“You’ll see I wear only grey or blue suits. I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other important decisions to make. You need to focus your decision-making energy. You need to routinise yourself. You cannot be going through the day distracted by trivia.”
“I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community. I’m in this really lucky position where I get to wake up every day and help serve more than a billion people. And I feel like I’m not doing my job if I spend any of my energy on things that are silly or frivolous about my life.”
“I just wear the same pair of jeans every day. Whatever I’m doing, whether it’s a speech, whether it's going to see the Queen, you know, whatever it is.”
“I have enough decisions to make every day. I don’t want to waste time on what I’m going to wear.”
These were responses given by President Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, and Steve Jobs respectively, when they were asked why they wear the same type of outfit every day.
Successful people wear the same thing every day. And it is not a coincidence.
Right here at home, we have observed a shift in President William Ruto's dressing style. Whereas we are used to him donning the traditional suit or a blazer with a contrasting shirt and pants, his style has changed to Kaunda suits across the prism of colours.
And as is characteristic of us, we have not been short of speculation and conclusions. Some have suggested that he is promoting local tailors and encouraging local textile manufacturing; that he is projecting a dictatorship style; that he is espousing Pan-Africanism; while others have castigated his choice of colours and turned it into a competition of which look was better between his Kaunda suits and his predecessor polychromatic shirts.
These conclusions say less about him, and more about us. These Kaunda suits have become his new signature look, which is making him memorable and distinctive. Hence the buzz.
Begs the question, what really is President Ruto’s motivation in his wardrobe shift to Kaunda suits for both casual and official occasions?
Unlike many of you, I am not a mind reader. So I will not argue about his intentions or motivation. To do so would be a bootless errand because you can never truly know someone else’s intentions.
I will, however, submit a hypothesis.
By the time the average adult goes to bed, they will have made 35,000 remotely conscious decisions every day. This depletes us because we all have a finite amount of time and energy each day. What will I wear to work today? What will I eat for lunch? Which TikTok video will I watch?
While some of these day-to-day decisions are seemingly benign, they are exhausting and ultimately affect the quality of subsequent weighty decisions that one must make. And as the level of responsibility increases, so does the multitude and onerous choices that one has to make.
This phenomenon is called decision fatigue. It is the impaired ability to make good quality decisions as the day progresses. This is because this phenomenon is cumulative resulting in brain fog which leads to inability to make good value trade-offs, preferring a passive role in the decision-making process, irrationality, procrastination, avoidance, indecision, and impulsivity.
Do you know why candy and snacks are placed close to supermarket cash registers? This is to leverage the shopper’s decision fatigue at the end of their shopping.
For people who make significant decisions every day, the removal of even one decision, for instance choosing what to wear in the morning, leaves them with more mental space and better productivity throughout the day.
They keep what is known as the capsule wardrobe. It enables them to apply minimalist principles to their fashion. They contend that one less frivolous decision in the morning leads to better decisions on most things that really matter.
I hypothesise that Kaunda suits have become President Ruto’s way of fighting decision fatigue. He wants to be successful in his role as president. After all, it is an open secret that he wants a second term.
So it is not a coincidence that he has chosen to wear Kaunda suits because it leaves him with fewer daily choices to make in matching the right shirt, tie and pants. This personalised style makes him stand out as he has no fear of missteps in fashion trends. It's classic and comfortable, and he exudes a confident look with minimal effort.
Borrowing from other successful political and business leaders, he wants to conserve his mental energy for more significant decisions since every tiny decision he makes affects the nation and millions of people. He cannot afford decision fatigue to impair his judgement and has thus settled for the science of simplicity to shield him from this phenomenon.
This is not to say that fashion isn’t important. Indeed, fashion is where art, culture and history intersect. However, those who adopt minimalist principles in their wardrobe choices are more successful, productive, less stressed, less distracted and save more. Perhaps it’s time you also gave it a try.
Finally, my unsolicited advice is to President Ruto’s tailor. There certainly is beauty to a certain level of asymmetry in fashion. For instance, the one-sided jacket breast pocket with its attendant pochette square or the kelvin knot tie. However, there’s nothing more irritating to the eye than lop-sided pockets resulting from sloppy workmanship.
Symmetry is the cornerstone of fashion. There’s no point denying that. Both trouser legs have to be the same length, a jacket has two symmetrical lapels, and buttons are equidistant. It is balanced. It is pleasing to the eye. So pray do tell, why would you make President Ruto’s Kaunda suit pockets asymmetrical? And while at it, please lose those shiny buttons. Less is more.
Learning to choose is hard. Learning to choose well is harder. And learning to choose well in a world of unlimited possibilities is harder still, perhaps too hard – Barry Schwartz
