Like you, I like a closet full of color and pattern and texture. Unlike you, I don’t like to shop. To avoid it, I’ve always gone for longevity; acrylic, polyester, and nylon are rarely seen in my things, and I go for iconic/classic over trendy. I posted my numbers for the past five years about a month ago. Adding in bye-buy Berlin purchases, it averages out to 18 per year. That includes all the wear—outer, under, foot, swim, and gym wear, as well as bags. I don’t have a number for my total wardrobe, and spreadsheet making is not fun for me, but I’ve just packed up and sent off most of my clothes to my new home. I saved out about 40 items to wear for the next ~2 months. Then I had 1 large suitcase and 2 Ikea Frakta bags of winter clothes, 1 bag of summer, 1 of spring, 1 summer+spring combined, 1 of pjs, socks & undies, and a suitcase of coats, jackets, shoes and bags.
I’m fine with the number of items I have. If it changes, smaller would be better than bigger, but that’s nbd. My wardrobe goal is to be able to easily dress appropriately in a way that feels like me (which includes being comfortable on my body). For me, lots of turnover would be difficult. It would block me from meeting my goal, because I wouldn’t be able to remember what I had and getting dressed wouldn’t be easy.
As organized as your closet is, I think it would be easy for you to shop it. This is how I use Angie’s trends forecasts and her regular roundups of different items. Sometimes one of my things pops into my head after looking at her posts. Other times I’m more strategic about it; if I really want to buy one of the items she posts, I think through its central characteristics carefully and often am able to find something in my holdings that has them, at least the main ones. The slow flow of items through my closet means I can remember what I’ve got. Buying 2+ months of new items annually, your spreadsheets would likely be very helpful. (You could even expand the spreadsheet to include features like length and shape of leg/sleeve/skirt, colors, etc).
My shopping averages out to 1 or 2 new things each month, but that’s not how I tend to buy. I usually go in spurts. An example is that last summer I bought 2 pairs of bike shorts and 4 tops within a short time span. They can all be worn for working out or with skirts/shorts. After the swoop to get them, it took me few weeks to work them into my wardrobe, so I can easily grab whichever and know what it will go with. An exception is the things I get at the market. There i tend to buy fewer items at once, but I have been relieved to realize that I don’t usually need to make insta purchases—most sellers at weekly markets are back every week, so when I see a thing I like, I can take pix and spend a week or even two thinking about what I’d pair it up with. Perhaps this fits with your clothes-buying fun? Last summer, I bought the velour top and linen dress this way, but did not get the jacket. I just was not coming up with ways to wear it, as much as I tried, because it really was nice on.
Might I suggest posting more WIWs? I love comments that show familiarity with my stuff, whether “I’ve always liked that jumpsuit on you” or “try it with your lace-up black boots”. Playing in the closet together like that is fun, and encourages me to think more about what I’ve got already instead of reaching out for more.
ETA I wrote all that and never got to your question—sorry! I don’t limit number or $$$$ for my wardrobe. I tend to have pretty clear limits in my head of what things should cost (always under 100), and I generally stick with them. So if I pass an item up for budget reasons, it’s not because it takes me over a monthly limit, but because a) I don’t think the item is worth that much or b) I don’t think I need to be wearing such an extravagant piece in my daily life. I make rare exceptions. The most expensive items I’ve bought lately are the green boiled wool jacket for 200+ and the white Sorel boots for $130. I consider them both well-made, iconic/classic items that will keep me warm and dry for years to come. The 80€ shoes also cost more than I usually spend on shoes, but again, I expect them to last & last. The first pair I got at that price, the red ankle boots, are 4 years old and going strong. So all this extra text just to say I really can’t say # or $.
