Karl Stefanovic has been wearing exactly the same suit every day for one whole year. The suit is a Burberry knock-off, blue and unobtrusive. Despite its ordinary appearance, it is extraordinary that no one has noticed the man’s outfit repeats, as he is one of the anchors on Australia Nine Networks’ morning program, Today. But Stefanovic says that was the point, to note the differences between how men in the public eye are looked at and how women are looked at.
"No one has noticed; no one gives a shit. But women, they wear the wrong colour and they get pulled up. They say the wrong thing and there's thousands of tweets written about them. Women are judged much more harshly and keenly for what they do, what they say and what they wear."
In fact, he’s seen this happen in action. His co-host Lisa Wilkinson has seen criticism over her wardrobe on Today. Viewers have commented about her style, her stylist and more. Some of the comments are downright mean. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, she is constantly emailed notes about her wardrobe that aren’t particularly nice, including this gem:
"Today's outfit is particularly jarring and awful. Get some style.”
Stefanovic says, he started wearing the same suit for one month out of curiosity before he even told anyone what he was doing. After a month, he let Wilkinson in on the experiment and decided to wear the suit for 365 days, give or take a couple. As the months wore on, Wilkinson continued to be criticized for her wardrobe choices while Stefanovic’s suit kept getting stinkier and stinkier. Yet, no one watching noticed. Stefanovic tells the outlet he proved his point.
"I'm judged on my interviews, my appalling sense of humour – on how I do my job, basically. Whereas women are quite often judged on what they're wearing or how their hair is.”
His little social experiment proved fruitful, spotlighting the fact that women get judged in ways and in situations where most men don’t. Women are expecting to not only look professional but also look a bit original, new and different. It’s something men don’t have to deal with, and it’s also an interesting commentary on what catches people’s eyes. Women’s clothes are dissected and judged for a wide variety of reasons. Is it sexist? Is it in good fun? Is it annoying? Is it unfair? Is it fashionable? Probably all of the above.
