‘I’m wearing the same wool dress for 90 days in a row - to get people talking’
“I think people often think of wool as being itchy, too hot, and difficult to care for”
An Ilkley businesswoman is taking on an unusual fashion challenge by wearing the same British wool dress everyday for 90 days.
Sarah Turner, founder of Ilkley-based Little Beau Sheep, will begin the challenge on October 1, the first day of Wool month - with the aim of testing how far one well-made garment can really go.
The bespoke navy dress has been made almost entirely through a Yorkshire supply chain, using 100% British wool spun by Laxtons in Yorkshire and woven by Marton Mills in Otley, before being tailored by Norton & Townsend in Ilkley.
Sarah plans to wear it through everything - from work and dog walks, to travel, family life and formal events.
And she won’t have to wait long for its first major test.
The challenge will begin at SheChain live in Blackpool on October 1, before Sarah wears the same dress to the Enterprise Vision Awards at Blackpool Winter Gardens the following evening, where she is a finalist in the Small Business Sunday category.
The awards are also running a #ReWear campaign, encouraging attendees to rewear, rent, borrow or reinvent clothes rather than buying something new.
Sarah told The Yorkshire Evening Post: "We're always thinking of different ways to promote British wool.
“I've taken part in a fashion show on the shearing stage at the Great Yorkshire Show, I've driven sheep over London Bridge, and I've even done a TEDx.
“So this is my latest way of challenging the perception of British wool and getting people to talk about wool more.”
The 90-day wool challenge will see Sarah put some of the common perceptions about wool to the test.
She wants to find out whether the dress really can be comfortable enough to wear repeatedly, whether it needs frequent washing and whether it can cope with everything from autumn rain to black-tie events.
“I think people often think of wool as being itchy, too hot, and difficult to care for,” she added.
“So, we're going to actually test it rather than just making those claims.
“But what I'm most worried about is the rain.”
The dress was designed with versatility in mind, with Sarah working alongside personal stylist Anna Mewes to find different ways of wearing it throughout the challenge.
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She said she is also hoping the experiment will make getting dressed in the morning slightly easier.
“I won't have to wake up in the morning and think, gosh, what shall I wear? because it's going to be the same thing!” she joked.
“We live in a culture where we're encouraged to buy lots of things when a new season begins, so it'll be good not to have to worry about it.”
The challenge is not simply about one dress, however.
Sarah hopes it will encourage people to reconsider how often they buy clothes and make more use of what they already own.
She told us: “The most sustainable thing we can do is wear the clothes that are currently in our wardrobe.
"It will be interesting to see if investing in a really good handmade piece like this dress, is something that will make a big difference.”
The project also brings together a collective of British brands and independent businesses, which will help Sarah create different looks around the same dress during the 90 days.
She hopes the initiative will also shine a light on independent businesses ahead of Christmas, particularly as many continue to face difficult economic conditions.
And Sarah is encouraging others to join her, even if they don’t pledge to wearing the same outfit for three months.
“Everyone is welcome to join in, even if it's just a wool jumper that you can commit to wearing more over the time that I'm doing this, and you want to tag it, we're using #90 Day Wool Habit,” she said.
By the end of the 90 days, Sarah hopes to have an answer to a simple question: what happens when you stop looking for something new and simply make more of what you already have?