This Is The – Actual – Reason The Love Island Stars Are Wearing The Same Outfits On Repeat

Flower claw clips, signature necklaces and metallic bikinis have all contended for this year's biggest Love Island fashion trend, but the real star of the season 11? The Zara plunge maxi dress, of course.

The famed high street dress possesses all of the elements of a firepit-worthy ensemble and Islanders Matilda Draper, Uma Jammeh, Jessica Spencer, Mimii Ngulube and Jessy Potts have been wearing it on repeat this summer series. In fact, the now sold-out Zara maxi has easily garnered more airtime than the now dumped Casa Amor contestants combined.

Other in-demand outfits the Islanders have been sharing include a denim co-ord, £70 worn by Grace and Mimii, a plunging mini dress from Ego, £18 worn by Jessica and Mimii and the Jaded London backless maxi dress, £100 which has been spotted on Uma, Grace, Matilda and Harriett.

But with previous Islanders confirming that the villa is treated to a weekly clothing drop - why are the Islanders committing the ultimate fashion faux pas of wearing the exact same outfit as your friends?

Firstly, after plenty of criticism over the years for promoting fast fashion, Love Island partnered up with pre-loved fashion platform eBay in 2022 and the show has since worked hard to educate its viewers about the benefits of buying second-hand and sharing clothes. Sustainability is now at the forefront, meaning that contestants may be urged to re-wear items in an attempt to reduce the impact on the planet. But, new insight from former Islanders suggests that stringent Love Island rules may be the real reason that the cast are repeating outfits over and over.

Striped and patterned clothes, for example, are a big no-no, as they can cause a strobing effect on the camera. Branded items are also prohibited. Love Island star Brad McLelland revealed to Closer: ‘You’re not even allowed patterned tops’ inside the villa.'

He then added, ‘I don’t think [Liam Readon] got to wear any of his new t-shirts because of the patterns.’

Meanwhile, fellow contestant, Hugo Hammond confirmed that there were many shirts he brought into the villa that were 'not allowed' as they they were either 'branded or they strobed on the camera'.

Recently dumped Islander, Jess White also weighed in on the outfit repeating, sharing that another filming rule was that host Maya Jama's outfit had to take precedence over the contestants. Sharing intel, she said 'The night of the Casa recoupling, Maya was wearing red. Emma [Milton] and Mimii [Ngulube] wanted to wear red but they couldn’t. They thought it might be a strobing situation but we now know it’s because Maya was wearing red.'

She told OK! 'Another night, we weren’t allowed to wear black and that’s when she came in wearing black. Obviously, the moment is all about Maya so we need to make sure she’s looking her best. If you’re told you can’t wear red for anybody, it’s got to be for her because she’s so stunning.'

Shop some of our favourite repeated outfits from Love Island season 11, which are so good, they've received at least two contestants' seal of approval.

Shop: The Most Repeated Outfits In The Love Island Villa

Aimee Jakes is Grazia’s trending content editor. As well as writing about skincare launches, high-street fashion and gym bag essentials, she’s forever chatting to celebs about their fancy beauty routines. Follow her on Instagram here.