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A Year In Numbers Part 2: Skirts, Dresses And Pants

Ingunn

(website)

Veteran

For those who are interested, here's the second part of my analysis of a year's worth of wardrobe counting which discusses bottoms. You can read the first part about tops here: A Year In Numbers Part 1

6 Skirts

Total number: 10. Too many for my use, but I like some variety. I'd probably be more than happy with six pieces.

Top three:

Black winter wool midi pencil (14)

Black A-line skirt, cotton (10)

Black pencil skirt, tropical wool (9)

Wow! All black. I do need a black skirt, but surely I need to change this up a bit.

Least worn:

Sand pencil skirt (1)

Denim A-line skirt (0)

White full cotton skirt (0)

The sand skirt is not very exciting. The denim skirt is an old favorite that I love, but it has been a bit out of fashion. I'm holding on to it one more year, but then it's over. I prefer the cream midi plissé skirt I bought this spring over it. Will be purged.

7 Dresses

Total number: 12. No need to add to this category.

Most worn:

Striped hwite/black sundress (11)

Mustard/black hound tooth sheath (9)

Navy short sleeved sheath (7)

Not a great dress year. I think it partly is because I don't feel my fit-and-flares as much any longer.

Least worn:

Black retro shirtdress (1)

Red fit-and-flare dress (1)

Purple sheath (0)

I prefer trousers and jeans to dresses right now. The purple sheath is great, but was a tad too tight. That is not the case any longer, so it stays.

8 Jeans, trousers and shorts

Total numbers: 15. 7 casual jeans/pants, 4 dressy trousers, 3 shorts, 1 track pant. These are all in regular rotation besides one pair of shorts. I think this category is in great condition.

Most worn:

White jeans (38)

Dark blue jeans (37)

Black skinny pants (36)

No surprises here. I also wear my navy smart casual trousers a lot, and I have a navy bermuda shorts that I lived in this summer. My light wash boyfriends are right up there, too. I'm thinking of adding another pair of white jeans, maybe in a boyfriend style.

Least worn:

Gray trousers (7)

Olive shorts (2)

-

I like all the pieces in the pants section of my wardrobe. If anything Id like to replace the gray trousers eventually, but there's no rush.

--

Feel fee to comment as you like. Thanks for reading!

Dressing

22 replies

Latest reply was from Alassë

Thistle

Veteran

Wow, you really have the numbers nailed! Based on these, you really can see how much more you prefer your trousers.

Good insights into the lesser worn items as well.

JamC

Veteran

I appreciate all the work that must have gone into the number collection and analysis. I don't know if I could do it for an entire year but the information seems very valuable.

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

The counting does help. And seeing others like yours and Mo's helps motivate me. I guess it just takes some of us a while to purge enough so we feel like we can manage our counts without feeling overwhelmed about having to try on and assess so much all at one time. At least it has been that way for me.

I finally have my jeans count down to 10 including 1 dark wash, 2 medium wash, 1 white, 1 gray, 5 light wash. This counting and assessing has helped me realize that it might be time to consider one new dark wash pair of straight jeans since I gave up all the dark wash "skinny" jeans for various reasons and I could use a "dressy" pair. I feel better about knowing this and not just buying on a whim.

The same thing has been true this summer for sleeveless tops. I purged several that were just taking up hangers, finally giving myself permission to accept the mistakes. I purchased two others so far but even with those, I only have like 4 that are in any type of regular rotation. For someone living in such a hot climate, I now see that I could use a few more really good sleeveless tops. I have one on order and plan to be on the lookout for just the right ones.

I haven't gotten to counting my button downs or tee style tops yet but I will eventually.

Shoes have been a focus for me for some time and that's because I am a complete stickler for comfort. No compromises on shoes for me. I realized I only had 2 pair of booties and one (new) lace up leather sneaker for fall/winter. 3 pair of fall/winter shoes is really not enough. I still will be able to wear some of my summer shoes in fall here of course, but once it does get cold, I'll be scrambling for what to wear so I've ordered without guilt one more pair of slip on leather sneaks to try.

Ingunn

(website)

Veteran

Tex, that is so true. The counting and purging have really helped me see what I need to replace, remove and add. It feels good to be able to go shopping with this in the know. I have more insight in where my money should go now - to my casual and smart casual wear. The ratio of casual to dressy pants should at least be 2:1, if not 3:1, for example.

Alana in Canada

(website)

Veteran

Fascinating. I love reading about this, even though it is all a bit abstract. Thanks for letting us follow along.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Again, I appreciate seeing your numbers. I also have 10 skirts. I have 15 in the pants/jeans category, and additionally have 7 shorts. My dresses are up to 16. Both of those have a lot to do with living in the warm climate right now. Aw, heck, my numbers as a whole have a lot to do with living between opposing climates! I haven't worn a pant in over 4 months maybe? But likewise, I won't wear shorts for more than 2 months when I get back home. It is what it is. Having enough of what you need when you need it is the key.

shedev

Veteran

Great analysis.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Once again we are quite similar. I have 6 skirts and 8 dresses. This includes a special occasion dress.

Where I far exceed you is in pants and trousers. At the moment I have 9 trousers, 11 jeans, and 9 pairs of shorts for a total of 29, which ses shockingly large to me. My shorts category is artificially inflated since I inherited 2 pair of BF shorts from DD's donate pile. Even so.

Ingunn

(website)

Veteran

Mo, again I think your numbers are very reasonable for your lifestyle. Like I stated I don't wear dresses and skirts nearly as much as I wear my pants, which clearly is connected to my cooler climate. That said - we've had the warmest summer in 60 years.

Suz, besides the surprisingly high number of shorts, I think you have a very reasonable stack of pants. I've never been much of a shorts wearer myself, but that changed this year when I finally found two pairs of shorts that I actually liked wearing. I might collect a couple more of those next year.

Lyn D.

Veteran

Very interesting Ingunn- are you using a Style-Application or pen and paper to do your tracking?
I am thinking about doing this, especially as I now have my numbers closer to the ideal for me.

Ingunn

(website)

Veteran

Lyn, I'm using a Google spreadsheet to keep track. I've listed my inventory and mark each piece every time it's worn. At the end of each month I calculate the numbers and add these to a summary. It's quite effective as soon as the list is finished.

Gigi

Veteran

Fun! I love how you are really wearing most of what's in your closet—especially certain items, which you appear to wear over and over. It's so rewarding to have a closet that is full of what you NEED and not full of a lot of extraneous stuff.

I'm keeping track this year for the first time. It's really interesting what I'm finding out, even though I'm only partway through the year. Like you, I enjoy a bit of variety, and I will have periods where I really love wearing skirts but other periods where I really gravitate toward pants.

Caro in Oz

Veteran

Really interesting Ingunn. My tracking helped me see that I needed to concentrate on casual & dressy casual too.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I know -- that shorts number is odd, isn't it -- given where I live! But, as I said, two were "windfalls" that were not purchased and yet turned out useful. I do wear shorts all summer at home, the way I wear jeans in winter. And then, also, two of these shorts are dressy shorts, that perhaps more closely fall into the "skirt" category since I wear them in a more similar way.

I am sure that I didn't wear each individual pair of shorts as often as I would have, assuming I only had 3 or 4 pair -- yet I did absolutely wear each one, and multiple times, at that.

Anonymous

GREAT analysis.

Style Fan

Veteran

Very interesting. I never wear skirts or dresses except for special occasions and in our brief summer. It is helpful for me to see others inventories.

Ingunn

(website)

Veteran

Suz, I'm sure all your shorts are justified, I din't mean to suggest anything else. For my climate, with a bit cooler summers than yours, that many shorts would be a few too many, probably - that's what I meant. I'm sorry if I came across in the wrong way. Your dressy shorts as skirt subs interest me. I think I'm ready for that next summer, too!

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Oh, no, Ingunn -- you did not come across in a way that offended me, far from it! I have never owned so many shorts until this year; in the past I had about 4 pair per season, but for some reason they added up this year -- and it was an oddly cool summer, which should have made them harder to wear, yet did not. And this surprised me.

I have to admit the dressy versions got the least wear. I am glad I have them for that shot of variety, but I could easily have got dressed all summer without them. Whereas the casual shorts are more of a necessity or wardrobe essential for me.

The dressy ones are more a trend that I wanted to try out. And possibly they fall into the "buying for the fantasy life" category -- i.e. the life where I am working in an office and have a business casual dress code, you know? It is not TOO far off from my real life -- but enough distant that the occasions for wearing the item don't come up quite as often as I seem to imagine they will when I hit that "buy" button.

One pair is now 2 years old, and one was new this year. And I will wear them at least another year -- so even if each one has not got a lot of wears, at least they have some closet longevity and still feel fresh to me when I put them on.

Joy

Veteran

Again, so inspiring, Ingunn. This is my area that needs work, especially for my lifestyle. I have way too many skirts and summer dresses than I can wear but really like each of them. None are orphans.
Last spring I did not add any shorts, planning to chop off some colored jeans and wear dresses more on a daily basis. Our cooler-than-normal weather and rolling full length jeans has got me thorough with 3 pair of shorts, one of which was never worn and will be downgraded to gardening. This despite long hot summers. I have not needed to chop the jeans either...yet. Rolling has been enough. Dresses did see more wear.

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Hi Ingunn! What struck me first was how relatively few items you have, yet you always present varied style in your outfits. I don't get the feeling of, she wears the same things all the time. How do you do this? You are clever. I assume it's because you don't buy a lot of duplicates which I think is my weakness. In some cases I need duplicates -- work button down shirts, and lots of pairs of dark jeans and pants requiring a fresh pair each day. In other cases it's as if the behavior of buying things I like, again and again, fuels the dopamine receptors in my brain. So I keep doing it.

ETA -- Could you please explain the discrepancy between the numbers in bold at the beginning of each section compared to the numbers beneath it? I assume the bold number represents your ideal count, while unbolded equals actual count?

Ingunn

(website)

Veteran

Ah - the number in bold is referring to a category, not an ideal number. I can see that this might be very confusing if you don't read all three posts at once. Sorry!

Alassë

Veteran

I'm enjoying your analysis posts, Ingunn!