anything goes with emma chamberlain - uniform dressing, a talk with emma

Episode Date: February 18, 2024

this episode is going to come as a shock to many of you because many of you know me as a fashion lover. i recently became obsessed with the idea of dressing in a uniform. my default mode of getting dressed in the morning is putting something new on every day. i've flirted with the idea of a uniform before when i did my series on minimalism a few months back, but at the time it was something that i felt wasn't realistic for me. recently though, there's been a shift in my brain, and i'm taking this idea much more seriously. so let’s discuss the pros and cons of dressing in a uniform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is gonna come as a shock to many of you Because many of you know me as a fashion lover. I talk about fashion all the time on the podcast I post about fashion on Instagram all the time. I'm known as somebody who loves fashion It's one of my main hobbies going shopping Putting together little outfits. I'm known as a fashion lover. So this episode may be a shock to you, but don't be fooled. This episode is also a shock to me. I recently became sort of obsessed with the idea

of dressing in a uniform. The way that I get dressed in the morning now is every day is a blank canvas. I am a blank canvas, and I'm building something brand new every day. Yeah, I repeat outfits for sure. But my default mode of getting dressed in the morning is putting something new on every day. And I've flirted with the idea of a uniform before when I did

my series on minimalism a few months back. I talked about the minimalist lifestyle and how being a minimalist means only owning what you need, right? That applies to clothes as well. And when I talked about minimalism a few months ago, I wasn't saying I wanted to be a minimalist for sure. Rather, I was discussing the extreme lifestyle and pulling little pieces of advice from it that were valuable. Does that make sense? I was analyzing the concept as a whole finding the positives and negatives in it in an attempt to apply little bits and pieces of it into my life and I discussed how appealing the idea of uniform dressing was.

But at the time, I didn't take it super seriously. Like I was aware of how beneficial it could be. And I discussed how beneficial it could be, but it was something that I didn't feel was realistic for me. Recently, there's been a shift in my brain and I'm taking this idea much more seriously. Like I'm really heavily considering it. There's been a few events and a few epiphanies that have driven me closer to the conclusion that this might be the lifestyle for me.

Number one, I've been so late recently to things because I've been taking too long to get dressed. Because I look at every outfit as a blank canvas, like I start with nothing and build something completely brand new. And because I've built such a collection of clothing over the years, getting dressed takes me like an hour. Even if I'm just going to the grocery store.

Like I take every outfit so seriously because for me, it's like a creative outlet. It's like an art project. Every outfit is like an art project. So I take it very seriously. And I don't think that that's inherently bad because again, it is a hobby for me. But I've been

late for things recently because it's taken me too long to get ready. Like the other day, I went to go shopping and to hang out with my friends, literally my best friends. They don't give a fuck what I'm wearing, even though one of my best friends is my stylist, Jared, and he has great taste, so I always want to impress him, but he doesn't give a fuck. He doesn't care what I'm wearing. To his core, he doesn't care. When we're hanging out as friends, not as him being my stylist, he couldn't care less

what I'm wearing. There was no reason for me to spend an hour picking out my outfit. I was late to their house because I could not figure out what to wear. And I was taking it seriously, even though I was putting together a casual outfit. You know what I mean? On weekends when I'm going out to dinner with friends, going out for drinks with friends, I'm always at least 15 minutes late because I couldn't pick out my outfit. Always.

Sometimes even 30 minutes late. For business meetings, I'm always down to the wire, so stressed out because I can't figure out what to wear. And yeah, every outfit feels like a masterpiece to me. I'm like, yes, yes, I've, I've, I've done it. I've done it again. I've created, yes. You know, like, yeah, I get that feeling and that's great.

But at what cost? Because I've been so late recently and I'm not somebody who feels comfortable with being late. I know some people who don't mind being late. I am not like that. My blood pressure raises, I'm shaken up, I'm freaked out. I don't do well when I'm late. I feel guilty, like it's all bad. So I'm starting to build resentment

for the outfit building process because it's been creating negative emotion for me because I've been late a lot. And then on top of that, for the past year or so, I've been traveling with only a carry-on suitcase, which means I don't get to bring a lot of clothes. Whether I'm traveling for a week or a month, I only bring a carry-on and I just do laundry while I'm traveling and it's fine. I love that. I've been really enjoying that for the last year or so and one of my favorite parts about that I've realized is how I'm forced to wear a uniform every day because I can't pack 10

outfits. You know, I can pack maybe three pairs of pants, four pairs of pants, a few shirts, one jacket, a few accessories. Like I'm kind of locked into a uniform and I've grown to love that because when I'm traveling, I don't think about my outfit in the morning. I only have three options. I mean, I have a few more than

three because I can mix and match things a little bit, but for the most part I'm locked in. And in the morning, I don't think about what I'm to wear because it's all right there in front of me. I'm not digging through my closet trying to find something new. I'm not trying to balance the colors of my outfit. I'm not overthinking, like, oh, is this the right vibe? Because, no, I only have a few pairs of pants to choose from, I only have a few shirts to choose from. I only have one vibe to choose from, it's the vibe that I pack, that's all I have.

And it's so nice to just get dressed in 30 seconds in the morning and then head out for the day. And I like the outfit because it's an outfit that I picked out. It's not like I don't like it. It's an outfit I feel good in. And I don't care if people see me wearing it twice because I'm in a new place, I'm traveling.

Like I'm not gonna see the same people twice, most likely. You know, I've grown to love that experience. Those two things have made me come to the conclusion that it might be time for me to really commit to the idea of dressing in a uniform. Now, let me define what this lifestyle is in my eyes, dressing in a uniform. What does that mean to me?

Because I think that could mean something different for everyone. Like Steve Jobs famously had his black turtleneck, blue jeans in whatever the fuck shoe he was wearing, and that was his look, that was his uniform. Mark Zuckerberg famously is in like a gray t-shirt and jeans and like a sneaker to each their own. Like I feel like Steve Jobs owned just 50 black turtlenecks, 50 pairs of jeans, 50 loafers or whatever shoe he would wear,

and then like one tuxedo for weddings. You know what I mean? Like I think he rarely deviated from that look. I could picture Mark Zuckerberg also wearing his gray. You know what I mean? Like I think he rarely deviated from that look. I get picture Mark Zuckerberg also wearing his gray t-shirt to a wedding. Like I don't even think he owns a tux. You know what I mean? That's not what I am imagining when it comes to uniform dressing for me.

Instead of one outfit, I think of having like between three and five. You know, one look for going out at night, like one sleek, hot, cool, fun, going out look. One running errands look, one formal look for like a wedding or whatever. And then maybe a few versatile basics that I can interchange.

You know, I can plug in here, plug in there. I also imagine myself using accessories still, switching out the sunglasses, maybe adding a scarf or a beanie every once in a while, maybe having a few different jackets like two, maybe having a few different sweaters like two. It's not going to be so strict that I'm wearing the exact same outfit every single day. There's still going to be some variation, but on paper, there's like three to five outfits and I'm wearing them over and over and over and over. And then the last rule is that it can change and evolve over time. Like every six months to a year, this can change. The uniform can change. I can donate the stuff from the prior uniform and build a new one.

I'm not stuck wearing the same thing every single day for 15 years, like Steve Jobs, right? Like that's not going to work for me. I'm somebody who likes fashion too much to stick with the same uniform for 10 years. I mean, listen, if it happens, it happens, but I'm not making that a rule for myself. Now you might be thinking, Emma, why do you have to make a choice? Why are you making this such a big deal?

You can just wear a uniform when you feel like it for a few months and then go back to dressing creatively on a daily basis when you feel like it. Like why are you being so rigid about it? Well, because I have this toxic trade of being all or nothing with everything in my life. And maybe instead of deciding whether or not I should become a uniform dresser,

I should address my toxic trait of being so all or nothing with everything. But no, that's much less fun. I'd rather exacerbate my toxic trait and allow myself to indulge in the all or nothing of the uniform dressing. I don't know, I don't know. I think the reason why I wanna go all or nothing with this

is because if I don't know. I think the reason why I want to go all or nothing with this is because if I don't, then I won't get to benefit from the beauty of uniform dressing, which is removing the choice. Like, that's the whole beauty of it is you don't have a choice. If all you have in your closet is your uniform, then that's what you're wearing. You see, you can't benefit from this without that mentality. I also just hate a gray area. Like with people in my life, for example, I tend to be all or nothing. We're either friends or we're not.

We're either dating or we're not. I'm either doing something 100% or I'm quitting it all together. Like this is just who I am. I don't know, again, is it toxic? Probably it sounds kind of toxic when I'm saying it out loud, but this is just who I am in general. But specifically with this concept and lifestyle, ooh,

it's even more tempting to do it all or nothing. So let's discuss the pros and cons of dressing in a uniform. By the end of this, maybe you'll decide that you want to start dressing in a uniform. Maybe you're already dressing in a uniform and this episode just further confirms that that's the right lifestyle for you. Maybe you'll decide, no, it's not worth it for me. I don't want to dress in a uniform. Maybe if you're dressing in a uniform, you'll decide I don't want to dress in a uniform anymore. I actually want to become the blank

canvas. Hopefully you come to some conclusions and hopefully I come to some conclusions. We shall see. Let's start out with the pros of dressing in a uniform. Number one, I can spend almost an hour, I mentioned this earlier, picking out an outfit. Dressing in a uniform would save me so much time. Let's say for the sake of math and statistics, that it takes me 45 minutes on average to pick out an outfit. Usually I have to pick out an outfit three times a week on the low end. Usually twice during the weekend, I have to pick out a cute outfit, whether it's to go hang out with friends or it's to go out to dinner.

And then during the week, I often have to get dressed for a meeting at least once or maybe get dressed for a podcast interview where I'm on camera. Sometimes I have to pick out an outfit seven times in a week. But for the sake of math, let's say on average three times a week, I have to pick out an outfit. Having a uniform would save me two hours in 15 minutes per week on the low end. Nine hours a month, 108 hours per year on the low end.

That's a lot of time. I mean, even two hours and 15 minutes a week, that's kind of a lot of time. You can do a lot in two hours and 15 minutes. So not having to pick out an outfit, eh, that would save me a lot of time. You can do a lot in two hours and 15 minutes. So not having to pick out an outfit, eh, that would save me a lot of time. You know what else I do a lot? Shopping, mainly online shopping,

but also shopping in person. I probably shop for two hours a week. That's again, on the low end. By quitting that, I would save eight hours per month in 96 hours per year on the low end. That's a lot of time. I would also save time when packing for trips.

I travel approximately twice a month, and it usually takes me approximately eight hours to pack. And I know that that sounds wild, but I'll tell you why. It's because I only pack a carry-on, and I pack for a trip I have to figure out how to create as many Outfits as possible with the least amount of pieces of clothing possible So what I usually do is pick out four pairs of pants that all look good with the same one or two pairs of shoes. And then I pick out like four tops that look good with all of those pairs of pants and those one or two pairs of shoes.

Does that make sense? It takes me so long because it's a full puzzle. It's such a puzzle. It takes me so long. And I'm also trying to factor in what I'm going to be doing on the trip. You know, is this trip more casual? I'm just hanging out, not going to fancy restaurants or blah, blah, blah. Great. Then I can create casual outfits. Am I doing a little bit of both? Am I going to some events? Am I going to some fancy restaurants?

Okay. Well, now I need to somehow balance that. You see what I'm saying? So it takes me a long time to pack. I travel approximately twice a month. Okay, I travel a lot. Now listen, I'd probably still need an hour to pack with a uniform because packing just takes a while in general.

But if I had a uniform, I'd save seven hours every time I pack, which would save me 14 hours a month, 168 hours per year. Okay, so now let's add this up. If I had a uniform, I would save approximately 372 hours a year. That's a little bit over an hour a day, which might not seem like a lot or it might, it might, it just depends on how you look at it. You can do so much in 372 hours. Now, ideally, I would use this time wisely, right? I'd learn a new hobby.

I'd get a little bit more work done. I would sleep an extra hour. Is that realistic? I don't know, but it cannot be overlooked that a lot of time would be saved having a uniform. Like it's very safe to say that, I would say. Now, a promising pro is that not putting creative effort into picking out my outfits will leave more creative juice for other things. You only have so much creative juice in your brain. I don't think of creativity as a never ending supply.

I personally run out. I only have so much creative energy. I spend a lot of my creative energy picking out outfits. And don't get me wrong, I enjoy the act of picking out an outfit. I love it. It's like I'm making a little masterpiece every day, even if it doesn't look like a masterpiece to other people

because it's like, she looks so casual and chill. To me, it's a masterpiece because I balance the colors and it has a specific vibe. And to me, it's a little masterpiece. But I will say it's not the most fulfilling creative endeavor. Like I'd rather take that energy and make a YouTube video, you know, like make an interesting YouTube video or learn how to use my camera better so I can take better photos or learn how to play an instrument so I can learn how to play music.

Like, I don't know, I'd rather use that creative energy to create something that's more satisfying for me. Putting together an outfit is fulfilling to an extent, but doing it on a weekly basis and spending a lot of my creative energy every week doing that. I just, I think it's wasting a lot of my creative juice. And I never thought of it like that because to think of it like that feels like overthinking it, but I'm convinced that I'm wasting creative juice on this. Next, my uniform can evolve over time as my personal style changes. I'm not stuck with one look forever. I can still play around with fashion. It's just gonna be on a less consistent basis.

Instead of me getting creative every single time I need to get dressed, now I'm getting creative every six months to a year and building the perfect uniform for myself. You know, on a daily basis, I can get creative with my accessories. You know, I'm still gonna have various accessories that I can play with, different sunglasses,

maybe a few different purses. You know, it's not gonna be exact. There'll still be a little bit of choice, maybe. I don't know, I think it's a pro that there is still some room to play. It's just not as frequent. And to build off of that, I can still enjoy the art of fashion just in a different way. Like in between uniform switches, I can continue to study clothes as I always do, but it'll serve a different purpose. You know, normally I'm studying clothes because I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to

wear tomorrow. You know, I'm online making mood boards, this and that, constantly trying to reinvent myself. But if I'm uniform dressing, then I'm studying fashion in between uniform switches to try to figure out what my next uniform is going to be. Does that make sense? But I still get to enjoy studying fashion and there's still a purpose to it. It's just not as immediate. And I think that that's actually going to force me to be a better consumer of fashion because I'm only going to buy things that I've heavily thought about.

going to buy things that I've heavily thought about. Instead of making a mood board and getting super excited about a certain trend or idea and then immediately going out and buying it, I'm going to have to marinate in the idea of a certain thing before I go out and buy it because I have to wait for my next uniform switch. I also think that I genuinely enjoy the project that would be building my uniform from conceiving the uniform, deciding what it is, to going and finding the perfect pieces. Let's say my uniform is white t-shirt blue jeans. Very obvious example. Going out and finding the perfect pair of blue jeans, going out and finding the perfect white t-shirt, like that's a fun project. I think I would enjoy that experience. And also on top of that, this is maybe a more

niche sort of element of all this. But when I go to fashion shows, fashion events, red carpet events, etc., I work with my stylist Jared and he goes in basically rents clothing for these events. That could be an opportunity for me to play around because those clothes are ultimately given back, right? They're not committed to my closet. They're not taking up space in my closet. I still have room to play when I go to events. So that's kind of cool too, because fashion is still involved in my life in that way.

So I can play around then, you know, and that doesn't happen very often. I go to fashion events every few months. You know, I do red carpet events every few months. It's not like I do that very often, but when I do, I'll be able to enjoy that experience knowing that I can give everything back. You know, none of it's mine. Next, less clutter overall. The amount of closet space I'm going to have,

if I do this, wow, it makes me smile like I'm smiling thinking about it because I am a clothing collector. Okay, I am a clothing collector. I definitely, definitely, definitely collect clothing. Again, it's one of my hobbies. I'm totally making excuses for myself. I'm just addicted. I think I'm a little bit addicted to shopping. Not in a bad way. I know people who are way worse than me. Not that that's an excuse either.

See, I'm enabling myself right now. I have a lot of clothes, okay? And I'm so grateful for every single piece of clothing in my closet. And I don't want to sound like I'm not. But also, I don't like clutter. I don't like having a lot of stuff. It makes me stressed out. It causes anxiety for me.

This is a common feeling. I'm almost always drowning in clothes. Like I have to go through and purge my closet and donate a bunch of stuff every few months or else I am just drowning in clothes. And it would be so nice to not have that issue anymore. Now I know it's like calling that an issue is fucking ridiculous. Okay.

But you get what I'm saying. I'm like a clothing hoarder. Okay. Next, I rarely get to experience the satisfaction of wearing something down until it's worn out because I do wear different things every day. I don't get to wear a pair of shoes down until there's a hole in the salt. Now, I know what you're thinking, Emma, this is like such a ridiculous thing to say. I know it is, it's ridiculous.

It's such a privilege to want that, you know? Like to want to wear something until it's done. I'm fully aware of that and I'm aware of how stupid it sounds, but I have to mention it because I do enjoy that. You know, when I was younger, at the beginning of the school year, I'd get a new pair of shoes, and then at the beginning of the school year, I'd get a new pair of shoes and then by the end of the school year, they're a fucking mess. And that was satisfying.

That's a satisfying feeling. You feel like, wow, I really got my fucking money's worth out of this thing. You know, I wore it down until it was trash. Because I'm such a clothing collector, because I have so many clothes, because I wear something new every day, nothing ever really gets to that point. And I think the reason why I crave that is because you build this very special relationship with pieces of clothing when you wear them on a daily basis. You watch them wither away and you form this emotional bond with those pieces of clothing and you're like, ah, you

were with me through thick and thin and I know it's an inanimate object and I'm being weird right now about it. But there is something special about that bond that you build with a piece of clothing that you wore out completely. It's almost like you want to put them in a museum or something because you're like, I spent so much time with you, you being that piece of clothing that you wore over and over and over again for a year or two or whatever. And I have that with some things in my closet.

You know, like there's a few pairs of loafers in my closet that I've really worn out, a few pairs of sneakers. My slippers that I wear every day are absolutely destroyed. I'm looking at them right now. They're really destroyed and I need a new pair, but they just, they don't make this pair of slippers anymore. And I, I like these. I don't want to get new ones. But anyway, I have that with certain pieces of clothing, but I don't know. I'm craving that relationship with my clothes again. Like I feel like clothes have become too interchangeable for me. Like they don't mean anything to me anymore.

I don't have relationships with my clothes as much as I used to when I was younger and I was wearing a uniform every day. I wore the same sweatshirt every day in second grade and I had a relationship with that sweatshirt. I don't know, I'm craving that. And I'm craving the moment when it's time to retire it, and I'm sad, but then I'm excited because I get to replace it with something else. Like I miss that experience.

And again, I know it sounds fucking ridiculous, and it's such like a privileged, stupid thing to say, but I'm craving that relationship with my clothes. I also am intrigued by the idea of having guaranteed outfit confidence. I'm a firm believer that you are your most confident, outgoing, authentic self when you're wearing an outfit that you feel good in. And there are times when I step out in a brand new outfit that I've never worn before and I feel confident and great and amazing and all as well.

But there are a lot of times when I experiment and I put something together and I wear it out and I'm like, ooh, I actually don't feel good in this. And if you build a uniform, there's no doubt that you're going to feel good in that uniform. Otherwise, that shouldn't be your uniform. I feel like it would allow me to be more comfortable out and about more often. And that's sort of exciting to me. And last but not least, I would definitely save money. Okay? I spend a lot of my money on clothes because again, it's a hobby. It's a passion of mine. The second that I made my own money, I started spending money on clothes.

Like, before I bought myself a car or, you know, it was like, no, I'm buying clothes. You know, that was what I was the most excited about spending my money on. And so ever since I started making my own money, I was like, let's fucking hate it. Let's hit the shops. We're shopping because fashion is one of those hobbies where you have like, okay, you don't

necessarily need to have a lot of money to be involved in fashion because you can go thrifting and find incredible things. But there is a barrier to entry. You do need to spend money on clothes in order to wear clothes, you know what I'm saying? And you can get thrifty with it. And I did that for many, many, many, many years and I still do that even to this day. But yeah, I mean, that's a big part

about participating in fashion. You have to buy clothes, you have to consume clothes. And so it was just like, I was so stoked when I made my own money because my parents were like, bitch, no, you're not like, actually my poor parents, they were paying for my clothes in a phase when I wanted new stuff. I wanted new expensive stuff to fit in with the kids at school. Whereas when I started making my own money, I got super into thrift shopping

and everything was like, I would go buy 20 pieces of clothing for $20, you know what I mean? So they caught me in an unfortunate phase, but regardless, I will absolutely save money from not shopping, okay? I think that that goes without saying, that's very obvious, but that's obviously a pro, you know? For obvious reasons, I don't even need to explain that. So pretty promising list of pros there. It's going to be

hard to beat that. But let's attempt with the list of cons of dressing in a uniform to start. The satisfaction of stepping out in a new, fresh outfit will be lost. You know, the endorphins that are released when you put together a masterpiece of an outfit and you get to debut it to the world, that's lost. I mean, even the puzzle of picking out an outfit, being solved in such a satisfying way, that's lost. There is a lot of joy in that for someone who enjoys fashion. Listen, if you don't like fashion, if you don't like getting dressed, that does not

apply to you. But for me in particular, I love that process. It's kind of torturous at times, but I love it. You know what I mean? I love it. You know what I mean? I love that. And I won't be able to do that anymore because I'll go into my closet and I just have my uniform. You know, the excitement around fashion

will sort of die in my day to day life and be reserved to when it's time to switch up my uniform. And for when I go to events and things of that sort where I'm renting clothes to wear, you know, other than then fashion will not be a part of my day to day life as much. I won't get that excitement and satisfaction from that. Now arguably I might get it elsewhere because I'll have so much more time to do other things. You know, maybe I'll pick up another creative endeavor or something like that and that will

replace the satisfaction that I was getting from building outfits on a daily basis. But maybe not. Maybe I just lose this excitement in my life and it isn't replaced. And that's a risk. Another con is that the fashion muscle is not going to be flexed as often if dressing in uniform. flexed as often if dressing in uniform. I will say I learn so much on a day-to-day basis while styling myself casually. Every time I pick out an outfit, I learn something new. That might sound sort of dramatic, but the way that I get dressed in the morning,

you know, looking at myself as a blank canvas, I'm building something new every day and it is an educational experience. Okay? Like, there's always a struggle because it's like putting together a puzzle. I'm trying to make everything match. I'm trying to make the colors balanced. I'm trying to make the vibe consistent and somewhat vivid in my own eyes.

Like, if the vibe of the day is, okay, I'm going vampire today, then there's a puzzle to make it feel that way to me. Or if the vibe is life on the farm, you know, I'm trying to make the outfit feel like life on the farm. If the vibe of the day is alien, I'm trying to make it feel like an alien, you know? And I don't know, like balancing all of those things, technical

elements like balancing colors and then more abstract elements like what the vibe is, balancing all of that and putting something together that feels fresh and new and exciting to me is a puzzle that inevitably teaches me something every single time because I'm having to get creative to arrive at a place where I feel satisfied. And I end up learning new ways to layer my clothing. I end up discovering a new color combo that I really enjoy. Oh, wow. You know, maroon looks really good with yellow.

I've never tried that before and I just tried it right now and wow, that looks good. I would have never thought of that before. You what I'm saying always learning something new and I have to wonder if I'd become less fashionable if I just wore a uniform because I wouldn't be learning as much on a day-to-day basis I'm not solving that puzzle my exposure to fashion will be much less. You know, it'll just be more of something that I'm consuming. Like when I am studying fashion as I always do, whether that's making mood boards on Pinterest or that's looking at Vogue runway and seeing what's happening on the runway, that's definitely contributing to

my knowledge of fashion and my understanding of what I like and don't like, etc. But that only teaches you so much. I think you learn the most about fashion when you get your hands dirty and you're putting together outfits yourself that are uniquely you, which inevitably they will be because unless you're copying everything you see on Pinterest or the runway, anytime you go into your own closet and you're left to use only the stuff you have to create something exciting, it will always feel uniquely you, you know, because you're not, you're not just copying

something. You kind of always have to get creative. So I have to wonder if I would lose that fashion muscle a bit and end up kind of rusty when it's time to put together an outfit myself, style myself, you know? Like, will I lose a bit of that? That's a risk. I'll also just be losing a hobby, right? I spend a lot of time and energy on shopping, getting dressed every day, etc. Losing a hobby is a bummer. I mean, obviously it'll still be a hobby for me when I get dressed for events or when I'm studying clothes online for fun,

but it'll become less relevant in my life. And ideally, I'd replace this hobby with another hobby. You know, I'd have more energy to participate in a hobby that is more fulfilling for me, because even though fashion is very fulfilling for me, I do enjoy it a lot. I am very aware that I would be more fulfilled participating in other hobbies. But would I participate in other hobbies? That's the question. Like with this new brain space, would I use it wisely or would I use it to watch more Instagram reels of monkeys doing funny stuff such as eating a banana in a funny way? I watch a lot of monkey reels. My algorithm on Instagram knows that I love monkey reels and gives me so many reels of small little monkeys doing things.

Would I pursue other creative hobbies or would I just watch monkey reels? That's a huge question. I'd also have to say goodbye to a lot of my clothes. I think in order to fully enjoy this lifestyle, I'd have to get rid of majority of my clothes, leaving only what is a part of my uniform and pieces that are special to me, which I don't have very many of, you know, like I'm thinking of like collector's items, like something that comes to mind is this really cool shirt that I thrifted once that it has these cool pockets in them that are shaped like a hand and they poke out the bottom of the shirt. The shirt's actually

on my Instagram. It's really cool and there's nothing like it and I don't wanna get rid of it because it's like a collector's item. To me, is it a collector's item to the world? Probably not, but to me it's a collector's item, right? I'm not getting rid of that. Or like, I bought this vintage Jean Paul Goetier jacket, okay? And it's just so gorgeous

and like I don't wanna get rid of it because again, to me it's a collector's item in the grand scheme of things. Is it a collector's item? No, it's not like super rare. I'm not going to go resell it for like, but to me it's a collector's item. And I want to keep it because it's special to me. It's like having an art piece in my closet, you know, I haven't even worn it. I just like owning it, which is stupid and I should wear it, but I'd keep those

things, you know, just because they're special to me. But I'd be getting rid of probably 90% of my clothes if I were to participate in this lifestyle. Because otherwise, what's the point? You know, number one, if I'm just wearing a uniform every day, then that means 90% of my closet is not being worn. And I would so much rather those clothes be worn

by people who would wear them. I'd rather donate those clothes than just have them collecting dust in my closet. So that's number one. Number two, a huge benefit of wearing a uniform is getting rid of the clutter. So if I'm not getting rid of the clutter, then what's the point? It makes sense to get rid of the stuff that I'm not wearing, right? That isn't a part of my uniform and isn't one of my special collector's items in my heart. Let's be clear about that. Yeah, it'd be nice to not feel cluttered, but I spent so much time building this collection

of clothing that allows me to experiment in my closet whenever I get dressed. And it's taken me years, you know? Like this journey started the second that I got my first paycheck, I was like, let's fucking run it and let's start building this collection. And I've been building it ever since.

And, you know, I've purged it periodically throughout the years, but there's a lot of things that have lasted with me for a long time. And of that is going to have to go. And that's sort of scary to me. Like, am I going to miss anything that I get rid of? Am I going to regret one day getting rid of this huge collection of clothing? You know, I don't know. I don't know. There's a lot of unknown there. Now, I've yet to ever regret donating something. Okay.

I've never once in my life regretted getting rid of something, but this is on a much larger scale. And so, you know, there are a lot of question marks there. In the last con that I can think of is that people might judge me for wearing the same outfit over and over. As much as I'd like to say that I don think of is that people might judge me for wearing the same outfit over and over. As much as I'd like to say that I don't care, I don't care what people think. And as much as I don't care, like, because I don't,

I do a little bit, okay, I do a little bit. And there definitely would be some people that are like, what the fuck? Like Emma wears the same shit every day. Like this is so weird. Especially in LA where everybody's in entertainment and in fashion and blah, blah, blah, blah. There definitely be some people who are like, ew,

like Emma just wears the same thing every day. It's so cringe. Like I don't know. I think in my little bubble of Los Angeles and hanging out with people in fashion and stuff and being around people in fashion, I could see some people judging me. If I lived elsewhere where fashion was not as relevant, nobody would give a fuck and it would be gorgeous.

But because of where I live, I think people would judge me. Like in elementary school, high school even, people wore the same shit every day. Everyone had a uniform, you know? Especially in elementary school, although we were kids, so nobody really even cared. But it was not as big of a deal. Like you could wear the same thing every day and you weren't gonna get, eh, you couldn't wear the exact same thing every day.

But kids were re-wearing outfits all the time, you know? It was like normal. I don't know, I live in a really interesting bubble where the standards are different and I think I would be judged a little bit. But I also don't care. Like I don't care. Like that's fine with me.

I still consider it to be a con because being judged or whatever, it never feels good, but also I wouldn't let that stop me. So this is not a real con, but it's sort of a con. Okay, in conclusion, I mean, it's pretty clear to me that on paper, dressing in a uniform seems like the way to go. I think the only thing holding me back is the project that it would be to sort of get started, you know?

And also the pain of getting rid of a lot of my collection, you know, I think that's what's holding me back. But I am sort of convinced that it would have a positive impact on my life as a whole. And for that reason, I'm intrigued. And for that reason, I'm intrigued. But I also fear that this concept is appealing to me because I feel like it'll solve problems that it won't. Does that make sense? Like, I wish I had more energy to attempt more creative endeavors.

I wish I was never late for anything, you know? But would those problems really be solved by me sort of stepping back with the fashion in my day to day life? I don't know. Because a lot of times we can become fixated on an extreme idea, like an extreme life changing idea and be like, this will change everything. And it might not. But I don't know, because I do see this actually making a difference in my life. When I wrote it all down, I was like, this should not be ignored, actually. You know, this is a significant piece of my life. And it would change my life genuinely

to do this. So I don't know. I don't know. I'll keep you all updated on my journey, what I end up deciding and you know, maybe I'll end up being the test guinea pig and I can try it out and let you all know how it goes. But what's she gonna do? What's she gonna do? We'll see. So that's it. That's all I have for today. Thank you all for listening and hanging out. I hope that you enjoyed this episode. And if you did, you can let me know. You can rate and review the podcast. New episodes every Thursday and Sunday. Watch video exclusively on Spotify, but stream audio anywhere you stream podcasts. Follow anything goes on Instagram at anything goes. Follow me on Instagram at Emma Chamberlain Check out my coffee company Chamberlain coffee. We have coffee. We have matcha. We have lattes in a can we have

Everything you can imagine not everything but yeah a lot of stuff And you can see if we're in a store near you using the store locator Or you can just order online and it'll show up straight to your door easy You know how ordering online works. I love you all and appreciate you all and I hope that you enjoyed Hanging out with me today. I really enjoyed hanging out with you and hey Maybe I'll talk to you in a few days and that's it. Okay. Love you all Love you. Hope you're having a gorgeous day and I'll talk to you soon