How many clothes are enough? - YouLookFab Forum

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How many clothes are enough?

anne

Veteran

This is a question for Angie and those of you tend towards minimal wardrobes.

How do you decide what is an appropriate amount? Angie - I know you have a strict one in one out policy - does that mean any items; or if you get new jeans do you throw out the old ones.

I really only want enough clothes to be approriately dressed in all the situations I find myself, but having kids makes that a lot harder. Before kids, when I worked in a corporate enviroment, I would buy one pair of jeans every 2 to 3 years. That was enough. Now I have 3 pairs and I am still running out sometimes! I spend my life doing laundry as it is!

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17 replies

Latest reply was from shiny

Becky

Veteran

This is a great question, Anne, and I look forward to hearing others' thoughts on this topic. Since I'm in the process of a rather lengthy (2 years and counting) wardrobe makeover, I'm still exploring this issue myself. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said, "I really only want enough clothes to be approriately dressed in all the situations I find myself." I concur with that statement. I really don't enjoy shopping for its own sake (though I do enjoy the result of dressing in a flattering way appropriate for various activities), and it seems wasteful to me to spend a lot of money on extra clothing that won't see much wear. Since I, like you, live in a small town, I see many of the same people over and over at various functions and events, so I want to make sure I have enough variety in my wardrobe that people don't get the impression I wear the same thing all the time! On the other hand, getting rid of lots of ill-fitting, unflattering clothing has been remarkably liberating. I've begun to see how less really can be more, if everything in the closet fits and flatters.

Since you used jeans as an example: I've always owned and worn many pairs of jeans for leisure time, even before becoming a SAHM, but now I own fewer pairs that fit better. Currently I have two pairs that I rotate most of the time for flats/fashion sneakers, one dressier pair to wear with boots, and a casual pair to wear with boots in winter, plus a (non-YLF-approved) pair or two for gardening and other messy tasks. I wear my jeans probably 4 or 5 times before laundering, unless we have a mishap of some sort which requires immediate washing!

I'd have to take stock of what I currently have in other categories. As I said, I'm still exploring this. One category in which I have seen the need to increase my inventory since YLF: shoes. I've really seen how the appropriate shoes can dress an outfit up or down and make it appropriate for different activities and events. I have spent the lion's share of my clothing budget on shoes since beginning this makeover.

anne

Veteran

Becky thanks so much for such a thoughtful response, and for clarifying my question too.

Hope to hear from others soon.

On the jeans thing - when I said three pairs - I was meaning for wearing out of the house (one straightleg, one bootcut and one skinny. This last is a bit restrictive outfit wise, since it is quite low rise and cuts into my hip - so it is only worn with boots and tunics that cover that area). I don't have a pair to wear with heels, and I do see that as a hole in my wardrobe. I have 2 non-YLF approved pairs that I wear at home.

I think I have also spent a big proportion of my clothing budget on footwear too.

sinead

One reason I got motivated to finally get my style/wardrobe together was to decrease the stress level. Some of the other parts of my life are stressful and beyond my control- and I realized this is one area I could control and maybe have some fun with. It was stressful to try and get ready for a dinner date and realize I didn't have any outfits that made me feel good. How sad is it to head out on a date knowing you don't look your best?

So, to answer your question, I think enough clothes would mean a wardrobe that covers your everyday life well (with fab casual clothes because you deserve it)and that keeps you from doing laundry all the time- and that covers "occasions" too. Date night with hubby, weddings, charity events, whatever you have in your life and can foresee. My goal is to get the bases covered with complete outfits, including shoes and accessories, and after that just update as needed. I have a long, long way to go but I'm really looking forward to the feeling of 'I have enough clothes'.

Louise

Veteran

Totally agree with sinead about enough to cover lifes events.

Previously my motto was you can never have enough clothes, shoes, bags........ however since being here i see it's better to have well chosen pieces that fit.

I still love shopping for shoppings sake, i can think of no better way to spend a saturday morning than shopping with my mum then lunch. However now i'm happy to try on loads and come away with one great fitting item or even nothing at all!

And can happily say i have worn every item in my wardrobe in the last month (turned all the hangers the wrong round during the easter hols and everything is now right way round) x

anne

Veteran

Thanks Loulou and Sinead - we are all on the same page here - enough clothing to cover life's events.

Now what I want to know is how many is that? I realise that will differ person to person but I'd love to read some more actual numbers.

What fascinates me about Angie's "one in, one out" policy is that it presupposes she HAS enough clothes to do that. And how that is worked out.

Louise

Veteran

I couldn't face a 1 in 1 out policy lol!

I work with children so fairly smart casual dress, social events are mostly smart casual so here's some numbers

8 coats and jackets even mix to cover all seasons including rain parka, fake fur cropped dressy coat.

2 going out dresses

4 pairs of jeans all different styles and lengths 1 pair cropped smart jeans

1 dressy long skirt similar in length to the gorgeous pink 1 you posted

2 dresses/ tunics for over leggings and skinnies

2 skirts

2 pairs of smart/ casual trousers

1 boyfriend cardi

3 cropped cardis, 2 reg. length cardis, 1 wrap cardi

2 maxi dresses (soz Angie)

1 pair casual trousers

A couple of casual hooded tops

3 round neck long sleeve tops (layering)

A variety of tees

6 pairs of knee high boots

4 pairs of ankle boots

4 pairs of flats

6 pairs of dressy shoes

5 pairs of sandals varying heights

5 pairs of shoes varying heights

Too many bags! (need to have a sort out)

Looking at this lot i think i have def got all events covered several times. And you probably won't need this much to cover all your bases- what can i say in defence i love clothes and shopping! and i have worn it all in the last month.

Edit this is probably more a what not to aim for list lol x

shiny

Veteran

I think this is so personal and also highly dependent on one's lifestyle as well as climate. And also how often one doesn't mind doing laundry! I don't like to do my laundry any more often than once a week, so for example I would want to have at least seven pairs of underwear.

If my kids were younger and I was still a SAHM, this is what I would consider "enough" - if I had to pare my closet down to the bare minimum:

5 coats: denim jacket, leather jacket, rain coat, knee length wool coat, puffer coat

7 jeans: 1 straight, 1 skinny, 2 bootcut (one for heels one for flats), 1 white denim, 2 pairs clamdiggers ... yes that's a lot of jeans but you probably live in them. I say 2 clams because last summer I only had one, and I wished I had a second pair.

2 skirts: 1 denim skirt and one floral cotton skirt (you may want more than this if you live in skirts and prefer them to jeans)

3 dresses: 1 casual cotton summer dress, one dressier dress, 1 sweater dress

6 cardigans: 3 lightweight cotton ones and 3 winterweight wool ones

6 blazers: 3 for spring/summer; 3 for fall/winter (you may be able to get by with a lot less than this if you prefer cardis for your lifestyle)

7 machine-washable knit tops, one for every day of the week; what gets tricky is that you need a mix of lengths to go with skirts vs jeans. I think tops are one area where you could have a lot.

1 dressier blouse

1 white collared blouse (assuming you like this look)

1 vest

3 camis

2 pairs knee high boots - one with heels and one without

1 pair ankle boots

2 ballet flats

1 converses

1 sandal

2 pairs of dressy heels

4 bags (one cream, one black, one in a cheery color, and one clutch)

3 bras

7 pairs undies

2 bathing suits (you need more than 1 if you are in the water with the kids every day)

This is an accurate picture of the items I wear the most. Jeans - I have only 1 bootcut and I have two trouser cuts and two skinnies instead of one. I have a LOT of tops, about half are dressier fabrics and half are knits, but I have more dressy occasions and my kids are older and not so messy! I wear most of my tops too - those that I don't wear often enough, get culled out. If I could only live with 6 cardigans, I could probably do that. I do have more blazers than this, but again, I also have more occasions to wear them.

You'll see I don't list dress slacks at all. I do have these, but I find I don't wear them very often anymore, so I scratched them off the list completely.

As a SAHM of young kids, I suspect the bulk of your wardrobe is going to be in jeans and machine-washable tops, and flat comfortable shoes. If you wanted to pare down the number of jeans, then just choose one style of jeans and stick to that. You don't really need straight, skinny, AND bootcut. Although I guess you need skinnies if you like wearing them tucked into boots in the winter.

Bare minimum? I would say you could probably get by with only 3 jeans, but it sounds like that's what you have and it's not working out. I would take whatever pair you wear the most often, and duplicate them. I duplicated by COH huttons, so what I do is when I get around to wearing the second pair because all the rest of my jeans are dirty, that's when I know to do a load of jeans.

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I'm probably on a way more minimal than most wardrobe right now. I do a load of laundry each day (although my personal laundry only gets done about every 3 days or so). I can get by with one pair of jeans, one pair of casual pants, a couple of skirts, a pair of clams, and a couple of dresses, plus shirts/tops/tanks/cami's to coordinate. I've got a denim jacket and two cardi's That's just for spring/summer, of course.

Chris

You have to figure out how often you are doing laundry and if you are ever "without" the clothes for an occasion as well.

I think your approach is good - identify the holes and fill in as you can.
Is there really a perfect amount for all of us? Not likely lol!

anne

Veteran

Thanks so much Loulou and Shiny for taking the time for that inventory. It was really helpful. I may even print them off.

On the laundry thing, I wash most days, and have one day pretty much devoted to laundry (I line dry, so it is more time consuming). But my children get their clothes dirty so much that I can forget to wash my own clothes. And there are days when I also go through more than one outfit in a day because they get, er, wee-ed on (or worse). I try to take my "good" clothes off when I get home, but sometimes leave them on if I am going to go out again in a few hours, or if they are already dirty. Since I take the kids out with me, mostly, they still often get dirty.

Angie when you have a moment, I'd love to hear your input. I don't want an inventory from you, just to hear obout your policy of "one in and one out" and how you apply it. For instance when you broke your shopping ban to buy those CH microchecks - what went out?

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

This is a GREAT thread and I loved reading the responses. I'm not going to make this any easier because the opposing viewpoints make complete sense. At the end of the day, this is a VERY personal thing and there is no right answer. Consider the following:

o Some people get bored of their clothes quickly whereas others don’t.

o Some people’s lifestyles require a larger set of wardrobe capsules.

o Some people have a soft spot for certain items – for me it’s handbags, for others it might be jeans, skirts or shoes. If you can afford it and the process gives you pleasure, why not indulge. I see nothing morally wrong with that.

o Some people don’t mind clutter whereas others do. I can’t stand clutter so I like to keep my wardrobe small and super efficient filling it with quality and versatile items. On the flip side, I have clients who want LOTS of clothes and don't mind clutter and so we satisfy those needs too.

o I am in the fashion industry and am my own advertisement for what I do. Even though my wardrobe has been fully functional for years, the process of editing and adding never stops because fashion changes and WE change. I adore new trends and sport the ones that work. I have a strict “one in one out policy” because I like to have a small wardrobe, BUT, I turn certain clothes around fast so that I can keep on shopping and sporting new looks. I am CONSTANTLY editing. I have clothes that stay in my closet for a season, and I have items that stay nestled for a decade. I have a few friends who wear my size and I pass down clothing to them often. I also give a lot away to Dress For Success. It’s my way of being socially responsible and that process also allows me to add fresh things to my wardrobe whilst staying true to my one-in-one out principle.

When you feel you’ve put out all your style fires for a while, you stop. I often reach that stage and stop until a new trend tickles my fancy. I have bought two items of clothing this season, loads of accessories and a few pairs of shoes. That shall be it until the NAS.

I don’t think I’ve helped answer your question at all, but perhaps the insight will be useful.

anne

Veteran

Hmm, Angie - yes it was very interesting but yes, not quite answering my question.
What I wanted to know from you, was, since you go for a small wardrobe, you must have worked out exactly what you need to cover all eventualities. So when you purchase something new, what happens? ie when you purchase a pair of jeans, does another pair of jeans "go out", or just another pair of pants, or "bottom half", or any other item?

Because in my case, I'd be hard pressed to throw anything out like that, except perhaps actually worn out items....because I might need them.

That question is independent of how quickly items move through your wardrobe.

Please note that my initial question was directed at those whose inclination is towards a small wardrobe, and wasn't meant to imply any judgement of those who prefer having lots of clothes. It is just that that is the way I (and my budget) incline.

I have been wondering if it would be helpful for me to think about it like packing for a trip. When you pack for a trip, you consider all the activities you are going to do, the weather and how much opportunity for laundry you'll have, right? And don't usually pack anything extra to that?
In theory - actually I am hopeless in practice and a great deal of my conscious post YLF faux pas (wearing camis in public, wearing wrong PPL etc) have been on trips when I haven't packed very intelligently (one thing I have learnt from this is not to overestimate how much time I might be spending doing ironing!)

Anyhow, perhaps an extended version of "trip" thinking would be useful.

BTW I have filled 2 holes in the last week
1. Bought my knee high black boots http://www.sandler.com.au/shoe.....lourID=984
(now I can wear skirts and dresses in winter for looks more formal than given by my riding boots)

2. I also bought an elbow length red/black crinkle blouse This was almost an impulse buy by my standards - I had only been thinking about needing to find something to wear under my black knitted vest for about a week. It was pretty cheap and from a usually daggy shop (Miller's fashion club, for the Aussies) so hopefully will pay it's way

Louise

Veteran

Sounds like a good idea, as above when you wear something and think "i need such as such to go with this" pop it on a list. Then when you go shopping you know what you need rather than trailing round the shops in search of clothes (heaven for me, hell for you! i've started doing this and even though i love shopping it's nice to come back with something that fills a gap x

Kristen

(website)

Veteran

Anne, I love the idea of thinking of a minimal closet like packing for a trip! That's very appropriate, I think -- and amusingly, I have been doing exactly that as I have been rebuilding my wardrobe; I *am* going on a week-long trip in the beginning of June, and since I have nothing appropriate that fits for this season, I've been creating my summer wardrobe to prepare for it. But while I've been doing that, I've also been buying with an eye on being able to use the same pieces as my entire summer wardrobe. When I look at a new piece I think, "Okay, it's perfect for the conference in a super-hot climate, but will I also wear it at home later in the summer?" If I can think of at least 3 occasions where I will wear it (real occasions, not some imaginary outdoor bbq or party that we never go to *g*), then I buy it.

I have a completely different lifestyle and climate than you do, so my list of essentials would be the opposite of yours. But the concept of determining how much to pack on a trip is the same; try that and see if it works! It is for me.

merry77

Anne, thanks for starting this thread. There have been lots of good insights here. I'm another one in the midst of wardrobe restructuring and this is very helpful.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Anne, to use your example, when I purchase a new pair of jeans - I give up another pair of jeans OR another pair of pants. That's why I hardly purchase jeans because they last so long, especially when you get premium! But it has to be the same animal. – blue, skinny etc.

Perhaps this will help: I have a specific amount of hangers in my walk in wardrobe. Each hanger has its own compartment which keeps things neat, equidistant and at a specific quantity. When I edit, I free up hangers. Any “free hanger” warrants another purchase in that category. Sometimes I substitute bottoms like skirts and frocks, pants and jeans, leggings and clams. It’s easy because I wear ALL the clothing categories, so my assortment is varied and even. I cannot make it more scientific than that. I never follow a recipe – I always cook without one. I am intuitive about my wardrobe but stick to the basic principle.

Also, I have no problem editing. I am ruthless because I 100% believe in the process – it benefits so many people including myself. If you’re not ruthless, you’ll battle with the “one in one out principle” once you have enough in your closet. Creating a temporary holding zone is one way of getting around it, but then you have to be disciplined about going back and editing that holding zone.

shiny

Veteran

I was thinking about this thread over the weekend and I'm starting to think I have two separate wardrobes: one that goes with silver (black, white, gray as neutrals) and one that goes with gold (brown and beige as neutrals). I could probably half my wardrobe just by sticking with one or the other.

This past fall/winter I've been gravitating more and more towards the silver theme, but now that I've rotated in my warmer weather clothes, I see that most of my summer wardrobe is based around browns/beiges. The culprit? I didn't have silver flats last year (or white shoes, for that matter), so I built around what I did have - bronze flats!

Of course I do not know if I have it in me to half my wardrobe and just stick with silver/black/white/grey etc... LOL... it is true I get bored easily!