It’s like Groundhog Day for school photos.
Dallas teacher Dale Irby is retiring this year, and he’s taking with him the brown sweater vest and pointy-collared polyester shirt he has worn for the last 40 years of yearbook photos.
What originally started as an accident turned into an annual joke between Irby and his wife Cathy.
The physical education teacher, whose wardrobe consisted mostly of athletic wear, was instructed to “wear something nice” on picture day, he said.
He purchased the ensemble in 1973 from a local mall for the occasion but accidentally wore it again for a second year on school picture day.
“I was so embarrassed when I got the school pictures back that second year and realized I had worn the very same thing as the first year,” the 63-year-old told The Dallas Morning News.
Wife Cathy dared him to wear it for a third year. After five years of the same outfit, Irby decided to make it into an annual tradition.
The outfit held up, but Irby said he now had to “suck it in a little” to get the shirt to button up.
Check out this slideshow of Dale Irby through the years: