day makes people wonder “How long has he been wearing that shirt? It must smell. Does he ever wash it? How many dead skin cells are on there?” It makes people go down a rabbit hole of “ick.”
However, if you choose to do that, it’s your right.
No-Struggle5102 OP t1_iy2d0lx wrote
You are one of 2 that gave me a real answer
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MrUnlucky-0N3 t1_iy2pa1y wrote
Having only one set of clothes is inconvenient. Your set of clothes wil not be suited well for all times of the year, you might be hot in the summer but cold in winter too.
As someone pointed out, you'd have nothing to wear while your set of clothes is in the laundry, which, would be quite often if you don't want your clothes to smell.
Different kinds of clothing need cleaning on different cycles. It is common to change underwear every day, t-shirts at least after two days and jeans can sometimes be worn for a week without smelling.
The wear on your clothes is not spread out. Your clothes will break more quickly if you wear and wash them a lot. Especially clothes like jeans can lose a tiny bit of color with every wash and look quite bad after many wash cycles.
If you only had one set of clothes, a laundromat would be wasted, because they usually can't use little enough water for that few clothes, so you would likely need to hand wash.
Socially:
People will notice you wearing the same clothes every day and draw conclusions. Most will, irrespective of your actual laundry habits, assume you walk around in dirty clothes half the time.
In case you are talking about one "selection" of clothes and multiple duplicates of each, that is usually considered weird, but still somewhat fine. If that's what you are after, I'd advise you to buy two different styles of pants and shirts so you can look somewhat unique between your outfits and still keep the simplicity.
iconoclast63 t1_iy2c3ab wrote
Because you would have to wash them every day. Even people in uniforms like military and police get multiple uniforms so they don't have to wear the same one every day.