Eugénie Trochu is a Who What Wear editor in residence known for her transformative work at Vogue France and her Substack newsletter, where she documents and shares new trends, her no-nonsense approach to fashion and style, plus other musings. She’s also working on her upcoming first book that explores fashion as a space of memory, projection, and reinvention.
For a long time, I believed that dressing well meant never repeating myself. Changing. Varying. Offering something new. Surprising. As if every outfit had to prove something. Spoiler: It’s exhausting. And often counterproductive.
Over time, and especially with the accumulation of images, I ended up realizing something very simple, almost brutal: the outfits that suit me best are also the most obvious ones.
Repetition, the Detail the Eye Loves
When you see yourself in photos, often, repeatedly, from every angle, you quickly realize that excess blurs the message. Too many statement pieces, too many references, too many intentions eventually cancel each other out. By contrast, a repeated silhouette creates a signature. It becomes recognizable. Almost reassuring. That’s exactly why the most stylish women seem to wear “the same thing all the time.” Because, technically, they do.
Change the Detail, Not the Equation
Repetition doesn’t mean stagnation. It relies on a very simple mechanism: Keep the structure; vary just one element. A different pair of shoes. A belt, a scarf, tied or not. Jacket sleeves pushed up or left long. A coat that’s more severe, or more enveloping.
Even the Icons Repeat (Especially Them)
What’s fascinating is that this strategy is shared by women with no budgetary constraints whatsoever. Victoria Beckham is a textbook case: same lines, same volumes, same lengths, season after season. Kendall Jenner, in a more minimal, functional register, applies exactly the same principle. Anna Wintour has turned repetition into a personal manifesto. Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle, Keira Knightley have all embraced rewearing—at the risk of criticism before turning it into a marker of modernity.
And then there’s Diana. That famous Catherine Walker dress worn in 1989, then again in 1992, taken apart, paired with trousers, reinterpreted. The same garment, but a different narrative.
Repeating Is Also a Political Stance (But Chic)
Today, repetition has almost become subversive. In a system built on permanent novelty, drop obsession, and the overproduction of images and clothes, preservation becomes a form of gentle resistance. This isn’t about morality. Or guilt. It’s about common sense.
Keeping your clothes, learning to wear them differently, wearing them in, loving them over time, it’s more economical, more sustainable, and let’s be honest, far more elegant.
How Do You Do It?
My style is built around a very small core that I repeat almost identically: always the same straight, long, reliable jeans; a chic but go-anywhere brown bag; a black blazer with small shoulder pads that structures everything effortlessly; simple white or black T-shirts that act as a backdrop; the same bras and underwear, in nude, white, or black, because they’re invisible and perfect; the same socks too, chosen once and for all.
Around this ultra-classic base, I graft light but decisive variations: a long coat or a pea coat with a detail that changes the silhouette, gold jewelry that I repeat but wear differently, a detachable collar layered over a sweater or a dress, slightly playful gloves, a pair of fringe boots or low-heeled boots. The outfit stays the same, but the message changes.
Jeans, T-shirt, blazer, and sneakers say one thing; that exact same base with boots or more graphic shoes says another. That’s where repetition becomes interesting, not as a limitation, but as a solid structure around which you can allow yourself a few freedoms, without ever losing the thread.
Reliable Pieces I Wear on Repeat
Blazers
MANGO
Straight Blazer With Flap Pockets
Prada
Mohair and Wool Blazer
The Frankie Shop
Bea Twill blazer
Tees
Petit Bateau
SS Crew Neck Cocotte Stitch Tee
Petit Bateau
SS Crew Neck Cocotte Stitch Tee
Jeans
Madewell
The Longline Straight Jeans
AGOLDE
Kelly High-Rise Straight-Leg Jeans
Cardigans
Sézane X Sea NY
Nate Cardigan
J.Crew
Wide-Rib Fitted Cardigan Top in Merino Wool
Coats
The Frankie Shop
Jane Coat
COS
Double-Faced Wool Long Coat
Boots
Aeyde
Paul Suede Shearling Boots
Accessories
NOUR HAMMOUR
Leather gloves
Jennifer Fisher
2″ Thread Hoops
White & Warren
Cashmere Pop Top Gloves
Intimates and Socks
skims
Fits Everybody Cheeky Brief 5-Pack
Yasmine Eslami
Lily Soft Bra
On Gossamer
3-Pack Cotton Hip Bikinis
MANGO
Ribbed Wool Blend Socks