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Speaking of how many clothes are enough...

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

Janice at The Vivienne Files just posted about this today. She suggests a calculation based on how many outfits you wear in an average day, how many items per outfit, how often you want to wear each piece you own, and for what time period you're calculating. One of her examples:

365 days

1.2 outfits per day

2 pieces per outfit
each piece worn 12 times
(here comes the math!!!!)
365 x 1.2 x 2 / 12 = 73 pieces of clothing

I think this is a decent place to start from, and is interesting per the recent French Wardrobe thread, as well as the conversations we had during the April 30x30 and the June challenge.

I included shoes in my count in April and June, and often have a topper/'third piece' most of the year except when it's really really hot, so my numbers would probably be 3.5 pieces per outfit. If I use the same numbers as she does otherwise, I end up with a total of 128 pieces - which is probably not too far off how many clothes I actually own, excluding outdoor coats and gear and such.

General

31 replies

Latest reply was from donnat

crutcher

Veteran

The Vivenne file is a great source for style information and thoughtful considering...I read this post about how much is enough and it was interesting...

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

Ooh, this is fascinating and I'm highly motivated by numbers, so...

365 days
1 outfit per day (if I'm changing, it's likely into and out of gear or loungewear, which I don't count in my numbers)
3.5 pieces per outfit (I want to count shoes and I layer regularly)
each piece worn 25 times (about once a week over a season)

365 x 1 x 3.5 / 25 = 51 pieces of clothing

I think it would work if every piece I owned worked at an ideal level. If I go down to each piece worn 20 times, I get 64 items, which is definitely realistic. I have about 75 right now.

Staysfit

Veteran

What a fun formula. I am not a big repeat wearer, and many of my outfits are made with three pieces instead of two, so my formula would look like this:

365 days
1.5 outfits per day
2.75 pieces per outfit
Each piece worn 6 times

365 x 1.5 x 2.75 /6= 250.9

It's amazing really because this turns out to be the exact number of items I have in my closet, well 250, not counting exercise gear. This formula really seems to work. So, if I want to reduce my closet size, I need to repeat my wears. It becomes easy to see where the numbers can be adjusted. I could also wear fewer toppers, or change my clothes less frequently. Realistically, I could repeat my wears and maybe cut my number in half. Reducing the number much less than that while I'm still working is unlikely.

Much food for thought and very helpful! Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous

How did you decide that each piece would be worn 12 times in a given year? Did I miss something?

Staysfit

Veteran

I think that number is flexible and can be more or less than once a month. If you look at the Vivienne files link she explains it.

viva

Veteran

This is really interesting. It's drawing me in through the backdoor -- because the last time I counted (at least 6 months ago) I had about 75 pieces. This makes me wonder if (1) I wear things on average 12 times and (2) I wear on average 2 items per outfit. And also, am I still at 75?

I would guess yes to #2. But as for #1, I think I am still wearing some things more than once a month and some things less often. I probably need to either get rid of the unworn, or work harder to get them into rotation.

Thanks for posting this, Laura! It's actually a great thought-starter for me.

Sal

Veteran

Interesting!

I have not done a wardrobe count for about a year....I might do one.
Including shoes I would think about 128 is about right for me. It is hard to have a two piece outfit in winter if you include shoes!!!

shedev

Veteran

I came up with 191, pretty close to my actual wardrobe size. I counted footwear because I include them in my wardrobe counts.

approprio

(website)

Veteran

I think where this falls down (for me) is in the repeat wearing. Some items are workhorses (raincoat, favourite pants) others are deliberately occasional wear (party dresses, business suits). Some are specific to weather conditions (high summer, deep winter) and only come out when needed. Still more things only get an outing once or twice a year, but oh! when they do, what an impact they have!

Reversing the calculation, (220 items, 3.5 pieces per outfit, 1.2 outfits per day) I'd wear everything on average 7 times per year. Sounds about right.

Mary Beth (formerly LBD)

(website)

Veteran

Fascinating! I saw the article this morning, but until I saw you all doing the math, it didn't occur to me to try! I guess I don't quite want to know!

I divided my days up into cold/cool/temperate and warm/hot, for a total of 375 days, assuming that I will have some wardrobe overlap.

There are 4-5 days a week that I completely change outfits at least once because of the wide variation of activities I do. My wardrobe capsules include: business, casual, going out/club, dancewear/exercise/lounge, and swim/beach. Most of my capsules have some overlap, although not swimwear/beach because I wear 70+SPF and it sometimes stains lighter-colored clothing, so I try to keep my 'good' stuff out of the beachwear capsule.

Excluding shoes, jewelry, bags, belts, scarves, hat:

180 Cold/Cool/Temperate Days (October-March)
2.5 Outfits/Day
2.75 Items/Outfit
Worn 12 Times (twice/month)
103 items

195 Warm/Hot
2.5 Outfits/Day
2.25 Items/Outfit
Worn 12 Times (twice/month)
91 items

Total of 194 items. I was going to subtract for seasonless items, but realized that with winter coats, plus a fourth layer in very cold weather (probably 60 days of the year- December-January), this number is probably pretty accurate, assuming I only wear things twice a month in their 'season'.

Since I usually wear most things more than that, I'm going to take a stab at 140-150. In truth, I'm not sure where my numbers are at right now - I need to update my inventory list.

Anonymous

My numbers are:
365 days
1.1 outfit per day (as I only change into a different outfit about once every 1.5/2 weeks)
2.5 pieces
15 times a year, since I usually wear some items more than once a month

67 items total

In my experience, P333 (not counting shoes, accessories) works out to be able the ideal amount of clothing per season (3 months) and I have a lot of overlap between seasons. I have a feeling that this number is totally doable for me and if I could ever have all my laundry clean at the same time, I would take a count of my items.

celia

Veteran

I saw this calculations and the problem for me comes from the following :
Some items I wear once a year. Holiday items and fancy occasions might be composed by several outfits because it happens that I will go to different parties where I see some of the same people and I do not want to wear the same thing. Although this might sound an extravagance the cost per wear ends up being low because I will wear this items for several years.
Vacation items , especially if we are talking about beach wear, will not be worn anywhere else , so again these are items that count for the numbers but cannot be accounted for wear once a month kind of math. And the cost per wear is also down because they will also stay in my closet for years.
I have items that I like for one reason or another and will wear for a special occasion like a dinner out but will not be worn again that year because I want to have it for longer in my closet.
Finally there are items not currently in rotation because they don't call to me in a particular year but I might wear in the next one, like the pants I am wearing today.
This formula assumes that you will want to wear all of your items with the same frequency which might work for some people but not really for me.

frannieb

Veteran

oh I love this post and will have to figure out my numbers just thinking summer because of wildly different seasons

120 days of warm weather wear
1.2 outfits per day - I do usually change on Sundays - church clothes then into non - church
3.0 - I want to count shoes and I layer everysingle day I'm at work do to AC
6 times wear - that is wearing every other week during the summer months which actually may be high for me
120 x 1.2 x 3.0/6 = 72 which seems right for summer wear

240 days for winter wear
1.2 outfits per day
2.80 - I don't layer as much in the winter and want count shoes, I love my shoes
6 times a wear okay I really don't like to rewear much in the winter - it is so long I start to get sick sick sick of some of my clothes and need variety
240 x 1.2 x 2.80/6 = 134

Now I'm interested to count my clothes because to my eye both those numbers including shoes - and I like my shoes - seem very workable.

Elly

Veteran

Hmmm -- for me I figure 183 (6 months) x 1 (outfit per day) x 4 (pieces per outfit) / 18 wears. Then I would take that figure and multiply by 2 to get a whole year. So I'd come out with about 81 pieces. The downfall to this method would be twofold:

1. I wear shoes and jeans 2x a week, versus tops every 1.5 weeks which is hard to figure in
2. I also have an entire other (small) capsule that is for special occasions, interviews, and gallery openings that only happen a couple times a month

I haven't figured out if these two factors balance each other out.

anne

Veteran

Interesting. I identify with what Elly and Celia say.

I plugged in 365 x 2 x 3/ 15 and got 146 - but my actual wardrobe is somewhere around the 120 mark if you include shoes but not outerwear.

And the 15 figure is quite random. I wear some items 4-5 times a week in season, many every 1-2 weeks and some items only a few times a year.
And some of my capsules are quite small (eg "hot summer", consists of 4 dresses, one tank and one pair of shorts) but will be worn intensively in the right weather.

Isabel

Veteran

I like this type of thinking. It makes sense. I did really well this winter with about 40 pieces. BUT I am a SAHM . I could probably have done less. I don't need a lot of versatility in my wardrobe because my lifestyle needs are 85 % casual. I suppose I like to look more "smart" casual, as Angie calls it. I do have a very small core of dressier outfits.

Maneera

(website)

Veteran

Very interesting.....I like the logic behind the math!

However, this could never work for me. I work from home and I also prefer to segregate my clothes as 'wear at home' and 'wear out'. There is very little overlap between the two....and as is obvious, the clothes I wear at home get more wear and also see more repeats than clothes I like to wear when I go out. This formula fails for me in factoring the repeats.

tulle

Veteran

This makes my head hurt.

Belladogga

Maneera, it seems to me that you could apply the formula separately to your "wear at home' and "wear out" capsules to determine how many pieces you need for each capsule. The term in the equation (not sure if I have the math terminology correct) that accounts for frequency of wear would be different in each case. For your "wear at home" capsule in which you repeat more, the frequency of wear term would be a larger number. For me, I'm happy to repeat "wear at home" items every 2 weeks (perhaps even more frequently for bottom pieces) but "wear out" items less frequently - maybe once per month. So running my numbers...

For "wear at home":
365 days
1.2 outfits per day
2 pieces per outfit (not counting shoes, rarely wear dresses)
each piece worn 26 times (once per two weeks)
365 x 1.2 x 2 / 26 = 34 pieces of clothing

For "wear out":
365 days
1.2 outfits per day
2 pieces per outfit (not counting shoes, rarely wear dresses)
each piece worn 12 times (once per month)
365 x 1.2 x 2 / 12 = 73 pieces of clothing

34 + 73 = 107 pieces of clothing

The total of 107 is less than what I have but probably close to what I wear regularly. The disconnect is largely in my burgeoning "wear at home" category - some items bought for that purpose, others being demoted "wear out" pieces that I'm having difficulty letting go of. Hmmm, this exercise might have given me what I need to get me started on that wardrobe clear out.

lyn67

Veteran

Great math, still not perfect or complete -only a good starting point! 12x/year sounds resonable and OK, but it is maybe NOT when having 6 or even 8 micro seasons instead of just 1- 2, or 4 (I have stolen this concept of micro seasons from Suz).
I have to change my capsules every 6 weeks or so as the weather changes that much...So many items in my wardrobe will not be worn 12x in a year, but 4-5 or less! I also like to have variety, and a lot of functions. My mood and weight is fluctuating a lot, and I don't like to repeat same outfit in 2 weeks. Of course, some items are interlapping seasons, functions, vibes and moods-and are sitting maybe for much longer time in my closet- but still -these are just numbersl....:-))

Elizabeth P

Veteran

Did anyone notice how this thread clearly divides people into two camps? The first is the "hey this is cool, these are my numbers..." and the second comes up with all the reasons why this system is flawed and doesn't work for them. I am firmly in the second, for all the reasons others have already posted.

Funny, though.

I also know that no matter what formula I use, the result is clear: I HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF. But that's ok... at least today it is.

Alassë

Veteran

LOL, Elizabeth.

celia

Veteran

You are right Elizabeth
I am truly in awe of the ones that have a closet full of items they love and have a consistent style so everything goes with everything, and everything has the same degree of fabulousness. For those people this truly works. Some forum members are a great example of how a well curated style and wardrobe can be fabulous.

Daria

I'm in the camp of "the numbers look cool but I'm too lazy to do my wardrobe count" :).

Author Linda

Veteran

This is a fascinating discussion and I've mulled it over while sipping my morning coffee. I first read the original article yesterday and of course I kicked around my numbers, but in the same way I have fun with numerology. In the end, though, I just can't quite look at my wardrobe as a quantifiable part of my life. Then again, it's possible I'm in denial and want to buy more stuff.

E

Veteran

I can see why this equation would be great for women don't really enjoy playing with clothes/getting dressed but still want to be stylish and have an easy, functional wardrobe with no laundry bottlenecks. And I do love a good word problem, so I appreciate the mathematical integration! However that is not me. I love having lots of textures, colours, and patterns in my closet, and I'm very into dressing weather-appropriately, so then I want to have similar options in various fibers for the different seasons. So my formula would be more of a flow chart: does it all fit neatly in the available storage space, without having to fuss to put things away on laundry day? Do I have enough to go a month between laundry days (I hate running less than full loads & since I live in alone & prefer to only wash things when they're dirty, otherwise just airing them out, it takes me a good month to work up a full darks & full lights load)? Do any new acquisitions fit my ethical & budgetary constraints? Do I love everything?

Then there's no need to count. hehe

Susie

Veteran

I don't think that there are right or wrong numbers when it comes to wardrobe size..."right" is what works for each of us individually. I know that I am much more happy with my wardrobe now than I have been in the past when it was larger. But that's because I make better choices (not perfect but getting better!) now and things work really well together so I don't have a bunch of orphans or too many things that I feel 'meh' about.

For me, my "wardrobe" consists of those things that I can wear to work. Then I have a number of smaller capsules- special occasion, gear, lounge wear, swimsuits/cover ups, and very casual (shorts and tees). Wardrobe items and casual wear are the only ones that I track in terms of number of wearings, but I do include everything else on my list of purchases because they still cost money! And I also keep bags and shoes separate. They are a key part of my wardrobe but they aren't interchangeable with clothing items so in my mind it doesn't make sense to count them in the number of pieces per outfit.

For this calculation to be most helpful to me, I would apply it to wardrobe items and then separate calculations for casual wear, shoes and bags. I will have to try it!

kkards

Veteran

ok, party pooper here.....this formula is sort of pointless in that the biggest variable is completely arbitrary....

365 days ok this is a real number

1.2 outfits per day ok some thought went into this number

2 pieces per outfit real number here
each piece worn 12 times where did this number come from?
(here comes the math!!!!)
365 x 1.2 x 2 / 12 = 73 pieces of clothing

this formula is driven by how often you wear a piece, and simply by changing that number, you can make the answer anything you want...so this isn't really a useful formula.

ok sorry....can you tell that I work in a planning capacity? and that I work with people who often want a specific answer, so I know a lot about how to manipulate formulas/math so that the answer you get is the answer you want......

Susie

Veteran

I understand what you are saying kkards, but I think you have to determine a number that feels right for you. So I could change that number to 1 so that I am "allowed" more items, but I know that wearing something only 1 time per year would feel really wasteful to me (not including special occasion pieces). But wearing something every other week- to use 26 times a year- feels just as wrong. I would probably use something like 6 or 8 because I would be content if most items were worn that many times.

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