New Jersey Middle School Teacher Wears Same Dress For 100 Days Straight To Deter Consumerism

Jan 04, 2020 by apost team

An art teacher from New Jersey recently used her example to show the world that one does not have to own lots of things to be happy. Julia Mooney decided to challenge herself to wear the same dress for 100 days. Julia first announced her challenge to her social media followers in August of 2018.

In her announcement, the mom of two said that she was motivated by simplicity to try out wearing the same dress for 100 days straight. Not only did wearing the same clothes each day save her time in the morning, it also helped her save closet space, a key issue when you have a growing family.

apost.com

Julia put to rest some concerns by revealing that she washes the dress each day. As an art teacher, it is also imperative for Julia to wear an apron over her dress, but she nonetheless just patches it if it ever tears. Julia also said that while wearing the same dress each day has its benefits, it also comes with its fair share of suffering. Principally, Julia said that doing so prevented her from expressing herself through her clothing.

When Julia talked about her decision to wear the same dress each day with her kids, she introduced them to several important social issues that stem from the fashion industry. Julia said that widespread demand for clothes in the United States forces companies to move their production to foreign countries.

Lacking strict labor laws, many articles of clothing are produced in countries that allow forced labor and child labor. Simply stated, these companies place their financial goals over the wellbeing of workers.Julia also told of how the fashion industry is bad for the environment. 

Although Julia no longer wears the same dress every day anymore, she still encourages people to be smart about their clothing choices. With her significantly reduced wardrobe, Julia thinks that people should be more conscious of doing good for the world than what’s in their closet. Julia also told GMA that the message she is trying to teach her students and her community is that the clothes on your back do not define you, the things you do define you. 

"It's a good reminder that we should not let clothes define us and we should define ourselves based on more meaningful things and things of substance." 

What do you think of Julia’s 100-day challenge? Would you do it? Tell us below. Pass this article on to your friends and family to see what they think.