Julia Mooney is wearing the same dress for 100 days to teach her students an important lesson.
One night toward the end of the summer, William Allen Middle School art teacher Julia Mooney was chatting with her husband, Patrick, about needing to go back-to-school shopping to refresh her and children’s wardrobe. She jokingly said she wished she could wear the same thing every day.
From that joke came inspiration, and Mooney has been doing just that: wearing the same clothes every day. Each day, Mooney forgoes the trouble of searching through her closet and reaches for her simple grey, hemp dress, which she will continue to wear for 100 school days.
Through her one dress, 100 days project, Mooney hopes to teach her students about sustainability and to be mindful of what they’re consuming. She said as an artist, she’s always questioned the nature of things, so after she made that joke to her husband, she began thinking why couldn’t she wear the same thing every day?
She took care when deciding what piece of clothing she would don every day. She wanted her choice to be practical because it had to last her from the warm 90-degree weather at the start of the school year all the way into February. So she settled on a short-sleeve, grey, hemp dress that would keep her cool in the heat, but she could add stockings and a cardigan in the cooler months to remain warm.
Her message for her students is this: “We need to focus less on looking good and more on doing good.” She said middle schoolers can sometimes be very brand-conscious and can latch onto clothing as a way to build their identity.
“Now is the time to catch them and start drilling in the idea that it’s really not what we look like and the brands we spend money on that define us,” Mooney said. “It’s more important if you’re an interesting, curious person and someone who takes risks. That’s kind of the message I want to get across to kids.”
Sustainability also became a large part of the message. Mooney said, as a culture, Americans want cheap clothing from retailers in order to wear something new every day. For that reason, many clothes are outsourced to other countries. Upon doing some research, she found the amount of water it takes to make a shirt truly took her back as to how many gallons were being used in the clothing industry each year.
To document her project, Mooney made an Instagram account titled “oneoutfit100days.” She made the page because “that’s where kids at this age group operate.” She said she wanted to show a positive way to use social media and because she didn’t want to take up class time, she wanted a space where students and those who were interested could learn more about the project.
She said the response thus far has been largely positive from students and coworkers alike. Previously, Mooney taught at Moorestown High School, and given that this was her first year at WAMS, she initially felt a little self-conscious about wearing the same thing every day. She joked she was relying on her co-workers to talk about her behind her back to get the word out about what she was doing.
Since starting her project, Mooney has inspired some of her fellow teachers to join in. She said her husband, who teaches at MHS, is wearing the same khakis and button down shirt every day, and two other MHS teachers have put their own spin on the project as well.
Math teacher Beth Glennon said when she heard about what Mooney was doing, it sparked an idea for her. Her triplet boys went off to college this summer and left behind a stack of polo shirts. She said she was wondering what to do with all of them when she saw Mooney’s post online.
As a way of keeping her boys closer to her, Glennon has been wearing their polo shirts to school every day. She said there’s a stack of about 30 shirts, and she has been pairing them with khaki pants or a skirt every day. Glennon said she’ll keep wearing them until she’s gone through the entire stack, and she’s grateful to Mooney for the inspiration,
“Julia got us motivated to try something different, to get out of our comfort zone,” Glennon said. “I’m really glad she has; it’s one less stress in the morning.”
As for Mooney, when the 100 days are up, she plans to make a concerted effort to dress sustainably. She said she often shops at thrift stores or consignment stores and has even learned to sew and knit her own clothing.
She currently washes the dress by hand as needed or throws it in with a full load of laundry. To keep the piece safe, she plans to wear an apron in the classroom when the students embark on more messy projects. Just in case, Mooney has an identical version of the dress as a backup. She said she has yet to have to break it out.
Mooney stressed she loves clothes and expressing herself as much as the next person, but not worrying about what to wear has freed her up to spend her energy elsewhere.
“It’s not actually hard to wear the same thing every day. It’s really easy,” Mooney said. “I am still going to express myself in a way that is actually more fun and creative and unique, but at the same time, kind of guilt-free. I’m spending more time thinking about the good I can do.”
