How "old" is your wardrobe? - YouLookFab Forum

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How "old" is your wardrobe?

nancylee

Veteran

My recent blog post on how not to go overboard with trends got me thinking: "Just how old are the items in my wardrobe?" Many YLFers seemed to think 5 or so years was the fashion shelf life of trend items. So, out of curiosity, I did a quick assessment and am estimating that about 25 percent of my wardrobe is older than 5 years while 75 percent (obviously!) is less than 5 years old. A lot of this newness is due to YLF, I admit! Still, this breakdown feels about right...like there is enough freshness in my wardrobe balanced with more durable, timeless pieces.

Then again, I have no idea! Maybe the breakdown should be more like 50/50. I'd be curious to hear how "old" other YLF wardrobes are....

http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....ce-a-trend

General

33 replies

Latest reply was from catgirl

bj1111

Veteran

hard to say. i have really really old clothes that still wear regularly (and not just around the house!). then many in the 3 yrs or newer. prob 50/50. that i don't have many in the 5-7 yr group suggests that 5 yrs sounds abt right for culling clothes.

could it be also that the 5 yrs is also abt when the year-over-year silhouette changes finally accumulate to become really apparent that the item is not "current"?

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I would have answered this a lot differently 2 years ago! Now I can say my numbers are about in line with yours. I have been with my BF 11 years and there are only a few items in my closet now that pre date our relationship. But, boy oh boy, up until 3 years ago, I had so many 10+ year old things I was just hoarding really.
I'd say half my closet is post YLF, or just under 2 years old. If I keep up with the purchase and purging rates I intend, most things should cycle out at about 6 or 7 years. Some things sooner, like knit tops, of course. And some things longer, like coats and leather boots.

EDIT: when I mean cycle out - for instance I have 16 pants/jeans and intend to buy 2 per year. That means they will all turn over in 8 years. I have 12 skirts and intend to buy about 2 per year, for a complete turnover in 6 years. Etc, etc, etc.

christieanne

Veteran

I have a few things that are older than five years old I guess - pretty basic items though like a black cashmere cardigan and pink silk blend vneck sweater. A couple of tweed pencil skirts and one tweed suit - very classic though.

The rest is within last two years I would guess. I still have too many items in closet since I can't really define it in detail

Aziraphale

Veteran

Interesting question. Hmmm, let's see....it sort of depends on the type of item. For the everyday staples, I'd say 80% was purchased within the last five years, but some fancier items, like cocktail dresses and suit coats, are older than that. Sometimes much older. My favourite-ever cocktail dress -- a black, 1920s flapper-style midi dress -- is at least 12 years old, and owing to the waist-surrendering style, still fits perfectly.

I did a quick check of my closet. I currently own 12 pairs of jeans, and 11 of them were purchased four years ago or less. Nearly all of my skirts were purchased in the last three years, as well as my casual dresses, but this is because my interest in skirts is quite recent! As for tops, I could only spot a couple that I think might be older than five years (this doesn't count the old tee shirts I wear for running, cleaning and painting). The vast majority are three years old or less.

I should add that I expect quality shoes and boots to last in the five-to-ten year range.

MsMaven

Veteran

Since I joined YLF I have disposed of most of my over-5 year clothes. It was hard to let go of some of those items. Even though I wear the same size, my body has changed along with the styles. I still have my 25-year old cashmere coat but didn't wear it once last year. I now have a puffy coat. I think I have one pair of jeans that are 5 years and one leather jacket that is 6 or 7. I try it on and to me it still looks good.

Just recently I donated several older jackets and a lot of shoes I was hanging onto, but with my changing feet (not necessarily for the better) it is foolish to think I will wear those heels and cute shoes that hurt and sandals I can't walk in. I hope someone else enjoys them.

So right now I'd say my wardrobe is 15% older than 5 years and the rest less than that.
These older items are the coat and jacket mentioned above and the outfit I wore at my son's wedding 7 years ago. (I also have a box marked "Funeral clothes" that I hope to wear when the time comes--in it is my 1999 New Year's Eve outfit. Not so bizarre, really. If I die suddenly I don't want DH and my son to pick an outfit for me.)

One potential problem with getting older is that you accumulate better quality items that don't wear out so easily, but do date and date the wearer.

Jonesy

Veteran

I don't know....I have lots of new stuff that I've purchased within the last year (not a complete overhaul, but lots of new items) but I also keep things around too....Not even sure of the rough ratio. Your balance sounds great to me.

Sylvie

Veteran

The majority of my wardrobe has been purchased in the past 2 years. I purged a lot of my old stuff that I no longer wore in early 2010 when I moved. Then I started rebuilding the wardrobe over the summer and discovered YLF in the fall. I probably only have about 20 items from before 2010.

biscuitsmom

Veteran

Most of my things have been bought since I joined YLF, so I'd say, 80% was under 2 yrs old. But I just wish I was happier with what I bought SO many things I look at and say 'WTH was I thinking'? Ack! I have a few (very few) that are more than 10 yrs old that I still love.

cjh

(website)

Veteran

An interesting question. I'm not at home to do a quick survey, but I was thinking of what I have that I wore before I have my current job (3 yrs.), before DD#1 was married (5 yrs.), before DD#2 was married (7 yrs.), etc.

I do have the dresses I wore to the weddings, but have not worn them since even though they are day dresses.

I believe I have replaced all my dress pants, sweaters, blouses, skirts, tops and blazers in the last 3 years, or at the most 4, since I have a different and fulltime position than I did 4 yrs. ago. This required more and better clothing choices for my daily wardrobe year round.

As for casual wear, I have also replaced much of my wardrobe from 4 yrs ago partly because I needed more winter red items for basketball ticket season, and I needed "dressier" and trendier casual wear because my non-work life was more social and not as much staying home as when I only worked parttime.

So I would say, most of my wardrobe transition came about because of lifestyle needs and not necessarily because I wanted to stay on trend, though that probably happened as I shopped to some extent. I doubt if I have more than 5% older than 4 yrs., and possibly 3 yrs. old.

Lisa

Veteran

I overhauled my wardrobe after finding YLF 2 years ago. At least 98% of my wardrobe is 2 years or less.

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Great question Nancylee!

Half of my wardrobe is 1 year old or less. The other half goes like this: 25% is 2 years old, and 25% is older than that. I tend to purge things very quickly as I like following the latest trends (I freely admit it -- go ahead, judge this 54 year old!).

I like mixing high and low, actually that's what I can afford. And if an item is not perfect, I get rid of it. In terms of my older items, I have quite a few items from the 90s which I know as a decade is not "in" here at YLF but my items are high quality items from an era when I had high disposable income so I am also hanging on to them as a memory of when I could afford designer clothes. Completely emotional I know.

bj1111

Veteran

denise,

i would hang onto those 90s puppies as well! have you tried to repurpose them for life now?

ps...sorry for the threadjack...but i wanted to let you know how strng i think you are to have overcome what you did. AND you still expose yourself by having fun with fashion!

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

BJ! Yes! I am getting good use out of the following 90s items:
- a leather trench coat (Brown, no belt, so not exactly a trench coat but it has that same length).
- a red velvet Anna Sui jacket
- an Armani trench (lost the belt though)
- an Italian made black pencil skirt
- an Italian made brown fake fur coat

I was very into brown then. I have a silver Anna Sui jacket I'm going to repurpose. I sold all of my other Anna Sui items in the early 00s though, Decades bought them!

(Nancylee, sorry for the threadjack but hopefully it's interesting to others, my "very" old things.)

goldenpig

(website)

Veteran

Pre YLF, my wardrobe was 95% older than 5 years (I'm not counting maternity clothes). Now post YLF, I would say it's probably the complete opposite--95% new in the last year. That's a huge change! And seems like my pre-YLF items are dated (the general consensus whenever I post a K/T on them) so I'm purging even more of them. Seems like I only have a couple of dresses (like the Banana Republic black wrap dress and the green and white jungle print dress) that still pass muster.

Now I am terrified of what is going to happen 5 years from now. Is my whole new wardrobe suddenly going to have to be purged? I really like the nice stuff I have and I don't want to get rid of them! I am going to be in a world of trouble if they all become dated. You guys are going to have to pry my Kate Spade trenches out of my hands!

Jewell

Veteran

Thanks to a major wardrobe overhaul a year ago, the newer than five years portion of my wardrobe is higher than average (about 85%). Some classic staples survived the purge, for example the LBD I haven't worn since 2006 and the navy suit I wore when I interviewed for my current job in 2007.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I hardly have anything as old as 5 years now. But that is because I lost so much weight.

I do still have a few things that I loved so much I altered them. A skirt, and two dresses, all from Comrags (Canadian designer).

And of course I wear vintage pieces so I have quite a few jackets that are new to me but could very well be more than five years old.

I am noticing that I'm continuing to edit my wardrobe very regularly. I suspect this will continue as I go on honing my style. I'm trying not to feel badly about "mistakes." If I consign, at least I can get something back for them. I don't want to be wasteful, but sometimes it simply takes practice and trying things out to know whether they will truly work for the life you lead or the style direction you're going.

In the long run, I don't know what to expect. I would love to hear Angie's thoughts on this. Perhaps it varies year to year, as well, depending on what trends.

Sara L.

Veteran

I would say my wardrobe is probably 60% older than 5 years and 40% new. I only buy a few new things every season. Jeans and shoes get purged faster because the styles seem to change faster than blouses and dress slacks. I also have a lot of shorts and dresses that I know are older than 5 years. Most tanks and tees get recycled fairly quickly because the knits wear out.

Isis

Veteran

Having 25% of your wardrobe older than 5 years sounds great!

On average, if you wear your pieces out in 5 years (which seems reasonable for jeans, tops, etc, worn every year for 5 years), and assume that you buy about the same amount of stuff every year, then 20% of your stuff will have been purchased 5 years ago.....

That sounds about right!

I have some stuff (coats, rain jackets) that last longer than 5 years, but most of my stuff wears out in that time or I get sick of it.

Aida

Veteran

Probably also depends on where you are in your style journey. If you're just starting out, you could either have lots that's old, or nothing that's old. A goal of 50-50 sounds reasonable, but that would also vary person to person. For example, I do like to incorporate trends so my turnover might be higher than someone who's style is more modern classic than mine. Currently, I would say the bulk of my wardrobe is <5 years because of where I'm at in my overhaul timeline, but there are items that I purchased at the very beginning (almost 5 years now) that I still wear often.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I'm not totally sure, since so much of my wardrobe is thrifted. I can guess, however, from wear and styles, etc., that most of the things I thrift are fairly new, probably in the new - 5 years range, with a few older and vintage pieces mixed in.

If you count from when the items came into my possession, I'd say that about half of my clothes are less than 2 years old, because I've been working to revamp (since I discovered YLF actually). This is probably more than it should be but given that so much of them are thrifted and second-hand it's more sustainable than it sounds like.

Very few of my regularly worn clothes have been in my closet for more than 5 years, because I tend to wear out my clothes by then. I do have some formal wear and coats that are well older than that.

ETA: this is not including PJs, workout wear, etc., which is on average considerably older than my street clothes, because they tend to last longer.

Tanya

Veteran

Very interesting question!

I found YLF at the end of 2007, almost 5 years ago. I did a lot of shopping in 2008 and 2009, very little in 2010, and then SYC from Fall 2010 till Spring 2012. So I would say that about 25 % of my wardrobe is from before 2007 - more than 5 years old; and about 70% is 3-4 years old from 2008-2010. I guess only 5% ( or less) is from this year.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Interesting question. The things with the longest life in my closet are shoes, jeans and bags. But I do have some older dresses and skirts as well. I find tops go through the most flux in my wardrobe - not sure why.

nancylee

Veteran

Lots of interesting responses. Thanks, everyone! This is all very helpful to me since I'm just into my second year of YLF and am finally coming around to the realization that my wardrobe is a work in progress, and that I need to leave a certain amount of room for growth since I'll always want to do some updating.

So, GP I hear your lament! The thought of having to purge and replace 75 percent of my wardrobe five years from now is really alarming. But I also think that there are times when you have to completely overhaul and replace most of your wardrobe (as in your case after pregnancies and a period of not buying new clothes). After you get a good base wardrobe established, though, it makes sense to renew and replace slowly...maybe 20 percent per year, like Isis said...in order to keep a steady flow of new vs. older pieces. You don't want everything to expire at once if you can help it! I'm really going to start trying to do this now that I'm feeling pretty good about my closet.

BJ and Cocolion, I love the term "threadjack"....that's a good one! And I don't mind in the least.

Cocolion, you have every right to hold on to such great pieces for emotional reasons. No apologies needed IMHO. I think we all do some of this.

cheryl

Veteran

What a great question and very interesting. I would say that 30%-50% of my clothing is over 5 years old. I have a large wardrobe so I don't wear things out very quickly and I tend to hang on them. I continulously add an itme or two to update my closet and keep it fresh, but i usually love what I buy and so it sticks around for a long time.

MsMary

Veteran

My wardrobe is all new to me because I lost a bunch of weight 2 years ago. But I have many, many items that were purchased secondhand, via consignment stores, thrift stores, and vintage stores. Some of them are very old indeed -- 30 years old or more!

This is actually the first year I am repeating items from the same season last year. I'm thinking 20% new per year, for a five year turnover, seems reasonable on a going-forward basis.

ManidipaM

Veteran

Another great, thought-provoking thread, Nancy!

I'd say I'm in the opposite camp of 60% old and 30% new. What happened to the other 10%? Well, it deserves its own category of superannuated! Yesterday, around the house, I wore a skirt I've had since I was 10 --- don't be alarmed, it's a polyester (blame Angie!) self-pleat in black and below the knee, as I was almost the same size in the hip, the same height then (the apple belly came later, but it's an elasticated waist). I still have my mother's winter wool coat, older than I am! Sarees that are decades old... So yeah, things like that need their own category, right?

I think my biggest buying 'spree', though on a tight budget, was around 2003, when I moved cities, went through a couple of new jobs in different industries, got married... so lots of change, and a bit of extra income beyond what I was used to. There was some smaller but steadier buying in 2004-05, demanded by a job in a workplace that wasn't the right cultural fit for me, perhaps, and I kept trying to fit in with clothes! Taking the plunge to quit and go freelance freed slowed down the buying for a while, but I did get a few relatively pricier pieces too, as I started to rebel against what I now acknowledge *wasn't* my style --- but there were many unsuccessful experiments too! Then, with another move a couple of years ago requiring a drastic reallocation of budgets, I'd been in SYC the last couple of years like Tanya --- meaning I am only just starting to get new things again in a careful SYB mode.

And I'm also sentimental about some things. They're in good repair, maybe a little outdated, but I'll still pull them out every so often when I'm feeling nostalgic and treat them as 'vintage-ish'. Like the kameez I posted about a couple of months ago, sewn by my dad when I was a teenager!

harmonica

Veteran

I've been overhauling my wardrobe the last three year, so most items are quite bought within the last two years. But when taking a closer look, I'm surprised to have some items up to about 15 years old + some about 7 years old. And vintage, which is bought within the last two years, but are of coure much older.

I joined YLF a couple of months ago, so I'm quite new here, but havn't bought *that* much (at least it was already on my wish list). The only really new thing is adding colour to my wardrobe and outfits. I've been looking more into how I style the things I have and trying to find a rubric" or just identyfing my style.

I don't find 5 years very old for some items, but maybe a bit dated. If you wait longer the trend will be back. Now it's like the 80's, and I never thought I'd like 80's style again, but I do feel attracted to some elements, like the vivid colours and bracelets, just to mention some.

A more thorough list is here: http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....our-closet

Traci

Veteran

I've always had a pretty high turnover rate in my closet and because of that I tended towards buying less expensive clothes. Since YLF (about 2 years) I've bought more investment pieces that I'm holding onto longer. I do think I have a slight bent towards trendier silhouettes so I'm not sure that I'll ever be someone who has many items over 10 years old in my closet.

I notice two things that seem to allow someone to wear their clothes for decades.
1. Tailoring. A good relationship with an excellent tailor who adapts your clothes every few years. It's going to be that rare item that stands the test of time w/o a tweak here or there.
2. Personal style. Women with a very strong personal style seem to be able to dress outside the trends and current fashionable lists and still look current and hard to date because they're not wearing items of the time.

Anonymous

Hard to say. I've been on this wardrobe turnover thing for a long while. Although I seem to refresh my wardrobe every season, I'd say the backbone is about 10 years old. I suspect that most pieces are between 1 - 5 years old. I have a high turnover. I get bored pretty easy.

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