We have had this conversation on the forum before but Irina's recent observations about duplication in her goals thread, and the very interesting responses made me think it might be time to revisit the subject.
I was about to respond on her thread that I "never" duplicate, or almost never. And you know...8 months ago if I had said it, it would have been entirely true. Except for socks, undies, bras, PJs, a pair of sneakers I have repeated a bunch of times, and some Blondo booties, I had pretty much nothing in my closet that was an exact duplicate or a dupe in different colour from anything else.
Then I thought of my more recent shopping. ;) What is going on here? I have just purchased a ton of dupes!
Let's start with the white oxfords. I loved them so much I bought a second pair to save for when the first pair bites the dust. They are sitting in their box in my closet. But that wasn't enough. I also bought a near dupe in a different colour. (Not quite as great, but still frequently worn.)
There is the J. Crew cotton sweater -- same sweater in white and in navy. Both frequently worn in their season, the blue worn perhaps slightly more, but definitely not to the exclusion of the white.
The J. Crew garçonne shirt, which I now have in 3 colourways, 2 of them striped! Also all worn, though I tend to wear them in different seasons despite the fabric being the same.
Wit and Wisdom pants....one in charcoal plaid and one in navy. Both in constant rotation. I wear each pair at least once per week, and usually wear one pair twice a week.
Ecco booties in cream and black patent. Again, both are in constant rotation. I do not seem to be favouring one over the other in this season, although I suspect in the long run I will wear the cream more because I'll like cream in spring/ fall/ winter and the black is mostly a winter thing for me.
Pom Pom London bags in red and silver -- identical bag. I also got a bunch of guitar straps -- same strap, different colourway, interchangeable on these bags and my Furla satchel and my Coach bag. I haven't really had time to use the bags much yet because they were my Christmas gift to myself, but given my previous experience with two older, soon to be retired backpacks (see below) I expect both will go into heavy rotation.
The white Ecco sneaker is a repeat style -- I update it every two years. I also duplicated in silver at a sale price and put it away for next spring.
The Blondo booties are two remaining from an original 4 pair! (The black and taupe were worn out.) These ones do not get as much wear because they are more distinctive so they are in great shape. They date from 2018/19. I don't wear them a ton any more but I do still wear them.
My question: What the heck is going on!?!?!?!?!
Have I become a secret (or not so secret) uniform dresser? Have I figured out a good formula? Have I lost all originality or even my senses? This represents a large proportion of my year's shopping (plus a few older items.)
In all seriousness, I'm not too worried about it because I'm wearing and loving all these items, which has not always been the case for me with past duplications -- I absolutely hear Irina and others of you who have mentioned that you tend not to duplicate in another colour because one will inevitably get worn more often, etc. That was always my past experience, too!
