...and no one seems to notice.
Yesterday was the first day of Fashion Revolution Week, and to mark the day, I proudly wore my shirt inside out. My estimate is that I came into contact with about 350 people.
Wondering how many told me that my shirt was on inside out? Well, it was a whopping....O.N.E. And that one person was my husband. It was at that moment He said something to me that I decided to document the week in order to track how many conversations I would have based on my Fashion Revolution attempt.
I began wondering:
- Am I unapproachable?
- Do my inside-out-clothes look too similar to my regular clothes?
- Do people simply not notice what anyone else wears?
- Do they notice, but just not care?
- Does everyone know about Fash Rev week and so they didn't have to ask why?
- What is the point of wearing clothes inside out if it doesn't strike up conversation?
Even if wearing the shirt inside out itself is not an effective tool, the messaging surrounding 'Who Made my Clothes' is quite effective. It got me to wear my clothes inside out after all and "whomademyclothes" has 37,801 tags on Instagram.
I will continue to wear my top inside out this week, and track the number of people who ask me about it. I will also brainstorm each day additional ways we can spread awareness.
DAY 1:
what i wore: inside out blue striped shirt by noble denim, 2 years old
in contact with: 350 people
people who told me my top was inside-out: ONE
comments: I happen to be in a situation where it's no problem for me to wear my top inside out, but for many corporate folk, it's not very practical. Also, because so few people ask 'why', if people do not know why you are doing it, you almost need marketing collateral to pass out to every single person you see to explain yourself, which would be totally unrealistic.
DAY 2:
what i wore: inside out beige pip-squeak chapeau sweater, 6 years old
in contact with: 200 people
people who told me my top was inside-out: ZERO
comments: I realized that yesterday I didn't notice anyone wearing inside out clothing...but was it that I didn't notice, or was it that I wasn't paying attention? I could therefore be guilty too of not starting the conversation with others who are participating! I will start to pay attention starting today. The real rules for Fash Rev Day is to take a pic of your tag and send to the BRAND. I looked online at some key brands that I thought people would be sending their tags to like H&M and Forever 21, but I did not find anything. One potential issue is that conscious consumers are less likely to own clothes by these brands.
DAY 3:
what i wore: inside out black striped topshop sweater, 6 years old
in contact with: 150 people
people who told me my top was inside-out: ONE
comments: I created a blog post featuring bloggers who care about the local movement. In it, I encouraged you to "follow5", but as I think about it now, I'm realizing that my first piece of advice should have been for everyone to follow the @fashionrevolution.
I added IMBY, a MADE in AMERICA shopping site, to my resource page of places to shop American
wow! someone outside of my family actually made a comment to me and I was actually able to spread the word! YAY. after I explained the reason why I was wearing my sweater inside out, the woman who said something to me admitted that she was hesitant to say something to me.
DAY 4:
what i wore: inside out blue quilted rachel comey jacket, 2 years old
in contact with: 400 people
people who told me my top was inside-out: TWO!
comments: my jacket looked surprisingly good inside out so it was pretty hard to tell it was inside out. in fairness, about 175 of the people I came into contact with were children!!!
DAY 5:
what i wore: inside out blue striped matta shirt, 10 years old
in contact with: 475 people
people who told me my top was inside-out: ONE
comments: okay, i'm definitely going to choose something more effective for next year's fashion revolution week. it seems fairly pointless. no one notices and i don't see anyone else participating. ;)
DAY 6:
inside out blue quilted rachel comey jacket, 2 years old
in contact with: 400 people
people who told me my top was inside-out: ONE
comments: it is really astounding how many people you encounter in a single day when you live in nyc. this week i've had a visitor, so we've gone to especially crowded places. i have been conservative in the number of people i've been in contact with b/c i don't think anyone would really believe these big numbers.
DAY 7:
in contact with: 125
people who told me my top was inside-out: ZERO
comments: unfortunately, i don't think i was very effective and next year, i'll definitely be participating in another activity for #fashionrevolution week! The total number of people that spoke with me about my clothes this week: SIX. I look forward to putting some thought into how to give some visibility to this issue.
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