Kelly Ripa still wears her 35-year-old 'Gap' nightgown — and the reason is truly humbling

Most of us have at least one item in our closet that we’ve held onto far longer than we probably should. For Kelly Ripa, it’s a nightgown she bought at the Gap more than three decades ago. She revealed on an April 2024 episode of "Live with Kelly and Mark" that she picked it up at an 80% off clearance sale, and despite the fact that it keeps falling apart, she just can’t let it go, as reported by PEOPLE.

The nightgown has been with her for 35 years, and Ripa joked that it has "cost me more to fix it" than what she originally paid. She told the audience, "I paid practically nothing for it," before laughing that the "price per wear" is now so good that "Gap is paying me." What makes it even more surprising is that she still wears it. Ripa said, "I will wear that over jeans and people will think, 'Oh what a cute dress over jeans,' and I go, ‘It’s a nightgown; But there’s something about it that looks cute with jeans, and so I always wear it. But I don’t wear it over the jeans, I wear it tucked in to the jeans."

Her husband and cohost Mark Consuelos often compliments the look, telling her it "looks nice," though Ripa teased that he always mistakes it for a top. She explained that she likes to hold onto things long enough to get her money’s worth — no matter the cost — and added, "I’m not going to spend that money willy-nilly." Consuelos pushed back on air, saying, "I’m not wasteful. If I haven’t worn [an article of clothing] in years, it’s not getting worn ever again." He added that when he gets to that point, he often hands clothes down to their sons, Michael and Joaquin.

That careful approach to clothing has clearly rubbed off on the rest of the family. Last year, their daughter, Lola, wore a sleeveless wine-colored gown from Ripa’s closet to Disney’s D23 event, where Ripa was honored as a Disney Legend. "That dress that Lola was wearing is 30 years old. That was my dress from 30 years ago. So I thought that was pretty cool... I was like [to Mark], 'See? Price per wear!'" she told the audience. Turns out, her approach to holding onto clothes isn’t unusual. A recent study on clothing repair published in the International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education highlights that motivations for clothing repair are multi-layered. 

Beyond wanting to prolong the life of garments, many participants expressed that repairs preserve sentimental value tied to memories or milestones. The study also shows that repairing clothing is often framed as an act of responsibility, both environmentally, by reducing textile waste, and financially, by avoiding unnecessary purchases. Interestingly, it notes that some people treat repair as a way to maintain identity and self-expression, since cherished items often feel irreplaceable. Ripa has even pulled other decades-old pieces onto the show. Back in June, she paired a white button-down with a cream-colored midi skirt she estimated was about 20 years old. Laughing with the audience, she admitted, "We buttered up my legs and we wedged me into it. But I just realized as I sat down in the chair — skirt might not make it."

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