Mind = blown.

Wow. The numbers geek in me really loves this too. I think I'm going to use this thinking when I shop - "do I like this enough to wear it 52 times?" Of course there are special occasion exceptions to this. It also allows the cpw to go way up if you figure you'll wear everything this many times.

It is a good post.

I come up with lower numbers in some categories and slightly higher in others (I don't need as many bottoms, but I need more tops). That said, it actually works on a functional level too. I would consider about half of my wardrobe cool weather and the other half warm and have this many or fewer pieces in most categories.

The issues are mostly do to laundry. As someone who lives a casual but varied lifestyle, I find remixing hard to do because the piece is often already been utilized for the week, this can cause issues if you have to change for a dinner or event as well. The lack of variety gets hard because you often don't have a mix and match combo that suits the occasion and is also clean and you haven't already been wearing to the event for the last 5 weeks. Maybe that is just me though.

I also wear through things really fast, which means I am constantly replace the same items year in and year out. Usually if something survives more than a season or two it is because it is a woven of high quality, or just less practical or used less in my wardrobe.

Elly, I agree with your last point. I think it's rare for a knit to last more than two years looking pristine (with regular wear) and usually if it does it's because it's some super duper fancy high end cashmere from decades ago or something. (I own a cashmere sweater that my husband bought for himself in England decades ago that is still in perfect condition -- but the cashmere pullover I bought myself last year is already looking a bit tired!)

So knits definitely need more frequent replacement. I guess we need to figure that into their CPW. On the other hand, for somebody in my climate with my lifestyle, they get a ton of wear so that is also relevant.

Suz, you know I wonder about that - the life span of knits, that is. I had a cheapo white tee that I just this month purged after over 15 years! Maybe longer (I remember buying it in the 90's at Clothestime, truth be told). It had been relegated to sleepwear by then and yellowed in the armpits, but still. It was alive. It had no holes. It had it's shape. That $10 shirt lasted into several decades.
By contrast, I had a somewhat name brand (maybe Michael Kors?) cowl neck tee that twisted horribly the very first wash a few years ago. I stretched and blocked it every time there after, but it lasted barely 10 washes total lifespan.
Wish I knew how to spot a knit with staying power!!

Yikes... and this translates to cost per wear as well... Gosh even if I got 52 wears out of a lot of my stuff its still looking at $2 to 5 each outing (clothes are way more expensive here in Aust)... and I don't bear to do the numbers if it was only 10 wear... and the next step in logic is if I didn't wear it all the time I mustn't like it much. So now something I am not keen on is costing perhaps $25 a wear... going into tailspin.... vowing to be careful in making good choices!

Yeah, I hear you, Mo - it's not always the label. I do think maybe knits are worse now than they used to be, across the board.

Jenanded, I think it is okay to have a few items in our wardrobes with super high CPW -- as long as those are balanced by super high happiness factor -- and hopefully by other items with a lower CPW, so that it averages out in some way.

My Nicole Miller sheath, even purchased on super sale (by pure luck, I might add) is going to have a high CPW for quite a while -- simply because I have very few occasions in a year to wear a dressy sleeveless sheath dress. BUT. When those occasions come up, you'd better believe I am wearing that dress, and with a huge happiness quotient. Stress saved, not having to shop at the last minute? Priceless.

MO, did you include tee's in your shirt category?

Deb, I hate to say it but tees make up most of my category. It's funny, I seem to have come full circle into embracing all the things I eschewed 3 years ago. I wouldn't wear tees because they were my uniform for so many years. I had dumped all my short shorts, etc.
I will say that I am only counting tees or tanks that can stand alone, not layer pieces. So, tops that are integral to an outfit - might be tees for me, blouses for others.
Understand, my dressing here in FL is not for work. I can wear a tee and shorts whenever I darn well please. The issue became that I had a dozen tanks, a dozen layer tanks, and half a dozen tees, and none of them got more than a handful of wears over the year, besides a select few faves. Don't even get me started on the dresses!

ummmmm.... I was told there wasn't going to be math on the test.....

Mo I enjoyed your post even though I am seriously number-phobic. Actually, numeral-phobic. The sentences with"dozen" I can handle but numerals make my eyes glaze over.
Anyway I just wanted to say that I found your analysis and the responses really interesting as an insight into how others think.

Just kidding This is a brilliant analysis! I read through it - and I'm already doing some thinking here...

At a glance, I have a wool Ann Taylor jacket that can zip up into a mock turtleneck, or lie flat for a blazer-style collar, that has been worn at least bi-weekly half the year, for the past five years. I've worn it as a top, as a topper, as a layering piece between a top and a coat, and it's still in amazing condition. I have no idea how many times it's been washed. This garment could easily replace at least eight items in my closet and I wouldn't bat an eyelash. But I would chafe at the idea of 'missing out', even if, in reality, I reach for that jacket/top again and again and again and again over items that are worn far less frequently.

I think your numbers are probably pretty accurate for most of us.

I have purged to the point where I feel I am in pretty good shape - plenty to wear (probably too much), but I am happy with what is there. But your words are already swirling around my mind, and shaping my future shopping and wardrobe planning.

This is a great analysis. My categories would probably be slightly different. For instance, our summers in the UK aren't that long. My window of opportunity for wearing my spring/summer clothes probably lasts from mid-May to mid-September. That's two thirds of the year given over to autumn/winter clothes and one third for spring/summer, or approx. 36 weeks for autumn/winter and 16 weeks for spring/summer. Clearly this means that I'll need twice as many clothes for AW as I will for SS.

Also, I like to separate my working week clothes and my weekend clothes. In actuality, there probably isn't much difference between them, but I like having that mental separation between "work time" and "my time", thus having different clothes for each. In spring/summer I wear dresses on Saturdays and Sundays and in the autumn/winter I break out my slightly whimsical jumpers and blouses.

So that gives me:

A/W workwear: 180 days
A/W fun wear: 72 days
S/S workwear: 80 days
S/S fun wear: 32 days

Of course, this doesn't take into account holidays and other days off. Last year I had 17 days off over the Christmas and New Year period and this summer I was away for 16 days on my wedding and honeymoon. On both occasions I either had to repeat two or three times and/or co-opt either off-season or work clothing into use. Needless to say, I didn't completely enjoy what I was wearing, so I feel it's important to have more than I would strictly "need" to avoid this situation. For instance, I have 6 day dresses. Normally, during the summer, this gets me three weeks of weekend wear, but it wasn't enough to cover my honeymoon.

Wow is all I have to say Mo.
Going to do some counting today.
And lot of thinking.

Mo, this is brilliantly brilliant!

You just explained to me why I seem unable to find a clean skirt/pair of trousers half the time. Also why I appear to have way too many tees from too many years ago. And why I am always cold come winter and bored come summer. And why my shoe cabinet seems lopsided as well as stuffed.

Please accept my heartfelt gratitude.

PS: I think many of us speaking of occasional dressing are speaking to a different point (horses for courses) than Mo's primary one (how many you NEED). Sure, we need holiday clothes we can't wear to work or the supermarket or even on the bus, depending on where you live. And sure, some of us need VERY different at-home wardrobes from meet-clients/office wardrobes because they are practically different climates (arctic AC) and countries (for those of us who can't imagine wearing shoes at home or who eat or sleep or work at floor level). But the same logic and numbers will hold... it just expands the categories needed and tweaks the frequency of wear in her basic equations. As for boredom quota or specials, they aren't really needs but wants, no? And yes, a wardrobe has to fulfil wants to fit your lifestyle just right too... but it is good practice to separate the two conceptually at least. I can, for example, think about wants after budgeting for and shopping for the needs.

Glad this is still alive...I am a serious excel nerd so I came up with something similar, my main clothing category being work, I tried to have enough outfits to cycle through one every 3 weeks but ended up with 27 outfits just reusing the pieces in different ways. And even then I could still really double that if I were willing to reuse more. But casual is a huge 15 outfits, huge because i need about 6. But it is getting really hard to purge more at this time. My closets feel so empty and I don't have real orphans anymore. I am tempted to hang up sweaters and tshirts just to take more space! Luxury problem obviously.

Jayne, you touch on another factor, mixability. I just proposed a wearing of every piece repeated every 2nd week. If none of them remix and you always wear one top with only the same one other bottom, you get the same 12 outfits, but once you start seeing half of the tops go with half of the bottoms, or more, things exponentially explode. I have to admit that I have an aversion to wearing the exact same outfit again. I don't know why. Maybe because I don't have to, with the options I have. Or maybe my brain finds it fun to tweak a new aspect each time, I dunno. I have just over 100 items but they mix up into tons of outfits.

The other aspect I didn't touch on is replacement rates. I am trying to buy smarter, and less. Even so, 6 new shirts a year is not an unreasonable expectation for me. If I have 12 warm weather and 12 cold weather tops, and replace evenly with my new purchases, I turn over my whole shirt wardrobe in 4 years. I like that. Both the amount of new things, and their time in my wardrobe before I am ready to move on. Right now I have closer to 16 of each, and am happy but wouldn't want more. YMMV!

I could have written what Molly R did - same situation!

Mo, lets see, you have 16 tops for each season...I have (opening phone app now) ..about 14 (just averaged) across work and play. But I know I have 10 per season in regular rotation. The 4 others are fancy party pieces or orphans that I want to hold onto.
So yeah, it matches up. I have the opposite outfit situation from you though, I prefer to actually rewear an outfit again and again (with 3 weeks between) rather than mix them up. But that has to do with my general lack of confidence that I can mix and match and come up with equally successful outfits every time. If I find one combination I feel fab in, I would rather reuse that exact combination and not try mixing just to find the other outfit is second rate. It isn't that I do not reuse pieces, I do about 3 outfits uses per item (unless it is a hero). I just do not have a goal for higher. A decision I had to make to feel better about not being a 333 type.

I think some would dislike all this analysis, but I find it helps me get to those decisions that are perhaps against the current trends, because it builds my confidence in how I use my wardrobe.

thanks for being equally analytical, it is fun for me to have someone to talk with this way...I find my friends, who dress really well, have no thoughts about it. They just do it somehow naturally!

Oh, and I so agree on the replacing up method. Buy a great item, not adequate ones, and I assume we will keep and reuse it longer. This is going to be my first "second" winter for a few of those better items I bought around Christmas last year. I am hoping I will be equally in love with those items when I come to the season, and not have a feeling I want something new instead. I might learn something about myself.

I do have 2 fall items in that category, my black leather moto and my black tux jacket. The black moto is getting more and more love and I just found another use for it that I cannot wait to try. My tux is at the tailor, who is going to attempt to fix the bad work of my seamstress. I obviously love it enough to try and save it (good money after bad??). But it shows that these quality items are workhorses.

ok, ONE more reply, this is on the original post, the actual wear...I did track my spring/Summer wear this year, totally nerdy excel and app usage ( I was bored at work some weeks). And on average I used every item 4 times. There are highs in that though, like white trousers, used 18 times, and my navy jacket (10 times). Tops and dresses are a steady 3-4 times. Obviously I like to rotate tops much more than bottoms. I think bottoms are very hard to find and if I find flattering ones, I use them! There are some real losers there also, items I used once that I bought on impulse (learned that lesson now).

I guess the essence is that my usage was about 4x1 (4 tops to every 1 bottom). And every item about 4 times a season. That would get me through many many years before they would need replaced. Maybe I should rather spend more money on bottoms (per item) and less on tops. Which I think I do. Bottoms are probably 3 times the cost of tops (just thinking on average in the way I shop). Except blazers which cost double the bottoms and are expected to last double as long.

Here would be my goal items versus years of use, based on all I learned from you and my own analysis: (summer)
bottoms 4-5 per season, to last 3 years (wash every 3-4 wears)
tops 12-15 per season, to last 3 years (wash every other wear)
blazers 2-3 per season, to last 6 years (dry clean once a year)
dresses 2-3 to last 3 years (wash or dry clean every other wear)

I do think I have higher numbers than this. But I am combining spring and summer in that excel, even though I only wear most dresses in summer.

I should do an analysis of what needs replaced/updated from the summer capsule to see what I have room for next year. I already made the wish list, which is different from the need list (ref Mandi)

Brilliant! I have just asked this same question and you've answered it well!

I guess that means I can cull my 20-something tshirts down to 12

12 PER season, meaning 12 warm weather and 12 cold weather. assuming you can cut your weather year in roughly half like that. So, 24 for the whole year, unless you want to wear each top every week instead of every other. Glad it could be of use to you!

I have been trying to figure this out after reading an article about the fulfillment curve:

http://www.thesimpledollar.com.....ent-curve/

I think the way you are calculating things makes more sense to me.

So for the next 5 months of "transition" weather where it can be -10 to 65 degrees, I figure if I have 14 tops (2 weeks worth of tops) they will each get worn 10 times.

5 months * 4 weeks = 20 weeks total / 2 weeks = 10 times

Am I on the right track? As I wrote that I confused myself, but if I am right then I need even fewer items than I think in any category. I need a LOT more basics with a few statements thrown in.

You stopped me from shopping yesterday and I appreciate it very much! I am a minimalist at heart but have a hard time figuring it all out.

Yes, pretty close. 5 months is 21 1/2 weeks roughly, but again, you may end up in loungewear or a dress for that odd week and a half not figured for, so for all intensive purposes you are on the money!

Happy to hear you stopped yourself from possible unnecessary purchases!

Not sure if I commented earlier Mo, but this has been one of those threads I have thought about a great deal.
Like you, I have around twice the dozen or so per category, and I am happy with my moderate wardrobe.
Most importantly this discussion has given me a more concrete guideline for future purchases.
Whilst I am happy for my CPW to be $5 or less, I will be very carefully thinking through spending big $ on certain items, or considering buying fewer, better quality pieces in the future.

Bumping this because it's been mentioned twice in the past couple days. It pre-dates my YLF by a few days, so I missed it the first time around. Figured other newbies would find it as useful as I do.

You know what? I don't think I am that far off from these numbers after all the purging. Too many pair of shoes, but that make sense with my foot issues changed. Adding in a small event capsule and workout capsule... Fun that I feel way less of a closet glutton by buying purposefully and spending more money, rather than buying anything for a buck and always craving more variety. I don't know if I am okay keeping much for four years, though! Most of my workhorses wear out much faster.

Missed this first go around. Trying to figure out how it can apply to me. I really try to make the most of no scrubs days. Plus it seems I have a huge variety of events in my life. I will have to ruminate. Though honestly I'm very emotional when it comes to fashion.

How did I miss this thread originally? These numbers and discussion tie into my DH closet challenge perfectly. I'm currently working on my post for Thursday's week 3 check-in so I don't want to spill it all here but I am finding that one needs a LOT less clothing than they typically own. At least I know now that I do! But how often one likes to remix is also key to how many items to own.

Thank you for bumping this up. I missed it originally. This makes a lot of sense. I like the math. It reminds me a bit of The very small closet - the site is now gone (was http://www.jenniferskinneronline.com) - where you'd pick enough bottoms for a week plus two tops (or top combinations) for each. That way you wore each bottom once a week and each complete outfit every other week.